By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
KINGSVILLE — Sharyland High wasn’t stunned it beat Calallen on Friday.
What did come as something of a surprise was the manner in which the Rattlers neutralized the run-first Wildcats in a 28-0 area-round win at Javelina Stadium.
Sharyland surrendered only 165 yards (97 on the ground), keeping Chris Price (35 yards), J.D. Savanich (29) and Reece Barrett (22 yards) well below their season averages. And they did it by forcing Calallen into four 3-and-outs through the opening half and a punt in a 3rd-and-30 situation in the third quarter, as they set up a regional quarterfinal tilt with Cedar Park.
“It feels great to know that we could shut out a big running team, a school that’s known to go pretty deep in the playoffs,” defensive end Aaron Serna said.
The Wildcats (7-5) had history on their side. They had never lost to a Valley school in the postseason. They hadn’t been shutout in a playoff game since a 28-0 loss to Carrollton Hebron in the 2006 state title game.
All of this with Phil Danaher, the second-winningest coach in Texas high school football history with 407 wins, watching from the Calallen sideline.
“I’m totally shocked at the way we performed offensively,” Danaher said. “This didn’t look like the same ball club that last week scored 57 points (to beat Somerset). I’m going to have to look at film and find out what the heck happened here. We just didn’t execute that well.”
Not only did the run game fall short, but the Wildcats could never establish much of anything in the air. Quarterback Gaige Lamb never connected on consecutive passes, coming up empty on 15 of 20 attempts for only 41 yards and one interception.
Penalties played a big factor, too, for the Wildcats, who gave away 93 yards on 12 infractions.
Quarterback Lance Madden again led the way for the Rattlers. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 198 yards, connecting on two scoring strikes. He also ran for 105 yards on 16 attempts, scoring twice, including a 41-yard dart to the end zone.
“We came into the game knowing they were 27-0 against Valley teams in the playoffs, so we came here wanting to break records and we did that,” Madden said.
Madden’s two scores in the final 1:23 of the opening half helped create separation.
He heaved a 30-yard pass to the end zone that was batted away by Calallen’s Miguel Cantu, only to be hauled in by Seth Carter. On their next offensive possession, Sharyland needed only 22 seconds before Madden found Loredo Guerra for an 8-yard score, taking a 21-0 lead into intermission.
“Our perimeter blocking did great tonight,” Madden said. “Without our blocking, we wouldn’t have gotten those points.”
Manny Campos had one of his better games of the season, as well, totaling 115 yards on eight catches, helping the Rattlers win their eighth consecutive game.
Now, Sharyland will take on Cedar Park (9-3), which beat Boerne Champion 49-27. The Rattlers will play in their third regional quarterfinal game in as many years at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio.
“Coach said to keep practicing, better than last week. Go get them,” Serna said. “It’s going to be a good game. They’re a good team.”