By MARK MOLINA, Staff Writer
CORPUS CHRISTI — Coming in as a heavy underdog, the Pace Vikings found themselves down just seven points with a first-and-goal at the Corpus Christi Miller 4 with less than one minute to play.
After netting just 1 yard in three running plays, Pace quarterback Jose Banda rolled out to his right on fourth down and threw a pass to the corner of the end zone out of the reach of his receiver’s hands.
Pace turned the ball over on downs, and Miller hung on for a 28-21 Class 5A Division I bi-district win Thursday night at Buc Stadium in Corpus Christi.
The Vikings end the season 6-5, and Miller will head to the area round a perfect 11-0.
“I think in the end, we just got too much in a hurry,” Pace coach Danny Pardo said. “We didn’t execute on the last play, but it is what it is. My kids played really well for being young, but not inexperienced now. Nobody gave us a chance, and Miller was averaging 60 points a game. I said, ‘Well, they haven’t played a bunch of little Mexicans.’ So I said, ‘Just go play,’ and they believe in what we do.”
The game was tied at 21 entering the fourth quarter, until Miller running back Marcell Davis broke a 72-yard run to put the Bucs up 28-21 with 9:42 to play.
After scoring 21 points during the first three quarters thanks to long, methodical drives and a strong running game, Pace was scoreless across the final 16-plus minutes of gameplay.
“We just didn’t execute with the game on the line,” Banda said. “When everything counted, we couldn’t execute. Everybody said we didn’t have a chance, but everybody came out trying their hardest and trying to take the win today. We couldn’t and I take part in it. It was my fault.”
Banda had a solid game, recording 144 yards rushing and 159 yards through the air with one passing score, and senior running back Dylan Barron rushed for 61 yards and two scores to lead the Vikings.
Pace opened the game with a 13-play, 62-yard drive that spanned nearly seven minutes and culminated in a 2-yard rushing score by Dylan Barron to make it 7-0 midway through the first.
After Miller turned the ball over on downs at its own 35, Banda hit receiver Jaylun Garcia — who was wide open after a Miller defender slipped — for a 31-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-0 with 2:38 left in the first.
The Vikings forced two first-half Miller turnovers (three total) and two turnovers on downs. The Bucs turned the ball over once during the regular season.
“It’s not what Pace did, it’s what we didn’t do,” Miller coach Justen Evans said. “They didn’t stop us all night. We just did stupid stuff like put the ball on the ground. We had more fumbles tonight than we had all season long. We just can’t do that to themselves. Kudos to my guys, I don’t care if we won by one point, we beat them.”
Miller ended the half by picking off Banda twice on defense and scoring 21 unanswered points on three touchdown passes by quarterback Andrew Body, who connected with Adrean Lloyd for two of them.
Pace’s Dylan Barron scored on two touchdown runs to lead the Vikings, and Banda threw a 31-yard touchdown to Garcia and kept drives alive with his legs throughout the night.
Miller’s Andrew Body threw for three first-half touchdowns to send Miller into the half up 21-14 after trailing 14-0.