Burkeville ends Comanche
hopes for a bid at state
Friday, November 30, 2001
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CONROE -- Turnovers, missed tackles and the big play were the demise of the Shiner Comanches last Friday in Conroe in the Region IV Class 1A regional playoff.
Shiner had six turnovers - five fumbles and one interception - in a 38-22 loss to the Burkeville Mustangs. And as was the case last year, the Mustangs capitalized and turned Shiner mistakes into touchdowns.
In addition, the Comanches gave up the big plays, including an 80-yard punt return, a 94-yard touchdown run and a 38 and 48 yard TD run.
Adron Price puts the pressure on quarterback Brandon Lewis. The Comanches played good pass defense as the Mustangs completed no passes. (all photos by Shiner Gazette)
"I said before the game, and all along; we can't have turnovers and we can't give up the long run. We did both tonight," said Shiner coach Billy Turek. "But our kids hung in there and fought back. I'm proud of them."
Offensive coordinator, Steve Cerny, said the mistakes hurt and "we couldn't contend with their speed early. We were in better condition and once we wore them down we had a chance in the second half but we just didn't do it."
Burkeville's speedster, Jonathan Lewis rushed for 220 yards on 15 carries while teammate Eric Spearman carried 22 times for 101 yards. Lewis broke the big plays, while Spearman and quarterback Brandon Lewis, who ran for 80 yards, led the ground offensive from the line of scrimmage.
Eric Murphy led Shiner with 130 yards on 18 carries. Bryan Franklin had 97 and Garet Pustka 30. Pustka was 7-13 with one interception for 90 yards. Franklin caught four passes, including a fourth quarter TD toss, while Steven Evans and Eric Murphy pulled in one apiece.
Garet Pustka finds running room around Phillip Perkins for good yardage on this play.
Shiner kicked off to open the game, but a short kick gave Burkeville the ball on their 49-yard line. Aided by a Shiner off side penalty, the Mustangs got a first down to the Comanche 38 from where Jonathan Lewis got free after a missed tackle and rambled 38 yards for the score.
Less than two minutes later, Lewis returned a Comanche punt 80 yards for a Mustang TD. Both extra point attempts failed but Burkeville had a 12-0 lead with 8:47 still left in the first period.
The Comanches got their first down on their next possession but a sack and fumble forced a Shiner punt. The Comanche defense then held and the Mustangs were force to punt. Shiner had to punt back and on Burkeville's first play, a holding penalty sent the Mustangs back to the 12.
Shawn Flores wraps up the runner for a loss in regional action against Burkeville
The Comanches then got their only break of the game when Adron Price recovered a Brandon Lewis fumble on the Mustang 7-yard line. The Comanches were on the verge of scoring but on Franklin's second carry of the series, the ball popped loose and the Mustangs recovered as the quarter ended.
On the second play from scrimmage, J. Lewis closed the door another notch on Shiner's hopes as he eluded several tacklers and raced 94 yards for his third touchdown of the game and an 18-0 Mustang lead.
A fumble on Shiner's next possession set up another opportunity for Burkeville on the Comanche 46. After an incomplete pass, quarterback Brandon Lewis set the Comanches further into a hole with a 46-yard TD scamper. Shiner was down 24-0 at the half.
The Comanches came out in the second half all fired up. Eric Murphy returned the kick off 14 yards to the 33. A quick pass to Steven Evans picked up 27 yards to Burkeville's 40-yard line. Franklin then broke loose up the middle for Shiner's first touchdown.
Eric Murphy sidesteps would be tacklers in fourth quarter action against the Burkeville Mustangs.
Good defensive work, high-lighted by a Shawn Flores sack on fourth down put Shiner in business on their 38-yard line. But only for a few seconds as Brandon Lewis picked off a Pustka pass on the Comanche 32.
The Mustangs used three plays to move to the Comanche eight and despite excellent defense by Robbie Pavelka and Flores and the Shiner line on two downs, Spearman scored on a sweep from 8-yards out. Lewis' pass to Matt Smithson upped the Mustang lead to 32-6.
Another Comanche fumb!e, plus a 15-yard penalty set Burkeville on the Comanche 14. A holding penalty backed the Mustangs to the 19. Kelsey Pohler broke up a pass in the end zone, but Spearman then picked up 14 yards to the five from where J. Lewis bulled in for the final touchdown and a 38-6 lead.
Following the kick off Shiner used a 3:20, 10-play drive to cut the lead to 38-14. Good blocking by Franklin opened up running room for Murphy on the 69-yard drive. Murphy rushed for 51 yards on the drive. Pustka finished the drive on a 6-yard TD run and then tacked on the 2-point run to close the margin to 38-14 with :20 left in the third period.
Bryan Franklin is all alone in the end zone to pull down this pass for a touchdown in fourth quarter action.
The Comanches held the Mustangs on downs on the first possession of the final quarter and set up shop on the Comanche 40. After an incomplete pass to Franklin, Pustka handed to Murphy on three consecutive plays to the 25. Pustka then hit Franklin in the end zone for the score. Murphy ran in the 2-point conversion for a 38-22 score.
Shiner's onside kick worked as Quentin Wright recovered on the Mustang 44. The Comanches gave the baIl right back on a muffed exchange between Pustka and Murphy.
The Comanches got the ball back on downs with 5:38 left in the game. Shiner put together a 45-yard drive to the Mustang 26 where Shiner lost its fifth fumble and any hope of a comeback.
Burkeville then ran out the clock and savored a 38-22 win to advance to the quarterfinals against Sabine Pass, a 46-34 winner over Falls City.GAME STATISTICS Shiner Burkeville First Downs 18 16 Yards Rushing 29-246 49-409 Yards Passing 90 0 Passes 7-13-1 0-4-0 Punts 4-38.5 3-28.6 Fumbles-lost 6-5 1-1 Penalties-yards 3-25 5-45 SCORING DETAILS Shiner 0 0 14 8 -- 22 Burkeville 12 12 14 0 -- 38 First Quarter B - Jonathan Lewis 38 run (kick failed), 10:30 B - J. Lewis 80 punt return (run failed), 8:47 Second Quarter B - J. Lewis 94 run (run failed), 11:06 B - Brandon Lewis 46 run (run failed), 10:16 Third Quarter S - Bryan Franklin 41 run (pass failed), 11:26 B - Eric Spearman 8 run (B. Lewis pass to Matt Smithson) 5:40 B - J. Lewis 5 run (run failed), 3:51 S - Garet Pustka 6 run (Pustka run), 0:20 Fourth Quarter S - Franklin 25 pass from Pustka (Eric Murphy run), 7:53
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