Marble Falls football loses to Jarrell
CAPTION: The Marble Falls defense held Jarrell to about 200 yards of total offense during the contest Sept. 6. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School football team lost to Jarrell 21-14 Sept. 6 on the road.
“I thought they did a good job,” Mustangs head coach Keri Timmerman said of the Cougars. “They made less mistakes than we did. Offensively, they’re starting to find and know their identity. It’s a tough offense to defend. The kids did a phenomenal job of executing the second half coming out, scoring right off the bat. And then putting us in a position to have a chance to win the game. So I can’t say enough about our kids and our coaches executing. We’ve got to clean some things up, and I think that’s kind of the story right now. Our kids are learning to figure out what that looks like.”
With about 1:20 left in the contest, the Cougars (2-0) faced a fourth and one on the Marble Falls (1-1) 42-yard line. Junior fullback Jayden Hobbs got the carry. The Mustangs defensive line believed it had stopped the Cougar short. Officials, who were standing at the 41 as they called for a measurement, put the chains down then signaled first down.
“It’s a hard situation to be in, and I thought our kids handled it well,” Timmerman said. “If they got it, they got it by a little bit and kudos to them. Again, our kids put ourselves in a situation to be playing for a win with a minute and a half left and have timeouts. You can’t script it any better.”
Timmerman called a timeout and talked with the officials then asked the officials to put more time back on the clock. They added four seconds.
Jarrell ran one more play for no gain, took a knee on second down and a knee on third down, which ended the game.
Hobbs finished the contest by rushing for more than 130 yards on about 25 carries. The Cougars had about 200 yards of total offense with 12 of those through the air.
Marble Falls had 229 yards of total offense paced by the passing game. Senior quarterback Colton Minor completed 5 of 5 passes for 71 yards including a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Kole Becker to trim the deficit to 21-14 with 3:35 left in the contest.
Becker had 5 receptions for 98 yards including the score.
“We manage the run and pass, and I think they’re doing a good job, but we also have kind of a revolving door of linemen, either sick or injured,” the coach said. “So we’re trying to get a steady flow of who that’s going to be and working together.”
After the touchdown, the Mustangs tried an onside kick and didn’t get it, which allowed the Cougars to get the first down to keep possession and run out the clock.
“We had the onside kick that we had a chance to recover,” Timmerman said. “They fumbled it and we weren’t ready on the edge. One of our kids is there but not ready. And that’s one of the things that we’re emphasizing is that we’ve got kids that are working hard, but they’re not playing focused. And so we’ve got to fix that. We’ve got to make sure kids understand you have one role. What’s your job and make sure they understand it.”
Jarrell took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive of the game that went 67 yards on 15 plays that finished when Hobbs scored on a six-yard run. The drive took 8:10 to complete.
The Mustangs tried to respond on their next drive. On second and goal from the Cougar six-yard line, junior running back Joaquin Aguilar scored, but it was called back for holding. The drive ended on a missed field goal.
The Cougars began the second half with a touchdown drive that went 63 yards on 12 plays. It ended when Hobbs scored from two yards out. The drive ate 7:51 off the clock.
Trailing 14-0 with 3:53 left in the third stanza, the Mustangs used a heavy dose of Aguilar, who had runs of 20, 2, 18, 10 and 6 yards that resulted in the touchdown. The only play Aguilar didn’t touch the ball was when Minor hit Becker on a 12-yard pass. The six-play drive covered 66 yards in 2:34.
Aguilar finished with 10 rushes for 64 yards and a score.
Jarrell responded with a 43-yard touchdown run by Hobbs for the 21-7 lead with 8:35 remaining in the contest.
Timmerman was encouraged by the performance of his defense, noting the unit gave the Mustangs a chance at a win. After all, if the field goal is good and the touchdown isn’t called back, the outcome could have swung differently.
“For all intense purposes, we hold them to 14 points and then gave up one big play that was fourth and long,” he said. “For a physical tough offense to prepare for, … our kids did a great job. They had one drive in the first half that they took some time off. The kids executed the defensive plan against a high-level offense. We started a little slow and that can’t happen. We’ve just got to be able to make the plays when they show up. ”
Marble Falls travels to play at Llano at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13. The Yellow Jackets (1-1) lost to Comanche 34-12 Sept. 6.
Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.
