The Herald-Zeitung
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Playoff Bound Unicorns
By Chris Hoffman
The Herald-Zeitung
Published November 07, 2009
John Simmons had no plans to sit home next Friday when the Class 5A playoffs were set to begin, and his feet made sure he backed up his intentions.
The speedy Unicorn quarterback caught the MacArthur defense off-guard and got a great block from Kris Duckworth during a 54-yard mad dash to the endzone late in the fourth to seal a 27-16 win over District 26-5A foe San Antonio MacArthur to clinch a spot in next week’s playoffs.
“It feels great,” said Simmons, who finished with 106 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns against the Brahmas. “I knew this would be our last game for us seniors on this field, but I didn’t want this to be our last game.
“This team made a pact last December that we’d work hard and make the playoffs this year, and we achieved that goal. But we’re not done yet.”
New Braunfels will play Bastrop next Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
Before Simmons’ electrifying touchdown, the Brahmas had the Unicorns’ backs against the wall.
MacArthur downed Jeremy Garcia in the end zone for a safety to cut the New Braunfels lead to five with 6:47 left to play and the ball at their own 34-yard line.
Brahmas quarterback Clinton Killough, who passed for a game-high 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns, hit Collin Bode for a 10-yard strike to get near midfield. Bode ran for a 7-yard gain on the next play to set MacArthur up at the Unicorn 49-yard line and the pressure on the home team to get a stop.
But the Brahmas shot themselves in the foot on back-to-back offsides penalties and a pair of incomplete passes to give the ball back to New Braunfels that set up Simmons’ game-winning touchdown.
Unicorn coach Chuck Caniford was drenched with Gatorade by his players as he was giving a radio interview. The jubilant coach didn’t mind the gesture by his team, as he praised their hard work and dedication this season.
“This team never lost sight of their goal to make the playoffs,” Caniford said. “I have a lot of respect for (MacArthur’s) coaching staff. They let it all hang out in the second half and put us on our heels. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t play as well in the second half for me to be able to play some of our other seniors, but we wanted to achieve our goal.”
Caniford talked about Simmons’ explosive run and gave praise to Duckworth for springing him loose.
“The play was a “read” that lets Simmons read the defense and either hand it off or run with it,” Caniford said. “All night, he was handing it off, but he read it perfectly on that play and kept the ball. Kris made a huge block an John just took it to the house.”
After a scoreless first quarter, New Braunfels’ Karimu Osman got the Unicorns on the board with a dazzling 25-yard run along the right sideline, where he went untouched into the end zone. Aaron Hayduk’s kick gave the home team a 7-0 lead.
The Unicorns’ defense held the Brahmas to 3-and-out on a sack by Kage Jennings for an 11-yard loss that forced MacArthur to punt.
Two plays later, Simmons connected with Matt Schmid for a 43-yard touchdown on a 2nd-and-inches play that saw Schmid get wide open when MacArthur’s defense expected the run.
Hayduk’s kick made it 14-0 lead with 6:42 left in the half.
New Braunfels’ coaching staff went into their bag of tricks on their next possession, as Schmid snagged a direct snap and hit Simmons for a gain of 32 yards that put the Unicorns down at the MacArthur 4-yard line. Two plays later, Simmons ran into the end zone for a commanding 21-0 halftime lead.
But if this season has taught New Braunfels anything its that no game is over until the final play in 26-5A.
“We knew they were going to come out hard,” Simmons said. “We had to be ready for whatever they threw at us.”
MacArthur was able to capitalize on a pair of miscues by New Braunfels that set up a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter.
After a botched punt return by the Unicorns gave the Brahmas the ball at the New Braunfels 37-yard line, Killough hit wideout David Eberwine for a 9-yard score moments into the second half.
Later in the quarter, the Unicorns fumbled the ball to give the Rough Riders the ball at their own 23. Killough wasted no time, as he hit Eberwine for a 40-yard gain, as the junior receiver made a diving grab to give MacArthur the ball at the Unicorn 37.
Killough avoided the Unicorn pass rush to hit Eberwine for a 35-yard touchdown to cut the New Braunfels lead down to seven heading into the fourth.
Killough went 24-for-41 for 260 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions, while Eberwine caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns for the Brahmas.
MacArthur forced a 3-and-out from the Unicorns to start the fourth quarter and Killough marched the Brahmas to midfield before a pass went out of Eberwine’s hands and Dustin Oelsen intercepted the pass to kill the drive.
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