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Hays Rebels footballPosted November 4, 2007, 10 p.m.
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Hays Highway Editor
NEW BRAUNFELS – If Hays football coach Bob Shelton could put Friday night's defensive performance into a bottle, he'd probably drive it over to the Gulf Coast, throw it into the water and turn his back before it left his sight.
But then he might look back over his shoulder one last time, because his playoff chances might disappear with it.
The Rebels literally never stopped New Braunfels Canyon Friday night in a 49-42 loss that will send them to their final game next Friday needing a seven-point win against Cibolo Steele to qualify for the playoffs. Hays (6-3 overall, 4-2 District 26-4A) fell into a third-place district tie with Canyon (5-4, 4-2), which holds the tiebreaker with the head-to-head victory.
On a night when the Rebels simultaneously played their best offensive game and their worst defensive game, the deficit on defense was decisive. Neither team punted all night and only once did either defense register any kind of a stop. It's certainly a rare football game when either defense only comes through once, so that one stop comes through as the big play, the turning point, the key to the game – call it what you will.
The game was tied, 14-14, late in the first quarter as Hays faced third-and-five from their own 48. Hays quarterback Clayton Rogers threw short to wide receiver Brandon Lawrence on the right and Canyon stopped the play for a three-yard gain. On fourth-and-two, the final play of the quarter, Rogers fumbled going into the line and defensive tackle Kyle Reichert recovered for Canyon.
"That didn't really decide it, but it was a big play," Shelton said. "It was an offensive game. It was who had the ball last. They stopped us on that big third-down conversion. We had a good effort. We just couldn't stop them."
Four plays later, Canyon quarterback Tyler Denson ran 32 yards for a touchdown, giving the Cougars their first lead of the game at 21-14. The Rebels could never catch up because they couldn't catch Denson or Canyon running back Robert Clay all evening.
Hays totaled 465 offensive yards, its best output of the season. Rogers put together his best night as a passer, completing 17 of 23 for 247 yards, while also running for 131 to put him at 378 yards in total offense. Wide receiver Trey Berry caught nine passes, tying a single-game school record set just two weeks ago by Paul Breyfogle, though Berry's 132 receiving yards falls well short of Breyfogle's school-record 179 yards.
Canyon demonstrated nothing like the Rebels' offensive diversity. Canyon's plays come in two varieties: either Denson keeps the ball himself, or he hands the ball to Clay. Knowing they needed only to be concerned about stopping Denson and Clay, the Rebels still couldn't do it.
Denson finished the night with 163 yards in 23 carries, while Clay rushed for 161 yards in 19 attempts. Other than those 42 rushes, Canyon's offense consisted in four Denson passes, three of which he completed. But even with those limited ingredients, Canyon moved the ball at will.
"We had to," Canyon Head Coach Les Davis said. "We didn't stop them, either. Their kids fought their tails off and our kids fought right with them."
While Hays outgained Canyon by more than 100 yards, 465-363. the Cougars needed fewer yards due to short fields wrought by the one fumble, long kick returns and short Hays kickoffs. Canyon's worst field position to start a first-half possession was its own 43, and the Cougars started only one possession all night from further back than their own 42.
But Canyon's field position almost came off as incidental, since the Cougars struck so quickly. On their first play from scrimmage, Denson ran 48 yards for a touchdown. On their second play from scrimmage, Denson ran 20 yards for a touchdown. On their seventh play from scrimmage, Denson ran 32 yards for a touchdown. On fourth-and-eight with 32 seconds left in the first half, Clay ran 30 yards for a touchdown.
The Cougars finished six-for-eight on third-down conversions, and, on those two failures, went two-for-two on fourth down. The only time Canyon didn't score was when it took the ball with 58 seconds left at the Hays 49, needing only to run out the clock.
And yet ...
The Rebels, who are always game for a fourth-quarter comeback, continuously gave the impression of being in it, despite trailing by 14 every time they took the ball for the last 20 minutes. Arguably, they were one successful onside kick from registering their third straight overtime miracle win, and they had two cracks at it.
Trailing 42-28 with 7:44 left, the Rebels went on a 70-yard, 17-play drive aided by two Canyon pass interference penalties on fourth down. On third-and-ten from the Canyon 14, Rogers connected with Berry for 13 yards, then Nikki DeSantiago carried the final yard for a touchdown to bring the Rebels within 42-35 with 3:04 left.
Hays attempted an onside kick going for the tie, but Canyon recovered at the Rebels 49. Then, as if to mock the idea that Hays should have kicked deep and played for a defensive stop, Clay ran 39 yards to the ten on the first Canyon play. On the next one, Clay went 10 yards for a touchdown to make it 49-35 with 2:49 left.
The Rebels regained possession at their own 38 and zipped down the field. A 37-yard pass from Rogers to Breyfogle put the Rebels on Canyon's three, followed by a three-yard pass from Rogers to Berry for a touchdown to bring them within 49-42 with 58 seconds left.
Again, the Rebels kicked onside, again Canyon recovered, and again the Hays defense couldn't make a stop. The Rebels used their first two timeouts after Canyon's next two plays, but Clay's eight-yard carry on third-and-three made any further expenditure futile and the clock ticked down on a Hays loss.
Combined with Steele's 24-10 win against Del Valle, the Hays-Canyon result put Steele and Canyon in favorable position for the two Division II playoff positions out of District 26-4A, with the Rebels also in control of their own outcome next Friday, though they have to do a little more.
If Steele beats Hays and Canyon beats Clemens, those two winners are in the playoffs. If Hays wins and Canyon loses, then Hays and Steele are in.
If Canyon and Hays both win next Friday, then Hays, Canyon and Steele would be in a three-way tie for second place at 5-2 in the district, with only two of those teams going to the playoffs. Canyon's seven-point win Friday gives it a seven-point positive differential in games played among those three teams. Steele beat Canyon, 26-20 earlier this year for a six-point positive differential.
Because the best two positive point differentials in games among the three teams would decide who goes to the playoffs, Hays needs a seven-point win against Steele to qualify, in which case the Rebels and Canyon would go to the playoffs.
| HAYS | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | — | 42 |
| Canyon | 14 | 14 | 7 | 14 | — | 49 |
H — Clayton Rogers 3 run (Alex Perez kick).
RUSHING: Hays — Rogers 25-131, DeSantiago 13-48, Erick Pena 5-28, Brandon Lawrence 1-7, Chris Torres 1-4. Canyon — Denson 23-163, Clay 19-161.
PASSING (Att-comp-yards-TD-int): Hays — Rogers 17-23-247-1-0, Berry 0-1-0-0-0. Canyon — Denson 3-4-34-0-0-0.
RECEIVING: Hays — Berry 9-132, Lawrence 4-74, Breyfogle 3-41, Torres 1-0. Canyon — Clay 1-21, Blayse Cox 1-10, Ryan Flowers 1-8.
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C — Tyler Denson 48 run (Rene Hernandez kick).
H — Nikki DeSantiago 7 run (Perez kick).
C — Denson 20 run (Hernandez kick).
C — Denson 32 run (Hernandez kick).
H — Rogers 2 run (Hernandez kick).
C — Robert Clay 30 run (Hernandez kick).
C — Clay 3 run (Hernandez kick).
H — Rogers 4 run (Perez kick).
C — Denson 4 run (Hernandez kick).
H — DeSantiago 1 run (Perez kick).
C — Clay 10 run (Hernanez kick).
H — Trey Berry 3 pass from Rogers (Perez kick).
HAYS Canyon First down 23 17 Rushes 45 42 Rushing yards 218 324 Att-comp-TD 17-24-1 3-4-0 Passing yards 247 39 Had intercepted 0 0 Returns-yards 7-81 4-90 Punts-average 0-0 0-0 Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties 6-55 3-38 Time of possession 27:43 28:17
