The Woodland’s defense force two late fumbles, advance to the Area round of the playoffs
Humble – Even without the services of last year’s star RB Daniel Lasco and QB Joseph Schneider, the Woodlands have continued to find offensive power. Lasco, a three starter for the Highlanders, also played varsity as a freshman, is now at the University of California. Schneider (Colorado school of Mines).
Lance Miles threw four touchdown passes and the defense forced two fumbles to lead the Woodland Highlanders to a 42-31 victory over Klein Collins in the Class 5A Bi-District round of the playoffs on Friday night at Turner Stadium.
With the win, the Highlander’s move on to face Round Rock Westwood in next Saturday’s Area Round of the playoffs at Waco ISD Stadium.
Miles 31-yard TD pass to Cameron Glapesky with 10:41 left, gave the Highlanders a lead they would never relinquish. Defense set the tone, forcing the Tigers to punt from its 5-yard line. The short field setup shop at the Klein Collins 42. Glapesky found holes in the Tiger’s defense for 71 yards on four receptions when Web was double covered.
Miles finished his big night 15 of 25 for 318 yards with most of that going to Oklahoma State commit Blake Web who tallied 199 yards on four reception and three touchdowns.
The Woodland’s WR Web said, “They gave us a tight coverage early on and we were able to take advantage of that. Lance put it on the money; he had a lot time to get rid of the ball. Therefore, we’re happy with our performance tonight. We did what we had to do, to win. Shane Rhodes is an amazing receiver but we got a hold of him.”
Klein Collin’s sophomore LB Christian Snow recovered a fumble at the Tiger’s 43, halting the Woodlands first drive. Meanwhile, Klein Collins drove 57-yards to grab the lead on Tyler Stehling’s 21-yard swing pass touchdown to Boise State’s commit Shane Rhodes who was a thorn in the Highlander’s side with eight catches for 201 yards and two TDs.
The Woodlands (10-1) answered with a 4-play, 70-yard drive that watched Miles go up top to Web for the remaining 41-yards, tying the score at seven after Marshall Bainton’s PAT.
The trading of points continued as Tiger’s RB Ellison Powell broke free for a 64-yard TD run to put Klein Collins (8-3) up 14-7 after Rhett Peterson’s extra point kick. Defense stepped in, forcing punting situations for both the Highlanders and Tigers before the Woodland’s Miles found Web again, this time from 66- yards out, knotting the score at 14. Then Rhodes would record his second TD of the evening, on yet another swing pass, a 20-yarder, as Klein Collins regain the short lived lead, 21-14 with 11:14 to go in the second quarter.
After holding the powerful Highlander offense, Tiger’s kicker Peterson connected on a 22-yard field goal to increase the lead (24-14). However, not for long, as Miles would find his favor target, Web, to complete a 49-yard TD pass, drawing the Woodlands within three, 24-21 with 5:17 to go in the second quarter.
Both offenses continued its assult on the defense in the third quarter with the Highlanders holding a 31-28 advantage entering the fourth quarter.
Anchored by LB Garrett Hope, DE Mitchell Myers and DB Charlie Warren, the Highlanders defense ignited, holding Klein Collins on all four of its fourth quarter possessions, with two drives resulting in fumbles.
“Klein Collins has a great football team and we knew it was going to be down to the wire. Our kids were resilient, they kept fighting, believing and in the end good things happened and we won the game. I told them, don’t ever doubt yourselves, great things can happen with this team we have”, Mark Schmid said The Woodland’s Coach.
The last Tiger’s fumble prove to be the fatal blow, when Powell lost the ball in the red zone at the Highlanders 10.
“Turnovers at opportune times, that’s what hurt us toward the end. They’re a good football team and a good team will make you pay if you turn the football over, missed opportunities. We just didn’t make plays when we needed to and they did,” said Drew Svoboda, Klein Collins coach.
“These are two hard fought football teams. We knew this game would be like this but we just loss”, said Shane Rhodes. We had two turnovers in the second half, they had one. They won the turnover battle and when you do that, you win the game. On offense, we weren’t as consistent as have been in the last couple of games. I don’t remember the last time our defense gave up that many points.”
Tyler Stehling concluded his evening 14 of 23 with 242 yards and 2-TDs, Ellison Powell rushed for 121 yards on 25 carries and a score and in spot duty Marcus Goodson earned 64 yards on seven carries and a TD.