Jourdanton gets aggressive in area playoff, falls to Edna




Jourdanton’s Kole Gomez (26) helps Brett Berg (5) finish a tackle in the area playoff against Edna on Nov. 23. JOE DAVID CORDOVA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Jourdanton’s Kole Gomez (26) helps Brett Berg (5) finish a tackle in the area playoff against Edna on Nov. 23. JOE DAVID CORDOVA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Jourdanton’s football team saw its playoff run end in a 48-6 area round loss to Edna in Seguin on Nov. 23.

“They’re a great team. With that ball control, they were able to score a lot with those guys out of the backfield. We just wanted to be aggressive. That’s what we preached all week. We took some shots and went for it on fourth down,” said Jourdanton head coach Darrell Andrus. “I’m proud of them. It was a great season. I would have liked to have hung in a little tighter and have had a shot late.”

The Indians (9-3) recovered an onside kick on the opening kickoff. They reached Edna’s 18-yard line and lined up to kick a field goal on fourth down, but Andrus called a timeout and chose a pass play, which fell incomplete.

“We knew that field goals weren’t going to win this game,” Andrus said.

At times, Jourdanton managed to hold Edna’s running backs to small chunks of yards — forcing the Cowboys’ offense to take 13 plays in their first scoring drive — but the Cowboys’ attack became more challenging as the game wore on. Edna’s Kenny Haynes compiled five touchdown runs.

Jourdanton stayed aggressive throughout the game. The Indians attempted a fourth down conversion early in the second quarter. After Edna (11-1) had a touchdown negated by a holding penalty on the following drive, Jourdanton recovered a fumble.

With 2:29 left in the second quarter, Cole Andrus threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Reyna, bringing the Indians within 21-6.

The Cowboys scored once more that quarter to make the halftime margin 28-6.

In the first series of the second half, Jourdanton charged deep into Edna territory with a couple of big pass plays, including a 29-yard throw to Colton Schuchart to reach the 10- yard line. But the remaining passes of the drive fell incomplete, including one to Reyna in the end zone on fourth down.

Jourdanton’s offense entered Edna territory twice more, but was unable to score.

“It was a valiant effort by our kids. They played their hearts out, and they’ve done that all year. I just want to say how proud I am. These seniors were in seventh grade when I came here. They battled through. They took some tough losses against Cuero and Sinton [as freshmen]. They could have tucked their tails in and found something else to do, but they fought hard with class, pride and heart. They set the standard higher for Jourdanton football, which is winning playoff games,” coach Andrus said.

Jourdanton finished the season with its highest win total since 2013, as well as its best playoff run since. The Indians’ young offensive corps took a big step forward this year, scoring 30 points per game, three times more than last year when the group largely consisted of freshmen.

The Indians will have plenty of continuity on offense looking ahead, with most of that unit populated by underclassmen this year.

On the other hand, they will be trying to replace several starters on defense. That includes their top three tacklers, linebackers Miguel Galindo, Kole Gomez and Jesse Ledesma, and leader in interceptions, Sean Biscaino.

“Those seniors will be hard to replace, but I like the young ones coming back. We look forward to a very bright future,” coach Andrus said.

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