By Scott Hansen
#210Preps (@SAPreps on Twitter)
SCHERTZ — With not much riding on the line in the Battle of 3009 other than local rivalry pride, Rice commit Brenden Brady scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:41 left to give No. 5 Cibolo Steele a hard-fought 14-13 victory over No. 3 Schertz Clemens at Lehnhoff Stadium on Thursday Night Lights.
Freshman quarterback Wyatt Begeal and Brady drove the Knights down the field and milked precious seconds off the clock before Brady plunged in for the game-winner. Brady finished with 148 yards to lead Steele to the victory in a what turned out to be a backyard brawl.
Steele took its opening possession after getting relatively good field position. With 8:05 left in the first quarter, Brady scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Knights an early 7-0 lead. It would be the last time Steele visited the end zone until the final two minutes.
With :52 left in the first quarter, the Buffaloes got on the board with a 33-yard field goal by junior Noah Taylor after Clemens methodically moved the ball down the field. After one-quarter of play, Steele held a 7-3 lead.
Jordan Burleson would power his way through the middle of the massive Clemens offensive line and score a touchdown from four yards out with 10:52 left in the first half to give the Buffaloes a 10-7 lead.
In the third quarter, Marshawn Brown got moving for Clemens. Brown would finish with 130 yards on the ground in a losing effort and finished the season with 1,186 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Clemens had the ball down one point at their own 37-yard line with 1:35 remaining to play. After a false start made it 1st and 15, facing fourth down with 1:11 remaining in the game, On a reverse pass, Under Armour All-American, Tommy Bush was picked off by Caden Sterns to seal the victory for the Knights. It was the fourth swiped pass of the season by the future Longhorn.
Clemens heads to Division I for the Texas 6A State Playoffs and will face unbeaten and top-ranked O’Connor, who claimed the District 28-6A Championship with a 44-41 overtime victory over Brennan. Steele will play in Division II and will face Brennan, who will be 6-4 entering the contest after its Thursday night loss.
Photo Gallery – Knights vs Buffaloes – 9 November 2017
