ROUND ROCK - Shiner's Chris Baer may have been the only one at Round Rock ISD Stadium on Saturday night who enjoyed the frigid temperatures.
Chris Baer (10) sweeps to the outside with several Chilton Pirate defenders in pursuit. (photo by Shiner Gazette)
"I was kind of glad it was so cold," Baer said. "It cooled me off. Otherwise, I know I would be hot."
Bear stayed hot enough to rush for 246 yards and two touchdowns and lead the Comanches to a 47-39 Class 1A semifinal victory over Chil-ton.
Shiner improved to 14-1 on the season and will go for its second state championship when it plays Windthorst, a 34-12 winner over Sunray, next Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Waco ISD Stadium.
The Comanches needed every one of the 456 rushing yards racked up by Baer, Garet Pustka and Quentin Wright to overcome an outstanding performance by Chilton quarterback Jamar Green.
Green rushed for 229 yards and four touchdowns, returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Corey Potts that forced Shiner to recover an onside kick with 12 seconds remaining to secure the win. "We did a good job moving the ball, but that quarterback (Green) is something else," Shiner coach Steve Cerny said.
Green scored on runs of 4, 36, 58 and 25 yards. But the one score Chilton failed to make helped turn the game in Shiner's favor.
The Pirates (13-2) drove to the Shiner 1-yard line with six seconds remaining in the first half. But running back Travis Landrum was stopped for no gain by Shiner defenders Jeremy Burchell and Clayton McCorkle and the Comanches took a 21-19 lead into the locker room.
Shiner quarterback Garet Pustka (1) eludes Chilton defenders Saturday in the Comanches' 47-39 Class 1A semifinal win over the Pirates. Pustka rushed for 118 yards and four touchdowns as Shiner seeks its first state title since 1986. (photo by Crossroads Legal Video)
"It took a lot out of us when we didn't get it in before halftime," said Chilton coach Lucky Gamble. "They made the big plays and we didn't."
The Comanches extended the lead to 40-19 when they scored on their first three possessions of the second half on runs of 1-yard by Baer, 6-yards by Pustka and 49 yards by Baer. "It just seems like I've been getting a lot more carries lately," said Baer, who had 32 rushing attempts. "I just had to put my head down and get the extra yards."
Pustka carried 15 times for 118 yards and four touchdowns and Wright had 14 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown.
"Our offensive line did a super job," Cerny said. "The sweep was big and I think we kind of wore them down. They had a lot guys going both ways and you could tell they were kind of struggling in the second half."
But Green twice pulled the Pirates within a touchdown, eluding five Shiner defenders on one of his touchdown runs.
"I told my teammates we would have to want it," Green said. "I think we wanted it. They just outplayed us."
Baer helped give the Comanches some breathing room when he had a 47-yard kickoff return to set up their final scoring drive.
Shiner needed 12 plays to score and the key play in the drive came on a 9-yard pass from Pustka to Casey Coleman on a fourth-and-five play from the 24. It was the Comanches' only completion of the night.
"I knew the pass would be there," Cerny said. "I just didn't know if we could execute it. I didn't think we could make it with the run and I didn't want to give the ball back to them because I knew they had the momentum, so I decided to go for it. Casey did just a great job of catching the ball."
Pustka scored five plays later and it proved just enough to send Shiner in search of its first state title since 1986.
"The coaches told us this team was better than Falls City and it was," said Baer, whose only break came on punts and extra points. "They took it to us, but we ended up on top."
STATISTICS SUMMARY Chilton Shiner First Downs 14 22 Yards Rushing 28-277 63-456 Yards Passing 80 9 Passes 3-11-1 1-5-0 Punts 3-31.7 2-18.5 Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 2-20 6-50 SCORING SUMMARY 1 2 3 4 Final Chilton 13 6 0 20 -- 39 Shiner 7 14 13 13 -- 47 SCORING DETAILS First Quarter C - Jamar Green 4 run (Victor Flores kick), 8:46 S - Quentin Wright 41 run (Ryan Kloesel kick), 5:23 C - Green 36 run (kick blocked), :11 Second Quarter S - Garet Pustka 24 run (Kloesel kick), 10:17 C - Green 58 run (pass failed), 8:20 S - Pustka 24 run (Kloesel kick), 2:19 Third Quarter S - Chris Baer 1 run (Kloesel kick), 5:14 S - Pustka 6 run (kick blocked), 1:36 Fourth Quarter S - Baer 49 run (kick failed), 9:02 C - Green 80 kickoff return (Flores kick), 8:48 C - Green 25 run (Flores kick), 6:53 S - Pustka 1 run (Kloesel kick), :39 C - Corey Potts 58 pass from Green (kick failed), :12 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Chilton, Jamar Green 19-229; Lamar Simpson 1-23; Travis Landrum 5-13; Bryan Childers 2-7; Dearis Brandon 1-5. Shiner, Chris Baer 32-246; Garet Pustka 15-118; Wright 14-107; Team 2-(-15). Passing: Chilton, Green 3-11-1 80. Shiner, Pustka 1-4-0 9; Baer 0-1-0 0. Receiving: Chilton, Corey Potts 1-58; Darvis Brandon 1-14; Simpson 1-8. Shiner, Casey Coleman 1-9.
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