SPORTS
Ex-Baylor quarterback Jarrett Stidham chooses Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Former Baylor quarterback Jarrett Stidham says he’ll transfer to Auburn. The nation’s top junior college prospect, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, announced on Twitter Saturday that it’s “time to start my next chapter at Auburn University.” Stidham this fall attended McLennan Community College, which doesn’t have a football program.
10A - SUNday, december 11, 2016 · Seguin Gazette · Contact sports editor Marcel Louis-Jacques at sports@seguingazette.com
NFL
NAVARRO HIGH SCHOOL
Texans, Colts set for battle INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts tight end Dwayne Allen embraces Sunday’s game against Houston. Yes, he and his teammates realize the winner takes control of the AFC South and has the inside track to the playoffs. He also knows the loser could spend the rest of the season playing catch-up. To Allen, this is football at its finest. “A lot of people came up to me before the Monday night game and asked me if it was exciting to play on ‘Monday Night Football’. It’s an exciting stage to be on, but it’s just another game,” he said. “Now this game, it’s exciting. It’s like (receiver) T.Y. Hilton said, it’s a Game 7 atmosphere. You win this one, you take first place and you control your destiny so to speak.” While the Colts and Texans are tied with Tennessee (6-6) for the division lead, nobody understands the significance of these late-season matchups better than Indy and Houston. Each of the past four years, the winner of the mid-December game won the AFC South title. Because of the tiebreakers, it could be more of the same this season. Indy has already swept the Titans, Houston won Round 1 with Tennessee and the Texans used a frenetic comeback to beat the Colts in overtime in October.
Cowboys can clinch with win Associated Press EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Dallas Cowboys have everything in front of them, and one little nagging thing behind them: the New York Giants. The winners of 11 straight games, the Cowboys (11-1) can clinch the NFC East and move a step closer to nailing down home-field advantage for the conference playoffs if they can beat the Giants (8-4) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night. While the Cowboys insist this is just another game, you know there has to be some churning inside them in facing their division rivals. After all, the Giants are the reason Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and company aren’t perfect. New York posted a 20-19 win in Dallas in the season opener, and one has to believe Jason Garrett’s crew wants payback. And if not that, the Cowboys certainly don’t want to go into the playoffs wondering if they can beat the Giants. “I’m looking forward to it a lot personally, and then I know this team,” Prescott said. “They’re the only blemish on our record right now, and just to be able to go up there at their place and be able to do what they did to us the first game, we’re excited for the opportunity.”
Felicia Frazar - Seguin Gazette
Navarro senior running back Garrett Weaver goes head to head to a couple of West Orange defenders during the State SemiFinal game against the West Orange-Stark Mustangs on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 at NRG Stadium in Houston.
End of the line
Panthers’ stellar season ends at Houston’s NRG Stadium Scot Kibbe Gazette Contributor HOUSTON — The Navarro Panthers finally faced a challenge they could not master Friday night as they fell 49-7 to the West Orange-Stark Mustangs in the Class 4A-II State Semifinals at NRG Stadium. The defending state champions showed why they have won 26 games in a row with no serious challenges. They simply had too much wellcoached talent for even strong teams like Navarro (14-1) to counter. Navarro head coach Les Goad said he has “never seen a faster, more fundamentally sound team” than the Mustangs. “In 32 years of coaching, I’ve never coached against this much athleticism at any level,” he said. “We couldn’t establish our power plays because they wouldn’t let us lock up on blocks. And it seemed like every time the ball was tipped up, they found a way to catch it and take off.” Playing on the biggest stage in their program’s history, Navarro battled
Felicia Frazar - Seguin Gazette
Navarro senior quarterback Will Eveld flies through the air trying to avoid a tackle and gain extra yards during the State Semi-Final game against the West Orange-Stark Mustangs on Friday at NRG Stadium in Houston. but could not establish enough offensively and surrendered too many big plays during a crucial sixminute stretch in the first half. And they failed too often to capitalize on their opponents’ rare miscues. They tallied just 155 total yards in the game and just 32 in the first half. One particular statistic was key to the outcome of the game: the Mustangs’ rang up a whopping 229
return yards. The Panthers took the game’s first possession but an interception on the third play gave WOS the ball on the Navarro 26-yard line. But the Panthers’ stopped them on a fourth-and-goal from the six as good coverage from the secondary forced an incomplete pass. Navarro’s offense moved the ball from there, gaining two first
downs. But an attempt to convert a fourth-and-one at their own 41 fell just short, returning the ball to the Mustangs. WOS got on the board five plays later. On a third-and-nine from the 25-yard line, receiver Kerion Hancock snagged a screen pass from quarterback Jack Dallas and sped into the end zone. Over the six minutes that followed that score,
the Mustangs would blow the game open. After a three-andout from the Panthers’ offense, WOS put together a 57-yard scoring drive in just five plays. Two long pass plays set up the six-yard run from quarterback Dallas, which occurred on a third-andgoal. Navarro’s offense could not answer on their next series. Their punt was returned 65 yards for another Mustangs’ score. It was the tenth kick return for a touchdown by WOS this season. Their third score of the span came on a drive of just three plays and again came on a third-and-long. Dallas connected with receiver Jarron Morris for a 47-yard touchdown pass across the middle of the Panthers’ defense. That gave the Mustangs a commanding 28-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter and left little doubt that they would be heading to Arlington next week to play for the state championship. They would add one more score in the half, NAVARRO - 11A
Mats split matchups Buchanan boosts at River City Classic Lady Mats to win Marcel Louis-Jacques sports@seguingazette.com Day one at New Braunfels High School’s River City Classic tournament had its highs and lows for the Seguin Matadors, but they finished on a high note after losing to San Antonio Johnson to start the day. The Matadors (5-5) lost to the Jaguars, 41-28, despite being tied at the end of the first quarter. Seguin fell behind 18-14 at halftime, but saw the game slip out of its grasp in the third quarter, when it was outscored
14-4. Jay Sayles led the team in scoring with nine points in a game where the Matadors failed to score more than 10 points in any quarter. Looking to rebound from the slow start, Seguin walloped Houston Lutheran South, 66-43. After struggling to score against Johnson, the Matadors jumped out to a 34-16 halftime lead, and coasted to victory. This time around, they had three players in double figures: Tyler Fricke, Sayles, and Mark Garcia, who had 15, 11, and 10, respectively.
Marcel Louis-Jacques sports@seguingazette.com Seguin senior Cortlin Buchanan accounted for nearly half of her team’s offense Friday in the Lady Matadors’ 65-58 win over San Antonio Churchill. The Lady Matadors (9-5) scorched the nets in the first quarter, opening up a 23-8 lead. Their lead shrank to 33-27 at halftime, but extended to double digits after a 21-11 run in the third quarter. Churchill made a late push, outscoring Seguin 20-11 in the
final frame, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the narrow defeat. Buchanan led all scorers with 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting — 7-of-13 from the three-point line. She also added five steals and three assists. Kirstyn Bode was Seguin’s next-highest scorer with seven points, and she did a little bit of everything, picking up five rebounds, two assists and a steal. The Lady Matadors are back on the court Tuesday in their district opener against Lockhart.
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