With a little over 30 seconds left in their bi-district playoff game, the Boerne Greyhounds lined up in victory formation to take a knee and run out the clock against the Taylor Ducks.
Leading by a score of 42-13, the Greyhounds watched as the clock ticked down to zero as they claimed their trophy.
“We played well. Taylor’s got a great program. They did a good job this year. Proud of their coaches for keeping them together and getting them to playoffs,” Greyhounds head coach Che Hendrix said. “We respect them a lot and it was a good ball game. They came out to battle tonight and we played really well, and I am just proud of our guys.”
The Ducks started the game with the ball and came out aggressive on offense. The Ducks were facing a fourth down with only a few yards to go when head coach Brandon Houston decided to be even more aggressive and try to get a first down.
Unfortunately, it did not go the Ducks way and the Greyhounds rushing attack was ready to take control.
“We knew they were a good team, and we knew they weren’t going to punt a lot, so we were just trying to extend our possessions,” Houston said.
The Greyhounds had a lot of success running the football Thursday night thanks to great play from the offensive line. The successful running game did early damage to the Ducks defense as they put three scores on the board quickly and had a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
Shortly after in the second quarter, the Greyhounds added two more touchdowns, making the score 35-0, before the Ducks responded. Ducks senior quarterback Ryan Valdez found Jacob Mikulencak wide open for a touchdown to cut the Greyhounds lead to 28-7.
But momentum stayed on the Greyhounds’ sideline, and they were able to punch in one more score before halftime.
After halftime the Greyhounds picked up where they left off running the ball effectively and added another score to increase their lead to 42-7. They Greyhounds ran the ball so well that standout quarterback Jaxon Baize did not have to throw the ball often.
“We’re a balanced team and we want to do whatever to help us win,” Hendrix said. “If we can run it, we’ll run it. If we can throw it, we’ll throw it. But we were really balanced tonight. We ran the ball well and it opened up shots downfield.”
With time running out, the Ducks had one more shot on offense to find the end zone and did just that to bring the final score to 42-13.
Despite the loss Houston was extremely proud of his group and said a lot of people will talk about this season’s team in the near future.
“I told the guys this, ‘Boerne was not always this good and there was one team that laid the foundation for where they are.’ And I told them we are the team that has laid the foundation,” Houston said. “We planted the seeds we just have to keep watering them.”
The Ducks season has come to an end, but the Greyhounds remain on the hunt for a state championship trophy.
