Hondo Anvil Herald

Owls struggle in shutout loss at Bandera

 

By Jeff Berger

Anvil Herald Publisher 

 

     Bandera -- Big plays in the  passing game were enough for the Bandera Bulldogs to dominate Hondo last Friday, Sept. 4, getting a 27-0 shutout at Bulldog Stadium.

     The loss drops the Owls to 0-2 on the season, and ends a school record 79-game scoring streak, dating back to a season-opening shutout at the hands of Llano in 2019.

     Hondo has one more non-district contest on the schedule, when they host Uvalde this Friday, Sept. 11, at Barry Field. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Besides the big plays generated by Bandera’s offense – 287 passing yards and three touchdowns in the air – Hondo was unable to get anything going on its own offensively.

     “We had a whole lot of blown assignments on the offensive side,” said Hondo Coach Dustin Templin. “We have to figure out a way to get a better push up front and do a better job of blocking all around. Everybody has to buy in – the linemen, the backs, the receivers –we need blocking from everybody, and we just didn’t get it on Friday.”

     Limited to just five first downs for the night, the Owls began with a three-and-out. Bandera, with a short field ahead of them, were already in four-down territory, and on a 4th-and-6, Dalton Parks hit Jaymin Klein up the Hondo sideline for a 36-yard TD, less than three minutes into the game. Klein also hit three extra points on the night, giving the Bulldogs a quick lead of 7-0.

     The Owls promptly fumbled it back at their own 25, but the Hondo defense, with an even shorter field to defend this time, held together and got a stop. Jayden Motes had a tackle for loss, and on fourth down, Alex Martinez caught Bandera’s Breydan Gherman from behind.

     The Owls picked up two first downs, on a 20-yard swing pass from Aaryn Leyva to Motes, then picked up another 11 yards on a pass to Cade Aelvoet. But after earning a first down at midfield, the drive stalled.

     Five consecutive possessions for both teams went without a first down, all ending in punts.

Midway through the second period, the Bulldogs, starting at their 28, picked up three first downs, but could get no farther than the Hondo 21. Andrew Tapia had the big play for the Owl defense, sacking Parks for a 10-yard loss to put Bandera in a 4th-and-long. A long pass was broken up by Kaleb Coronado to end the threat.

     The Bulldogs put together one final drive in the first half, going 62 yards in nine plays, getting the score and a 14-0 lead on a 13-yard pass to Gherman with 22 seconds left on the clock.

     Bandera opened the second half with a drive to the Hondo 27, but defensive stops on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 gave the ball back to the Owls.

     Following another Hondo punt, the Bulldogs drove for their third score. The big play was a 47-yard catch and run by Klein to the 4-yard line. From there, Carter Hanks scored the Bulldogs’ only ground TD of the night. A wild snap on the PAT left the score at 20-0 with 5:31 remaining in the third quarter.

     Hondo was penalized only twice for a total of 10 yards in the game, but both penaltieds came in the next series, leading to the seventh punt of the night for Gabriel Rodriguez.

     On 3rd-and-7, Parks tossed his third TD pass of the night, a 40-yard strike to Remington Galloway, to give Bandera a 27-0 lead late in the third.

     On his first carry of the season, Hondo junior Twister Kluth bolted around left end for 52 yards to the Bandera 8-yard line. But two snaps later, Klein intercepted a pass over the middle to end the threat.

     The Owls picked up a couple of first downs during a six-minute drive in the fourth quarter. With Bryson Howard in at QB, an altered cadence got Bandera to jump offside on a 4th-and-3. Three plays later, Kluth got free once more for a 34-yard dash to the 25. Hondo, however, could get no closer and the drive stalled.

     Kluth’s two long runs accounted for well over 50% of the Owls’ offense, as he finished with 91 yards rushing on six carries.

     For Bandera, Parks threw for 287 yards, and both Klein and Galloway had over 100 yards receiving.