With the win, the Panthers secured the second seed in District 16-3A DII postseason, while Santa Rosa was handed the fourth and will play Goliad in the bi-district playoff match next week. District rivals Lyford defeated Bishop in their Friday night game to move ahead of the Warriors and take the third spot.
“We need to regroup, get our mind right and play as a confident team next week,” said Santa Rosa head coach Arturo Garcia. “It’s the Texas high school football playoffs and we’re excited about the opportunity to represent Santa Rosa.”
From the get go it was evident that the wet field didn’t slow Aransas Pass very much as the offense scored on their first two possessions to take a quick 13-0 lead with 4:33 left to play in the first.
However the Warriors never gave up and kept playing hard until the final whistle. But turnovers played a big part in the game.
“It’s hard to beat anybody when you are beating yourselves with turnovers,” said Garcia.
A bright spot for the Warriors came from senior Wally Olivarez who was a relentless on defense and offense where he rushed for 121 yards on 19 carries.
After the break the Panthers continued where they left off when running back Jalen Hill scored on a 65-yard touchdown from the first play of the second half.
The junior finished the game with 103 yards on seven carries.
“They (Aransas Pass) played well and didn’t make many mistakes,” said Garcia. “Their quarterback was very shifty and a tough runner. He made some big plays for them in the first half.”