The San Saba High School varsity football team came up short on Friday, September 24, on the road when the Armadillos fell 38-24 to Dublin High School to remain winless during the 2021 season.
Receiving the opening kickoff, the Dillos were able to move the ball a bit with some solid runs by senior running back Wesley Lackey to get the offense past midfield into Lions territory. However, penalties backed San Saba up, and they were forced to punt down to the Dublin 19-yard line.
The Lions would be able to drive the ball over the course of a few solid passing plays to midfield, but the San Saba defense came up with a huge play. Thanks to a great pass rush from San Saba junior defensive lineman Dylan Ware, an errant pass by the Dublin quarterback was tipped in the secondary and intercepted by Dillos senior cornerback Adan Huron at the San Saba 33-yard line. Huron made some great moves and followed some blocks down the San Saba sideline with hopes of scoring a touchdown. Unfortunately, despite a fantastic return, Huron was stripped of the ball inside the Lions’ five-yard line, and Dublin got the ball right back to retain possession on offense.
Following a lengthy drive by the Dublin offense, the Dillos defense stepped up with its back against the wall. Key pass breakups inside the Dillos’ own 10-yard line by senior outside linebacker Weston Oliver and senior cornerback Franco Franco forced the Lions to settle for a short field goal as Dublin took an early 3-0 lead with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
Despite a short kickoff by Dublin and San Saba starting near midfield on its next offensive drive, the Dillos could not move the ball and quickly had to punt back to the Lions. On the very first play, the Lions connected on an 80-yard touchdown pass that had multiple broken tackles as Dublin went up 10-0 with 1:57 left in the opening quarter.
This score would remain throughout the rest of the quarter as the two teams traded punts. On the second play of the second quarter, the Dillos got their biggest play of the game so far as junior quarterback Lance Taylor threw a screen pass to senior wide receiver Drake Bryant, who accelerated down the San Saba sideline for a 42-yard gain all the way down to the Dublin 40-yard line. After a penalty backed up San Saba five yards, Taylor was able to connect on a beautiful throw down the sideline to senior wide receiver Reagan Mejia for a 41-yard gain and a first-and-goal situation. The Dillos would then cash in with a short touchdown run to the left by junior Tyler Johnson, cutting the deficit to 10-7 with 8:56 left in the second quarter.
The San Saba defense would again come up clutch on the next series and force Dublin to punt the ball away thanks to a pass deflection by Huron and a sack by senior defensive lineman Leonel Aranda.
With the ball on offense and facing a third-and-12 conversion at the Dillos’ own 27-yard line, Taylor made a superb throw on the run to Mejia, who was pushed out of bounds at the Lions’ 23-yard line for a big 50-yard pass play. Just a couple of plays later after drawing Dublin offsides, Taylor threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Johnson in the corner of the end zone as San Saba would take its first lead of the night at 14-10 with 3:44 left in the second quarter.
Unfortunately, that lead would be very short-lived as Dublin would score on its next offensive possession with a 48-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 17-14 with 2:53 left to play in the first half.
In search of more points before the half, both teams were turned away with interceptions thrown. San Saba senior safety Drake Bryant intercepted a deep Dublin pass as time expired in the second quarter to keep the score 17-14 in favor of the Lions at halftime.
On the opening drive of the third quarter with Dublin driving on offense in San Saba territory, the Dillos came up with a huge defensive play as senior defensive lineman Elias Bessent forced a fumble on a sack that was recovered at the Dillos’ 16-yard line by junior linebacker Zuri Herrera.
After the Dillos went three-and-out on offense, the San Saba defense would come up clutch again. Following a sack by Ware, a pass was intercepted along the San Saba sideline by Lackey from his outside linebacker spot as the Dillos forced a turnover on Dublin’s third straight offensive possession.
As San Saba’s offense was unable to move the ball, the Dillos defense was back on the field for much of the third quarter as Dublin was able to drive down the field and score on a short touchdown pass to the right side. With 2:43 left in the third quarter, San Saba trailed 23-14.
However, the Dillo offense woke up on its next possession as Taylor engineered a really nice drive with solid completions downfield to Franco, Mejia, and Bryant that got San Saba down to the Dublin 10-yard at the end of the third quarter.
Although the drive stalled, Mejia was able to get the Dillos to within one score on a very important field goal to make it 23-17 Dublin with 10:31 left in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately for the Dillos’ defense, a back-breaking blown coverage by San Saba in the secondary resulted in another long 57-yard touchdown pass for Dublin as they extended their lead to 31-17 with 9:02 left in regulation.
The offense would stall for the Dillos again, and the Lions would take full advantage, going to the air attack to get downfield and score on another pass play to put the game out of reach at 38-17 with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter.
San Saba would get one last score on offense as senior Weston Oliver would make it 38-24 after a nifty 31-yard touchdown run with 1:47 left, which would be the final score.
Following a much-needed bye week on October 1, San Saba (0-5 non-district record in 2021) will have its annual rivalry game on October 7, against 2A-1 District 4 foe Goldthwaite High School at neutral site Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood.
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.