Big time.
In 2000, the Cougars knocked off the Eagles to gain a share of a district title. Seven years later, the Cougars needed a victory over Rogers coupled with a Lago Vista defeat of Academy to vault from the middle of the pack to controlling their own destiny in the final game of the regular season.
Delivered as ordered.
Chris Trevino rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns and threw for three more to help the Cougars outlast Rogers 41-38 in a pivotal District 25-2A game Friday night at Merk Field.
Jarrell (4-5, 3-3) can now sew up a playoff berth next week with a home victory over Lago Vista, the same team that topped Academy and opened the gate for the Jarrell-Rogers winner. Rogers slips to 4-5 and 2-4 to fall out of any realistic playoff scenario.
It wasn’t the way either coach expected this game to play out as the offenses lit up the board and the defenses had difficulty solving it.
“It was a shootout and I didn’t think it would be,” Jarrell coach Randy Franklin said. “I thought it would be more of a defensive game. Both of us have good defenses. This was a big win.”
Rogers coach John Stillwell said, “We were worried about (Trevino). We knew they would put it in his hands. We just needed to do a better job of paying attention to what we were doing with him.”
Trevino, who carried 30 times, only threw seven passes. But he completed five of his attempts for 156 yards, including two first-half strikes to Aaron Mueller of 63 and 62 yards, respectively, plus another 12-yarder to Daniel Tucker in the fourth quarter to grab the lead for the third and final time.
“We haven’t thrown well the last couple of weeks,” Franklin said. “We got their safeties to play the run and Mueller got open down the field. Chris was good. He fits what we do very well.”
After a surprisingly scoreless third quarter, the Eagles regained the lead on the second play of the fourth when quarterback Chance Marek sliced his way in from the 2 to cap a 73-yard drive on the 11th play to make it 28-27.
Rogers appeared to be on its way to closing the deal as Marcus Psencik jarred the ball loose from Mueller following a reception and Jordan Sebek recovered at the Cougar 28. The Eagles settled for a 34-yard field goal by Ben Baecker for a 31-27 lead with 8:19 to play.
“We stopped them a couple of times,” Franklin said. “I thought when we held them to a field goal that was huge. When our defense kept it to a four-point game I knew we were still in it.”
They took control by going 70 yards in eight plays, finished off by Trevino lobbing a pass to Tucker in the back corner of the end zone for a 34-31 margin with 4:30 to go.
The Cougars got a quick stop and the ball back at the 44 where they went the remaining 56 yards in four plays as Trevino set up his own 9-yard touchdown with a 60-yard jaunt and a 41-31 game.
Rogers didn’t go quietly, though, as it hustled downfield with a 21-yarder to freshman Ryan Fares to close the gap to three with 25 seconds left. The Eagles couldn’t come up with the onside kick. It was Fares’ second touchdown reception as he caught a 35-yarder to open the scoring in the first quarter.
Rogers’ other first-half scores came on a 16-yard swing pass to Sebek and a 35-yard burst by E.J. Larkin. Trevino scored from 29 and 1 for Jarrell in the first half.
Marek was 8-of-15 for 161 yards and turned in his third straight 100-yard rushing night since taking over as the Eagle starter.
”We’re just going to try to learn from this and be a better person,” Stillwell said. “We’ll get up and play again and we’ll just have to be a little more humble. The sun will come up again and we’ll try a little harder next time.
“I used to think those were cliches, but as I’ve gotten older I understand that those aren’t cliches."
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