Llano travels to Wimberley for another big district game
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
LLANO — After starting District 13-4A Division II play against top team Navarro, the Llano football team will travel to Wimberley, who many believe is the second-best team in the district.
The two meet at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at Texan Stadium, 200 Texan Blvd. in Wimberley.
At one time, Wimberley (6-1 overall, 1-0 district) was a run-first offensive unit. That’s not the case anymore, Llano head coach Craig Slaughter said, noting the Texans throw about 65 percent of the time thanks to quarterbacks Jordan Weeks, a junior who has completed 62 of 112 attempts for 829 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions and has 28 carries for 139 yards and three scores, and senior Davin Masur, who has completed 22 of 36 attempts for 258 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions and has 27 carries for 128 yards and three scores.
The top receiver, junior Gavin Martinez has 23 receptions for 378 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Colby Crowder has 15 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown, junior Cade Stoever has 20 catches for 153 yards and a score, and junior Wyatt Man has 10 receptions for 153 yards.
“They let their quarterbacks wing it,” Slaughter said. “The receivers definitely have speed. Their offensive line is massive and big. The offensive linemen do a great job in pass protection one on one. We have to get to the quarterback.”
The offensive line is led by junior offensive tackle Ian Burnette, a 6-foot 4-inch 280-pounder.
Defensively, the Texans are led by senior linebacker Ben Garza, a three-year starter, junior linebacker Matt Mitchell, sophomore linebacker Jake Cockerham, and senior defensive end Kade Morris.
“They are ultra-aggressive,” Slaughter said.
Expect to see a lot of man-to-man coverage in the secondary with the front seven simply trying to beat their matchups one on one.
Slaughter said not making game-changing mistakes — a drive stalling because of a turnover that results in Wimberley scoring — is a big key to this game. He noted the Yellow Jackets (2-5, 0-1) have played defense well enough to win, so the offense must do more to help.
“We have to find points and make them feel like we’re in this game,” he said.
The Yellow Jackets are entering the game after a 42-0 loss to Navarro on Oct. 7.
The Panthers led 14-0 at the half, though Llano was inside Navarro’s five-yard line twice and didn’t score.
One of the two Jacket fumbles came when a receiver caught the ball and was about to cross the end zone. At the time, Llano trailed 7-0. Instead, Navarro ran it back to the Llano 40 and later scored.
“We were hoping to tie it back up,” Slaughter said. “We got down and didn’t show up quite as regularly after the two possessions.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com