-
San Saba High School varsity football seniors, Wesley Lackey (10) and Franco Franco (7), lead their teammates onto the field on Friday, October 7th, prior to the Armadillos' District game against rival Goldthwaite High School at neutral site Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood. (Photo courtesy of Rita Boultinghouse)
The San Saba High School varsity football team was dealt another tough blow on Thursday, October 7, when the Armadillos were edged 28-26 against rival Goldthwaite High School.
The loss dropped the Dillos to 0-6 overall and 0-1 in 2A-1 District 4 games as their comeback attempt versus the Eagles came up just short at neutral site Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood.
Heading into last week’s game, the Dillos had absolutely dominated the Eagles over the last few recent meetings. San Saba had outscored Goldthwaite by an astonishing 202-6 margin the last three seasons with the Dillos having thrashed the Eagles 78-0 in 2018, 60-0 in 2019, and 64-6 during the 2020 meeting last year.
In the 2021 meeting of one of the oldest rivalries in Texas high school football, the Dillos got off to the best start it could hope for thanks to senior running back Wesley Lackey. On a handoff from San Saba junior quarterback Lance Taylor up the middle, Lackey followed some great blocking from his offensive line and scampered 53 yards for a touchdown on the opening play from scrimmage to give the Dillos a quick 7-0 lead.
Early on throughout the first quarter and into the second quarter, the San Saba defense frustrated the run-heavy offense of Goldthwaite as the Eagles were kept out of the endzone due to penalties and a costly special teams miscue.
However, the Eagles were able to get a big spark on a long quarterback run down inside the Dillos’ five-yard line. With just over nine minutes left in the second quarter, Goldthwaite scored on a two-yard run to tie things up at 7-7.
Unfortunately for the Dillos, they did not end the first half on the best note offensively as a key fumble lost deep in their own territory proved very costly. Following a fumble recovered by Goldthwaite at the San Saba 19-yard line, the Eagles would score on a 10-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 lead with 1:56 left until the half.
With the Eagles getting the ball to start the third quarter, Goldthwaite would strike quickly on the first play of the quarter on a 56-yard touchdown run by the quarterback to extend the lead to 21-7 just like that.
Facing a 14-point deficit, the Dillos responded on offense by getting deep into Eagles’ territory on a 41-yard run by senior wide receiver Franco Franco. The drive would be capped up by a one-yard touchdown run by Taylor to get the Dillos to within 21-14 with 10:56 still to go in the third quarter.
A special teams gamble on the ensuing kickoff by the Dillos with an onside kick was not successful as the Eagles recovered the ball at the San Saba 38-yard line. Goldthwaite would cash in on a short field with a 14-yard touchdown to make it 28-14 in favor of the Eagles with 8:58 remaining in the third quarter.
Needing to stage another comebacker, Taylor and the Dillos went with short passes in order to move the ball on offense. With a lengthy scoring drive, San Saba inched closer on the scoreboard as Taylor connected on a six-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Tyler Johnson to pull San Saba to within 28-20 with 5:27 to play in the third quarter.
San Saba’s defense would then get a clutch defensive stand to turn away the Goldthwaite offense to get the ball back at the Dillos’ 41-yard line. Taylor again engineered a great drive into the fourth quarter for San Saba on offense. After driving all the way down to the Eagles’ six-yard line, the Dillos faced a pivotal fourth-and-one conversion attempt and were successful as Taylor connected again with Johnson to get the Dillos to within 28-26. However, the two-point conversion rushing attempt for San Saba was unsuccessful as they still trailed by two points with 10:50 left in regulation.
After the Dillos’ defense was able to do its job and get the ball back for the offense again, San Saba’s offense was facing a fourth-and-three. They tried a fake punt on a play to Lackey, but he was stopped one yard short as San Saba turned it over on downs with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter.
Coming up short ended up being the nail in the coffin for San Saba in this thrilling rivalry game as Goldthwaite’s rushing attack was able to run out the clock by picking up first downs, solidifying a 28-26 win for the Eagles to snap a three-game losing streak to the Dillos. With the win, Goldthwaite improved to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in district play.
Offensively on the night, Taylor was very efficient for the Dillos in the loss by completing 22-of-32 passes for 232 yards, two passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, and zero interceptions thrown. Lackey was the leading receiver on the night for San Saba with four catches for 73 yards and a rushing touchdown in the first quarter, while Johnson had five receptions for 46 yards and two catches for touchdowns.
Defensively, the Dillos needed all hands on deck in order to keep Goldthwaite’s offense from running the ball at will. Four Dillos had double-digit combined tackles on the night: junior linebacker Zuri Herrera with a whopping 24 tackles to lead both teams, senior defensive back Drake Bryant with 12, junior linebacker Tegen Saiz with 11, and Franco with 10 from his cornerback spot.
Be sure to check out next week’s edition of the San Saba News & Star for more updates on Dillos and Lady Dillos varsity athletics. Sports editor Andrew Salmi can be contacted via email at salmi.courier@ gmail.com or by cell phone at (818) 645-1115.