Llano faces run-heavy Crystal City in bi-district game
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
LLANO — To ensure the Llano High School football team’s return to the Class 4A Division II playoffs isn’t short-lived, the Yellow Jackets must contain a potent Crystal City rushing attack, according to Llano head coach Craig Slaughter.
The two teams meet at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Bulldog Field, 474 Old San Antonio Highway in Bandera. Llano (3-7 overall, 1-3 in district) enters the postseason as the third-place team from District 13-4A Division II, and Crystal City (8-2, 3-1) is the second seed out of District 14-4A Division II.
Llano, which has won 10 playoff games in its history, is the third seed because Lytle’s 42-39 defeat of Hondo 42-39 on Nov. 6 wasn’t by a large enough of a margin for the Pirates to hang onto third place. Llano was last in the playoffs in 2013.
Llano will lean heavily on sophomore running back Mason Greenwood, who has 180 carries for 914 yards and seven touchdowns and 23 receptions for 234 yards and two touchdowns this season, and sophomore quarterback Ben Walling, who has 39 carries for 214 yards and a touchdown.
The key for the Jackets offense is staying on schedule. That means avoiding penalties, sacks and missed blocks where Llano doesn’t get positive yards on each play.
Crystal City has a 70-30 percent run-to-pass ratio, Slaughter said, preferring to set up in a power-I formation. Junior quarterback Sebastian Mendoza also uses play action from the formation.
“The quarterback will keep it, and they’ll pitch it,” Slaughter said. “It’s back to discipline assignment football.”
The Javelinas are led by freshman running back David Patino, who more than 650 rushing yards, and junior running back Freddie Luna, who has more than 350 yards. Sophomore tailback Austin Sanchez is the pitchman on the option.
“They’re all similar caliber,” Slaughter said. “They rotate them in and out.”
Mendoza has thrown for more than 700 yards this season, while senior tight end Carlos Flores has more than 550 receiving yards.
“Our linebackers have to do a really good job sorting out when it’s a run fake,” Slaughter said. “On offense on the play fake, they love to throw the ball to the tight end. There’s no time to react. They’re five or six yards down the field and getting into the secondary.”
Llano’s defense, however, has played well throughout the season, specifically in losses to San Angelo Lake View (28-14) and Wall (28-13), two opponents that remind Slaughter of Crystal City. Against Lake View, the Jackets had two interceptions and forced a turnover on downs.
“I’m extra high on our defense,” Slaughter said.
That’s the biggest reason he feels he can take calculated risks as the offensive play caller, he said, because the defense has shown it can come up with timely plays to keep the Jackets in the game. At the same time, Slaughter said there’s a balance of being aggressive enough to give the offense extra yards for a fresh set of downs or flipping the field position to protect the defense.
In addition, the Llano defense has gotten more turnovers than the offense has given up, and, usually, that leads to wins. But in Llano’s case, that hasn’t always been true this season.
“I feel like we left points on the field too many times,” Slaughter said. “We’re going with the mindset of ‘Let’s find 20 points or more, and our defense will play rock solid.’”
The Crystal City defense is led by senior linebacker Christian Adame and senior nose guard Christian Hernandez.
“I’ll feel much better on Friday if we can block them,” Slaughter said. “Hernandez lines up at nose guard and is right in your face. He makes plays.”
In addition, the Javelinas junior kicker Davon Simmons has a knack for placing the ball anywhere he wants, and that includes squib kicks.
“There’s nothing that won’t come out of that bag of tricks,” Slaughter said. “We’ve worked a lot on special teams.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com