Llano 14 - Liberty Hill 63
Llano 27 - Blanco 13
Llano 10 - Early 13
Llano 19 - Commanche 0
Llano 41 - Vista Ridge 20
Llano 34 - Comfort 20
Llano 48 - Ingram 27
Llano 24 - Brady 26
Llano 35 - Bandera 26
Llano 17 - Wimberly 42

Play to Win Archives

2003

2004

LISD Football Records

Play To Win

By Mikel R. Virdell…recording the history of the Fighting Llano Yellowjackets since 1973.

The Llano Yellowjackets played one of the best football teams in Central Texas Friday night and the end result may be that Llano came away from the 63-14 licking with a lesson learned, and be even more prepared as District 27 AAA gets very serious over the next three weeks.

High hopes filled Yellowjacket Nation after last weeks’ defeat of an undefeated Ingram team. But if there were a wheel that could come off the wagon Friday night…it came off.

THE BAD…Liberty Hill scored from 53 yards out on their third play from scrimmage…. the Panthers had TD runs of 64, 45, 40, and 46 yards. TD passes of 73 and 50 yards. A killer of a drive by the Panthers at the end of the first quarter…15 plays, 80 yards. It was a long night.

The UGLY…two fumbles by Llano that resulted in touchdowns. 9 penalties for 75 yards. Poor discipline in spots. Poor ball handling in spots. All by our players that normally do not make these mistakes. Lessons learned.
THE GOOD…Hard to say this was not expected when you look at the big picture. This is not to make excuses for Llano. But Llano shot itself in the foot, and the Panthers cashed in. The Panthers under head coach Jerry Vance have one of most established programs in the State. His running attack offense broke National Records last year, with most all players back for this year. Their running backs have over 5000 yards in career rushing…each! This was not their first dance. They are good, and they have “that attitude” that will show no quarter. When they get ahead they are off to the races. And Liberty Hill keeps their key players in the game until the end. On our side of the field, we might think they are running up the score. The bigger picture is the Panthers are getting ready to make a serious run for a State Championship. The Panthers will not be bothered by hurt feelings.

Llano did show bursts of speed and play making that made our Ingram game make us feel warm and cozy. Llano averaged over 6 yards per rushing carry. Llano came right back after the Panther’s first score, and went 60 yards to match Liberty Hill, ending with a pass of 10 yards from junior Jordan Leverettt to junior Shane Pope, and another great run by junior Josh Yocum of 13 yards for the TD. Llano’s running game was nearly up to par. Brenden Long had 6 strong carries for 37 yards. Lance Dickey had 7 carries for 42 yards. Pope’s 165 yards is a bit over his average against a good football team. Yocum is just getting better on every carry.

The offensive line had a longer night than most, but it has to go down as a great lesson learned. Liberty Hill is lightening fast in the trenches. Our lineman I thought played very well. Many times they just got beat. But not beaten. With junior center Jonathan Hill out with an injury, senior Kyle Miiller moved over and played strong. Worry of bad snaps and fumbles between the center and quarterback…did not happen. Great effort by Kyle. Tyler Hoerster played very good. Senior Zack Langford had a very good game. So did senior Brent Wooten.

Junior Neil Stripling played with the big boys and did not back down. Nor did senior Justin Fry or sophomore Michael Anderson. With this game, our lineman played against super competition. They all now can elevate their own game and quality of play. They must in order to get the Jackets to the play-offs.

The Yellowjacket defense had great plays. But other plays allowing the long runs were more from great downfield blocking than any lack of effort from Llano. Five times on first down Llano held Liberty Hill to one or less yards. The hitting by both teams was a fierce as any game I can remember. Continued great play from Llano linebackers Grant Morgan, Davis Willmann, and Andy Virdell. Sam Whitaker had a good game, as did Chris Severance and junior Patrick Bigger. Long again played well, and junior Jordan Clayton and senior T.J. Bunnell were plenty busy directing traffic on the Panther freeway. Robert Coffee was solid, and again, great effort on kickoffs from Garrett Thompson, David Lindley, Craig Miller, and senior Robert Schendel.

The “want to” was there. It just wasn’t going to happen this week. Llano needs to make the playoffs. Then meet Liberty Hill when both are at their best. About five weeks from now!

How could you not look forward to playing Brady? Brady made the playoffs last year, when it should have been Llano. Playing in Brady last year, we all remember the lighting storm, and the three-hour delay. The same delay that the Brady players and coaches went into their dressing room and studied game film of the first half, and Llano players lounged around on the gym floor playing goose! Brady came back and won. Brady went to the playoffs. Llano stayed home with an 8-2 record. Had Llano won, their 9-1 record would have given them a tri-championship.

These seniors are not that young. They have all heard the stories of Brady, and the fierce rivalry over the past 75 years. Either Llano is knocking Brady out of the playoffs, or visa-versa. 2005 is payback time.

Llano must win two of their remaining games to make the play-offs. Beating Brady is step # 1.

Llano 42 Brady 7