Marble Falls football loses to La Vernia

CAPTION: Marble Falls junior receiver Jett Marcum leaps in celebration with senior tight end Noah Lyon after Marcum catches a touchdown pass while junior receiver Kaden Langbein hurries to congratulate Marcum. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School football team lost to La Vernia 34-14 Sept. 27.

The Mustangs (2-3) begin preparations for a road game at Devine at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.

“We gave La Vernia a chance to be the better team,” Marble Falls head coach Keri Timmerman said. “We didn’t take opportunities when they showed; we took away opportunities from ourselves.”. 

Junior defensive back Joaquin Aguilar caught an interception on the first possession of the contest, though the Bears held and forced the Mustangs to punt.

La Vernia fumbled on their next possession when senior linebacker Noah Lyon forced the ball carrier to lose the ball.

On third down, tight end Lyon caught the ball in the end zone, but it was wiped out because of a holding call and a personal foul. That forced Marble Falls into a third and 42. The Mustangs eventually threw an interception.

Marble Falls senior defensive back Carter Hughes caught an interception to keep the game scoreless as the first quarter ended.

But that changed in the second quarter when La Vernia junior running back Sean Garza ran to pay dirt for a 7-0 lead that went to 20-0.

In the final minutes of the second quarter, the Mustangs reached the end zone when junior receiver Jett Marcum caught a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Colton Minor. Marcum added the extra point to trim the deficit to 20-7 at the half.

After the Mustangs punted on the opening possession of the second half, the Bears marched 64 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown when junior halfback Peyton Stahl scored from a yard out for the 27-7 advantage. The drive took 5:41 to finish.

On the kickoff, Aguilar ran at least 40 yards. That and a La Vernia penalty gave Marble Falls a first down on the La Vernia 29. Seven plays later, the Mustangs scored when junior fullback Doak Timmerman took the handoff and stopped to make a jump pass at the line of scrimmage. Lyon was by himself in the end zone. As he was falling, he caught the ball for the score from four yards out to cut the deficit to 27-14 with 1:32 left in the third quarter.

La Vernia recovered the onside kick and covered 54 yards in four plays highlighted by Garza’s 19-yard run to the end zone with 11:54 remaining in the contest.

The Mustangs punted on their next possession, which allowed the Bears to keep possession for almost nine minutes. On the 14th play, they punted to Marble Falls, which ran out the clock.

“I think our kids play hard and I think we’re not aligned right a lot of time,” Timmerman said. “They did a good job of making plays when they presented themselves. (La Vernia is) well coached and they’re set up well. (They) just do a good job scheme-wise. Our kids play hard and I think right now … we don’t always put ourselves in position to make the play that’s necessary to get us (moving) up field.” 

The Bears racked up 502 yards of total offense with 469 of those coming on the ground. Garza had 31 rushes for 320 yards.

Marble Falls had 132 yards of total offense. Minor completed 14 of 24 passes for 102 yards wit a touchdown and interception. Becker had nine receptions for 62 yards.

One challenge is the number of Marble Falls linemen who are still adjusting and learning how to play on the varsity level where they face linemen who may be bigger, stronger, wider more experienced. Timmerman noted La Vernia’s linemen had all three traits and backed that up with a stingy defense.

“We have some young offensive linemen that are trying to figure out scheme,” he said. “We had a new starter and at right guard, Carson Parmer. We were trying to create some opportunities for (the offense) and we needed to throw the ball because their safeties are around the box, and we did that. We missed some opportunities because we’re young and the quarterback is still learning. We’re just trying to put together drives that we can connect when we can’t lineup and maul over people and they can’t lineup and throw to people. So we’re trying to mix the (run and pass) and right now, we give ourselves opportunities and then we kind of hurt ourselves at times. So we’re trying to work on cleaning that up and creating a consistent offense.” 

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