Lampasas outlasts Canyon Lake for co-district championship

CAPTION: Canyon Lake’s Harris Gilliam slices his way through the Lampasas Badgers’ defense during the two teams’ Nov. 3 contest. The Hawks and Badgers traded blows throughout the game, but in the end, Lampasas added to late fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure a 53-34 victory. Photo by Daniel Clifton

The Lampasas High School football team needed the final three minutes of their road game against the Canyon Lake Hawks to lock in a part of the District 13-4A Division I crown. The Hawks (2-8 overall, 1-4 District 13-4A Division I) gave the Badgers a battle throughout the Nov. 3 game in Fischer with Lampasas winning 53-34.

That final Lampasas (8-2 overall, 4-1 District 13-4A Div I) touchdown came with 3:19 left to put the game on ice.

The contest featured a number of big plays from both teams, but the Badgers, led by sophomore running back Jett Walker and junior quarter back Reed Jerome, managed a couple more than the Hawks.

Canyon Lake jumped out to a 7-0 lead when senior Trevin Cutrer raced 75 yards on the opening drive for a touchdown.

However, the lead didn’t last too long as the Badgers scored on their first drive. Jerome connected with Ty Johnson on a 58-yard touchdown pass to tie things up.

At the 7:46 mark in the second quarter, the Badgers took a 14-7 lead thanks to a 24-yard Jerome-to-Haegen Oncken touchdown pass.

The Hawks responded with a solid drive capped off by a Steven Crowder-to-Harris Gilliam 5-yard touchdown pass. Once again, the game was tied up at 14-14.

But then Lampasas’ Walker lived up to his first name — Jett — when he took the handoff on the Badgers’ own 16-yard line and raced through the Hawks’ defense, cutting across the field at one point, for an 84-yard touchdown run.

Walker finished with 263 yards on 19 carries for the night.

With 33 seconds left in the first half, Crowder tied it up again with a plunge into the end zone.

Twenty-two seconds later, the Badgers took a 27-21 lead going into the half when Jerome connected with Bryson Roberts for a 37-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion attempt failed.

The two teams continued this type of scoring pattern in the third quarter. Lampasas added to its lead with a 29-yard Walker touchdown run. Again the two-point conversion failed. Still, the Badgers took a 33-21 lead.

The Hawks, however, weren’t done. Gilliam, on a reverse, sliced through the Badgers’ defense on a 64-yard touchdown run at the 8:50 mark in the third quarter. And just like that, the Hawks landed back in striking distance of the Badgers’ 33-27 lead.

Lampasas wasn’t done either. After a good drive, Walker capped it with a three-yard touchdown run with 3:05 left in the third for a 40-27 lead.

The fourth quarter started out on a similar scoring pattern as the Hawks responded with a touchdown at the 8:08 mark thanks to Caden Rodriguez punching it in from two yards out. That made it a 40-34 game with the Badgers in the lead.

Clearly, the Hawks remained close enough to make it a game.

However, the Badgers’ added two more unanswered touchdowns down the wire, including a 68-yard Walker run, to ice the game. The win gives the Badgers a share of the district crown. They’ll face the Uvalde Coyotes (6-4 overall, 3-2 District 14-4A Div. I) on Friday, Nov. 10, in the bi-district round of the playoffs.

Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.  

CAPTION: Canyon Lake’s Trevin Cutrer got the Hawks on the board first against the visiting Lampasas Badgers with his 75-yard touchdown run on the Nov. 3 opening drive. The Badgers, however, went on to win the game, 53-34. Photo by Daniel Clifton