Llano gets 10th playoff victory in a bi-district game vs. Crystal City

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

BANDERA — The first offensive play of the night set the tone for the Llano High School football team’s 42-26 Class 4A Division II bi-district win, the program’s 10th postseason victory, against Crystal City on Nov. 13.

Llano senior receiver Clayton Miller took a pitch on a jet sweep and stopped in the flat to find senior receiver Airon Layton for a 63-yard touchdown. Then, Miller found senior fullback Dorian Green on the two-point pass to give the Yellow Jackets (4-7 overall) an 8-0 lead 18 seconds into the contest.

“That was a big start to the game,” head coach Craig Slaughter said. “We thought we had a shot at that play. Happy to see it. You work on the play, you hit the play.”

Llano will now face Sinton at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20 at Edgewood Stadium, 1650 W. Thompson PI in San Antonio.

Llano’s advantage quickly went to 15-0 after the defense forced the Javelinas (8-3) into a punt.

That touchdown was courtesy of Llano sophomore quarterback Ben Walling, who scored the first of his two one-yard touchdowns. His first score completed a six-play, 52-yard drive in two minutes 31 seconds in the opening period.

Crystal City trimmed the lead to 15-6 on its next possession when junior quarterback Sebastian Mendoza scored on a one-yard plunge with 1:20 left in the first quarter.

Walling responded with his second one-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive for a 22-6 advantage. That completed the eight-play, 45-yard drive in about 90 seconds with 9:41 left in the half.

Crystal City sophomore running back Austin Sanchez ran back the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to cut the deficit to 22-12 with 9:28 left in the second quarter.

Llano senior receiver John Heflin took a pitch on a jet sweep 60 yards to paydirt to increase the Jackets’ lead to 29-12 with 8:36 left in the half. That finished a two-play, 63-yard drive in 1:02.

Javelina senior wide receiver Carlos Flores caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Mendoza to trim the deficit to 29-20 with 6:01 left in the half that also was the halftime score. The eight-play, 62-yard drive took 2:35 to finish.

Llano sophomore running back Mason Greenwood got the scoring going in the second half when he hit paydirt from one-yard out for a 36-20 lead with 2:21 in the third quarter. The nine-play, 55-yard drive took 4:20 to finish.

Miller scored on a nine-yard plunge to give the Jackets a 42-20 lead with 7:28 left in the contest. The nine-play, 45-yard drive took 4:38 to complete.

Javelina freshman receiver David Patino caught a 22-yard pass from Mendoza to cut the deficit to 42-26 with 3:03 left in the contest. The 13-play, 61-yard drive took 4:25 to finish.

Greenwood had 27 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown, while Walling had six carries for 26 yards and three touchdowns.

The Jackets defense limited the Javelinas to 225 yards of total offense.

Slaughter chuckled as he thought back to the way the game started. He noted that he had called two other similar plays in other contests in his career and lost both. So his assistant coaches cautioned him to weigh the pros and cons.

“If it works, it keeps your kids up,” he said. “I think right away it lets your kids know ‘Game on.’ It’s awesome. I love it for the kids. You feel a sense of accomplishment for the kids.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com