(Converse) — Needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Seguin Matadors got the job done in taking down Wagner, 42-27, on Friday night at D.W. Rutledge Stadium in Converse.
The Matadors snapped a three-game losing streak in District 13-5A to stay within one game of the final playoff spot in the district standings with two games left in the season. Seguin will have a chance to move into that final spot or even move up to the third spot in the next two weeks.
The Mats scored two touchdowns in the first quarter sandwiched around a Wagner score to take a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. Corey Dailey scored Seguin’s first touchdown on a two-yard quarterback keeper, and DJ Luckey ran one in from two yards for the other score.
A little over four minutes into the second quarter, Thunderbird running back J’Anthony Joyner-Price pulled Wagner to within one at 14-13 with a 47-yard TD scamper. Seguin would respond less than a minute later when Dailey hooked up with receiver Elliot Weaver for a 62-yard TD pass to put the Matadors ahead, 21-13.
Seguin linebacker Damian Garcia recovered a Wagner fumble at the T-bird 43-yard line with 3:37 left in the half, and the Mats would later score a touchdown off the turnover when running back Ian Moreno ran with the ball to the end zone from five yards. The TD put the Mats ahead, 28-13, at the half. After putting up 162 yards in their first two drives, Wagner was limited to just 34 yards by the Seguin defense on their final three possessions of the half.
In the third quarter, the Thunderbirds scored following a Matador turnover. Dailey was intercepted in the end zone on the opening drive of the half, and Wagner would cap an 80-yard drive with a one-yard Joyner-Price TD run to pull within 28-19. Again, the Matadors would take about a minute to respond on their next drive when Dailey hit wide receiver Daniel Pinon in stride for a 71-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to put Seguin up, 35-19.
The Thunderbirds got within one score on the first play of the fourth quarter. Joyner-Price scored on a six-yard run, and the two-point conversion brought Wagner to within 35-27. Neither team would score for the next 10-plus minutes.
The Matadors put the last points of the game on the board with a 15-yard Dailey touchdown run with 1:14 left in the game. Seguin safety Marcus Troy came up with an interception with two seconds left to end the next Wagner drive, and the Mats would kneel out the clock.
Seguin (4-4) improved to 2-3 in district with the victory, while Wagner (3-5) fell to 2-3. The Matadors trail Boerne Champion and New Braunfels, who are tied for third in the district at 3-2. Earlier in the season, Seguin lost to Champion by seven while the Unicorns beat the Chargers by 10.
The Matadors play at New Braunfels next week and would have to beat the Unicorns by at least five points and then beat MacArthur in the final week to clinch a playoff spot. The Mats would then get the four seed in a tie-breaking scenario if Seguin, Champion, and New Braunfels end up tied for third place at the end of the season. The Matadors would move up to the third playoff spot with at least a nine-point win over the Unicorns and a victory over MacArthur in the same three-way tie scenario.
In a milestone moment on Friday, Seguin quarterback Corey Dailey moved into the top five all-time in career high school passing yards in the San Antonio area. The senior needed 182 yards to pass former Boerne quarterback Rashawn Galloway for fifth place. Dailey finished the night with a season-high 377 yards, giving him 8,625 for his career.
The all-time leader in career passing yards in the San Antonio area is former Steele quarterback Chad Warner with 9,439. Dailey needs 815 yards to pass Warner and become the all-time San Antonio area career passing yards leader.
In games for other area teams on Friday, Navarro won their second straight District 13-4A game with a 48-27 win at Smithville, and Marion dropped their first District 13-3A game of the season in a 40-33 home loss to Ingram Moore.