Edna Cowboys drown the Palacios Sharks

    The Edna Cowboys (6-3, 4-0) grabbed a share of the District 3A-1 14 title after their Homecoming win against the Palacios Sharks on Friday night with a final score of 42-12. This win also guaranteed them a spot in the playoffs.
    Athletic Director Huey Chancellor said it’s always nice to win at Homecoming and in front of the community. “We will represent Edna as the number one seed regardless of a win or a loss, but of course we want to get a win in,” he said. “This is a big week for us, it will be the first time since 1991 to win an outright District championship and not share it.”
    Junior #78 Wyatt Neuman said it felt amazing being a part of the team and winning the last home game for the seniors. “We need to work on our fundamentals and the ability to adapt to the game as it goes on,” he said.
    Captains #18 Landon O'Connor, #76 Dylan Kallus, #11 Cade Orsak and #6 Marquis Bates represented their team in the coin toss and the game started with the Sharks kicking to the 'Boys.
    On their first drive attempt the Cowboys were unable to get into the Shark end zone due to an interception by the Sharks. On their second drive the odds were in Edna's favor after #9 Braveon Terrell ran the ball a bit and O'Connor's throw to Bates was good and got the team closer to scoring. O'Connor kept the ball in the next play and scored a touchdown with 3:12 left in the first. #60 Aaron Padilla kicked the point after touchdown and the score was 7-0, Edna.
    Stops were made by #11 Cade Orsak, #44 AJ Garcia, #20 Alvell Robinson, and #12 Issac Shelton. #29 Deion Callis and Garcia also made notable stops in the second set of plays.
    It wasn't long in the second quarter before #9 was able to score for the Cowboys with 8:42 left in the first half of the game. Padilla kicked the PAT and the new score was 14-0. #21 Daylin Haynes, #33 Layton Nance, Robinson and #82 Tristen Pruitt, #57 Adrian Palacios made good stops for Edna, and #7 Andrew Mathis sacked the Shark quarterback.
    Mathis said it felt great getting a move on the Palacios quarterback and it feels amazing to play on the Edna Cowboy team. “I think we need to have a better rush defense and stop runs and passes,” he said.
    A false start call on the 'Boys pushed them back a little and made Edna do some work to keep on top. Some confusion was made on a play where #82 picked up what looked like a Shark fumble and ran for a touchdown, but the ball was brought back to Edna's 44-yard line. Shelton and #61 Cade Williams were good on stops, and Robinson as well.
    Orsak brought a Cowboy ball from the 44 to the Shark 13-yard line and Terrell ran in for another touchdown with 3:20 left in the second quarter. Once again Padilla kicked the PAT and it was good, bringing the score to 21-0, Edna.
    The Sharks did what they could to make it into the Edna end zone, but it didn't happen. #5 Zac Sample made a good stop for his team while O'Connor, Bates, Orsak, #4 Jordan Norman and Terrell kept pushing the ball down the line.
    It was Norman that found the end zone with 54 seconds left in the first half. Padilla got the PAT and the score was 28-0 at halftime.
    In the middle of the third quarter O'Connor was able to keep the ball and run it in for another touchdown with 5:52 left in the third. Padilla did his part in picking up the extra point and brought the score to 35-0. Edna. Only minutes later Edna did it again with Norman running the ball into the end zone and a good PAT. The new score was 42-0.
    Robinson, Williams, and Shelton worked hard to make stops for their team.
    At the end of the third quarter, the rain began to fall and changed the Shark fortune for a bit, but not good enough for a win. Sharks achieved a touchdown with 10:13 left in the fourth and their two-point conversion attempt was no good, but brought the score to 42-6.
    Edna brought in some new players, #16 Jason Stafford came in as quarterback and tried some moves with Haynes as his running back, but wasn't able to get the ball in the end zone again. The Sharks scored again with 3:30 left in the game, and a two-point conversion that didn't go through, bringing the final score to 42-12.
    Landon O’Connor completed four of 16 passes for 136 yards, and rushed 16 times for 87 yards. Braveon Terrell rushed for 125 yards on 18 carries. Jordan Norman rushed for 58 yards on seven carries, and Daylin Haynes had 64 yards on 12 carries. On the receiving end, Marquis Bates had 103 yards and Cade Orsak had 33.
    The Edna Cowboys are slated for their last district game in Hempstead on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m.
    “Hempstead has played a lot better football in the last two weeks so we’re looking to come out and improve to see if we can win the championship,” Chancellor said. “We’re a run-oriented team so we’ll continue to do what we do. Once we get into the ball game we’ll see how it goes. It’s about passing, kicking and blocking and we have to execute all three of them to get the win.”
    Defensive Coordinator Craig Nairn said they need to work on their base and get good at reading keys and getting physical. “We just need to play the way we’re supposed to play and get back to basics, we want to bring the pressure where our kids are able to line up and get after them,” he said. “We don’t have to reinvent ourselves to get ready for them, we just have to play our gaps and do the little things to make the big things work and develop some consistency.”