Shiner’s Doug Brooks fights for yardage Friday against Hearne in Giddings. Shiner will play Refugio at 7:30 p.m Friday at San Antonio’s Dub Farris Stadium.. [ NOTE: click photo to enlarge ]

GIDDINGS — Shiner’s defense came up big time and time again Friday afternoon at Buffaloes Stadium in Giddings against Hearne in the 2ADI area round.

Shiner lost a trio of fumbles but Hearne could only captalize on one of the turnovers and had trouble getting through most of the other times as the Comanches rolled to a 55-20 win.

“It was definitely a great test for us heading into next week with a possible matchup against Refugio,” linebacker Lane Nevlud said. “I thought we handled Hearne really well. They have lots of good skilled and we gave up a big play here and there but overall I thought we did well.”

“Defense played great. Gave up two big plays to a very athletic Hearne team,” Shiner head coach Steven Cerny said.

Despite the turnovers, Shiner ran to a big win and was led by running back Donyai Taylor who racked up 262 yards and scored five touchdowns. Doug Brooks added one score, Tyler Mikes had a touchdown pass to Cross Rankin and CJ Miller had a 3-yard pick six.

Overall, Shiner had over 400 yards of offense with 391 yards on the ground.

“First time we have played all four quarters with the offensive line starters so we were a little gassed,” Cerny said. “At the same time, Hearne got tired as well. I thought we hung in there well and held out better than they did going into the fourth quarter. I think that was the difference in the game.”

The Comanches opened the game with a three-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 45-yard run by Taylor on the third play. The Eagles got just 8 yards on their opening drive and punted.

Shiner took its time on the next drive, taking 13 plays and over six minutes to drive 69 yards, capped by an 8-yard run by Doug Brooks.

Hearne offensive lineman Anthony Jackson (66) tries to keep Shiner defensive end Michael Rodriquez (71) away from QB Micah Smith. [ NOTE: click photo to enlarge ]

photo by Mark Lube

Hearne went three plays and had just a 5-yard punt to its 31. Taylor took a toss and took it to the house for a 20-0 Shiner lead with 58 seconds left in the first.

The Eagles returned the kickoff only to its 9 but got the 24 after pass-interfence call on Shiner and then quarterback Micah Smith hit Damian Duff on a little swing pass at or a little behind the line of scrimmage. Taking advantage of some blocking, Dunn took it for a 76-yard touchdown to get within 20-7.

Shiner fumbled the ball away on the next drive inside its own territory but the Comanches defense was able recover a loose ball at its 44 and needed four plays to score, getting a 39-yard run by Taylor.

The teams traded punts and later the Comanches muffed a Hearne punt at the Shiner 36. The drive stalled and Smith was sacked on third down to force another Eagle punt. Shiner then drove near the 50 but lost another fumble.

Shiner got another stop and it was fourth down with Hearne ready to punt again but the Comanches were whistled for a delay of game, making a fourth-and-8 into a fourth-and-3, and the Eagles decided to try to convert. They were successful on a 14-yard pass from Smith to Dunn.

With just a few seconds left until halftime, Smith threw a deep ball from Shiner 23 that Javareyon Bailey somehow came down with it in the end zone to get Hearne within 27-14.

The Eagles took the second half kickoff to their 26 and eventually got to Shiner’s 22 with some plays in the passing game but the drive ended in a turnover as Shiner picked up a fumble at its 25 and scored in eight plays as Taylor had a 47-yard at the 4:09 mark for a 34-14 lead.

The Eagles were uplifted as Bailey had an 81-yard kickoff return to the Comanche 19 and the drive ended a couple of minutes later on a 3-yard pass from Smith to Tyquez Tindle; Shiner blocked the point after and lead 34-20.

The Comanches answered with a 56-yard drive and a 33-yard run through the interior line by Taylor for his fifth of the day.

Shiner then continued the point burst as Smith was picked off by Miller for 48-20; Hearne fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Shiner concluded scoring with a fourth-down touchdown pass of 27 yards from Mikes to Rankin.

Shiner will meet Refugio in the regional round at 7:30 p.m Friday ( November 30, 2018 ) at Northside ISD Dub Farris Stadium in San Antonio.

The past two years, Shiner and Refugio have been in the same district; they met up in 2015 in the state quarterfinals with Refugio taking a close 17-14 win.

GAME STATISTICS

   Shiner 55, Hearne 20
     Second Round (Area) Playoff Game
     November 23, 2018, 1:00 p.m.
     Buffalo Stadium, Giddings


  SCORING SUMMARY

                  1    2    3    4      F
  Hearne          7    7    6    0  -- 20
  Shiner         20    7    7   21  -- 55

  SCORING DETAILS:

    First Quarter
      S - Donyai Taylor 45 run (Connor Winkenwerder kick), 10:41 1Q.
      S - Doug Brooks 8 run (Winkenwerder kick), 3:16 1Q.
      S - Taylor 33 run (kick failed), 0:58 1Q.
      H - Damian Dunn 76 pass from Micah Smith (Martin Lozano kick), 0:29 1Q.

    Second Quarter
      S - Taylor 39 run (Winkenwerder kick), 9:06 2Q.
      H - Javareyon Bailey 23 pass from Smith (Lozano kick), 0:00 2Q.

    Third Quarter
      S - Taylor 47 run (Winkenwerder kick), 4:09 3Q.
      H - Tyquez Tindle 3 pass from Smith (kick blocked), 1:30 3Q.

    Fourth Quarter
      S - Taylor 33 run (Winkenwerder kick), 9:59 4Q.
      S - CJ Miller 3 interception return (Winkenwerder kick), 8:24 4Q.
      S - Cross Rankin 27 pass from Tyler Mikes (Winkenwerder kick), 5:00 4Q.


  TEAM STATISTICS:

                       Hearne       Shiner
    First downs             9           20
    Rushes-yards      14-(-6)       52-391
    Passing yards         212           27
    Passes            16-28-1          1-2
    Penalties-yards      6-45         5-43
    Fumbles-lost          3-3          3-3
    Punts-aver         6-29.5       1-50.0


  INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

  Rushing
    H: Elijah Chappel 4-2, Anquan Boxley 3-0, Micah Smith 7-(-8).
    S: Donyai Taylor 22-262, Doug Brooks 17-93, Zane Rhodes 8-32, Trevor Haynes 2-6,
       Tyler Mikes 1-0, Team 2-(-2).

  Passing
    H: Smith 16-28-1-212.
    S: Mikes 1-2-0-27.

  Receiving
    H: Damian Dunn 7-121, Tyquez Tindle 5-36, Javareyon Bailey 2-38, Boxley 2-17.
    S: Cross Rankin 1-27.