Academy will meet East Bernard in a Division II bi-district game at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Bryan’s Merrill Green Stadium.
The Bees (7-3, 3-3 in 25-2A) and Buffaloes (1-9, 0-6) traded scores for three quarters. Layton Willis scored three touchdowns for the Bees and Kyle Kuban rushed for one and passed for one. Ben Katzenmeyer and Blake Brimer each scored a pair for the Buffaloes.
With Academy leading 27-26 late in the third quarter, Kuban found Noah Hamill from 65 yards out to produce the 34-26 final score.
Katzenmeyer was the game’s leading rusher with 146 yards on 27 carries, while Kuban led the Bees with 116 yards on 11 totes. Willis added 102 yards on 13 carries. Brimer caught four passes for 101 yards.
Caldwell 49, Cameron Yoe 28
CALDWELL - The Caldwell Hornets sewed up a playoff berth with a 49-28 District 24-3A victory at Hornet Field that kept Cameron Yoe out of the postseason.
The Hornets (6-3, 4-2 in 24-3A), who had to win by at least 13 to claim the playoff spot, will be the district’s No. 2 seed in Division II.
The Hornets ground game pounded the Yoe defense for 524 yards. Kysan Wolverton rushed 32 times for 290 yards and four touchdowns. Kedrin Sheppard added 145 yards on 12 carries.
James Wells caught four passes for 221 yards - including touchdown catches of 68 and 80 - from Steven Townsend to lead the Yoemen (5-4, 4-2), who will miss the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Rockdale 42, Taylor 21
ROCKDALE - The Rockdale Tigers earned a rest.
With a 42-21 victory over Taylor at Tiger Stadium, Rockdale sewed up District 24-3A’s top playoff seed in Division II. All 24-3A postseason qualifiers receive a first-round bye.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Mark Drake became the Tigers’ all-time passing leader with 2,551 career yards. He passed Dickey Summers’ mark of 2,539 that stood for 46 years. Summers was introduced at the game.
The Tigers (8-2, 4-2 in 24-3A) dominated from the start, scoring the first 21 points on Greg Chelf’s 25-yard run, Drake’s 17-yard pass to Joe Sanders and Cois Walker’s 65-yard run. Rockdale had a 28-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and 35-21 by halftime before shutting out the Ducks (3-7, 2-4) in the second half.
Bartlett 47, Granger 8
GRANGER - Bartlett completed its turnaround from 0-10 last year to undefeated District 26-A champion by blasting rival Granger 47-8 at Lions Stadium.
Although Granger dropped its finale, outside influences put the Lions in the playoffs.
The combination of a Holland loss to Thorndale and a Thrall victory over Milano propelled Granger into the playoffs, along with Bartlett and Thorndale. The Lions (5-5, 2-3 in 26-A) are the district’s second seed in Division II.
The Bartlett offense rolled up 426 yards led by Eric Benavides, who rushed 12 times for 125 yards and a touchdown. Eric Walker scored four touchdowns and rushed for 114 yards on 16 carries for the Bulldogs (7-3, 5-0), who will the top seed in Division II.
Quarterback Pierre Smith threw just twice, but made them both count with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Gadison and a 57-yard scoring strike to Michael Smith.
Granger’s Jeron Davis prevented the shutout when he scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter.
Hearne 42, Rosebud-Lott 22
TRAVIS - Despite a 5-0 start to their season, the Rosebud-Lott Cougars will not be part of the Class 2A postseason.
Hearne captured the third and final playoff spot from District 20-2A by topping Rosebud-Lott 42-22 at Cougar Field.
The Eagles (5-4, 3-2 in 20-2A) compiled almost 500 yards of offense to overwhelm the Cougars (7-3, 2-3), who dropped three of their last five games.
Justin Evans scored on runs of 45, 5 and 66 yards for Hearne, and Kenneth Jones scored on runs of 67 and 21 during a 228-yard performance.
Ernesto Flores threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead Rosebud-Lott. Flores hit Darrell Whitfield with a 40-yard strike and found Deandre Thompson on another 40-yarder later in the game. Flores ran in from 1 in the fourth.
Moody 27, Crawford 13
MOODY - Moody may be out, but the Bearcats weren’t down.
Moody capped its season with a second straight win, this time a 27-13 victory over the Crawford Pirates in a District 16-2A finale at Bearcat Stadium.
The Pirates (8-2, 4-3 in 16-2A) opened the scoring with a 45-yard pass from Chane Lynch to Cody Shaw, but the Bearcats (3-7, 2-5) answered with 27 consecutive points. Justin Smith knotted the score at 7-7 with a 17-yard touchdown run, and Nate Wilburn added a 10-yard scoring run to take a 14-7 lead. Walter Hammond caught a 3-yard pass from Wilburn to extend the lead to 21-7, and later Wilburn found Stetson Jaske with an 8-yard pass to make it 27-7.
The Pirates, who had won six straight district titles, needed a Hamilton loss to secure a playoff berth but didn’t get it.
No. 2 China Spring 33, Gatesville 7
GATESVILLE - Gatesville’s playoff dreams ended with a 33-7 loss to second-ranked China Spring in a District 7-3A finale at McKamie Stadium.
The second-ranked Cougars (10-0, 5-0 in 7-3A) dominated from the outset, scoring in every quarter and getting a 12-for-21, 235-yard passing performance from Brian Bell.
Bell scored the first touchdown and added two more on passes of 28 yards to Jerome Lloyd and 49 yards to Mike Hicks.
Cody Sheets scored the only touchdown for the Fightin’ Hornets (5-5, 2-3) on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter to break up the shutout.
Lago Vista 31, Jarrell 7
LAGO VISTA - The Jarrell Cougars’ season came to an end in a rushing onslaught from Lago Vista, which ran for 370 yards en route to a 31-7 victory in a District 25-2A finale at Sisemore Field.
Jarrell finished at 3-7 and the Vikings wound up at 7-3.
Jason Cormier paced the Vikings (7-3, 3-3 in 25-2A) with 167 yards, including a 45-yard touchdown. Scott Kerr had a pair of Lago touchdowns on runs of 10 and 11 yards.
Chris Trevino scored the lone touchdown for Jarrell (3-7, 1-5) on a 5-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Round Rock Christian 57, Holy Trinity Catholic 0
ROUND ROCK - The Holy Trinity Catholic Celtics’ first season back on the gridiron after a two-yar layoff ended with a 57-0 loss to Round Rock Christian in a non-district six-man regular-season finale at Williamson County Park.
The Crusaders (6-4) scored 30 points in the first quarter and 27 in the second to end the game on the 45-point mercy rule. Holy Trinity finished with a 2-9 record.
Copperas Cove 38, Harker Heights 6
COPPERAS COVE - The Copperas Cove Bulldawgs got back in the win column with a 38-6 victory over Harker Heights to clinch the outright District 12-5A title at Bulldawg Stadium.
The Bulldawgs (9-1, 6-1 in 12-5A), who had already clinched a playoff spot, outgained the Knights 299 yards to 178 and scored 22 points in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Brandin Byrd led the Bulldawgs with 135 yards rushing. The Knights (1-9, 1-6) were led by Kerry Sloan’s 87 rushing yards.
Pflugerville Hendrickson 35, Killeen 21
KILLEEN - With both teams’ playoff slots already set, it was Pflugerville Hendrickson that picked up some postseason momentum with a 35-21 win over Killeen.
The Hawks (7-3, 4-2 District 25-4A) churned out 305 rushing yards to roll into the playoffs as 25-4A’s second seed in Division II. The Kangaroos (6-4, 3-3), who fell behind 21-0, will be the No. 2 seed in Divison I.
OTHER SCORES:
Hutto 57, Lampasas 7
Clifton 27, Bruceville-Eddy 7
Thrall 37, Milano 6
Buckholts 52, Prairie Lea 6
