Llano in playoff picture after 34-0 victory over Bandera
STAFF WRITER JENNIFER FIERRO
Llano High School head football coach Matt Green didn’t want to say it going into the contest against Bandera on Oct. 26, but no one knew better why the outcome of the Yellow Jackets-Bulldogs game was vitally important to District 14-4A Division II standings.
Simply, the winner would take a giant step toward clinching a playoff berth.
When Llano (5-3 overall, 0-3 district) decisively beat Bandera 34-0, the Yellow Jackets also took the first tiebreaker, which is the head-to-head result in case the two teams have the same district record with two games left.
That win also means that when Llano hosts Wimberley at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at Llano Stadium, 400 Texas 71 East, the Yellow Jackets and the Texans will be playing for third place in the district standings.
The Jackets still have a shot at winning seven games this season, something they haven’t accomplished in more than a decade.
As for the win over Bandera (1-6-1, 0-3), Green said there wasn’t much about which a coach could complain.
“I thought it was a really complete game on our kids’ part,” he said. “We came out and jumped right on them and scored on four of six possessions.”
Senior quarterback Cade Fly was a focal point of the offense and responsible for four touchdowns – two passing and two running.
Fly completed 10 of 18 passes for 155 yards and two scores and ran for 69 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.
Green said coaches purposely made Fly the center of attention.
“We made plays in the passing game. We made plays in the running game,” Green said. “Throughout the season, we’ve tried to keep our quarterback healthy. In this game, we had to run the quarterback. Cade played really well.”
Two Llano touchdowns came from the defense forcing and recovering turnovers, which demonstrated just how dominant the Yellow Jackets were on that side of the ball.
Llano led 27-0 at the half.
Bandera recovered an onside kick to start the third quarter and drove to the Llano 15 but turned the ball over on downs.
The Jackets were forced to punt, and the Bulldogs kept the ball until the final 30 seconds of the period.
Once Llano got to 34 points, Green pulled his starters and let reserves play the rest of the game.
Sophomore Case Kuykendall had 53 yards and a score on four carries and four catches for 72 yards. Senior receiver Brooks Keele caught one pass for a 32-yard touchdown, while senior Kendall Downey had two receptions for 23 yards and a score.