Ganado falls to Yorktown

By Hannah Janssen

    The Ganado Indians ended their season tonight with a 48-20 loss to the Yorktown Wildcats.

    The game started out closely, with the first half ending with a Yorktown lead 14-12. In the first half, Garrett McCann scored in the firs three minutes. Yorktown answered with five minutes to-go, scoring the PAT, unlike Ganado. At the end of the first, the score was 7-6.

    To start the second quarter, the Indian offense was set up at the Yorktown 4 yard line, 2nd and goal. Michael-Douglas Maresh kept the ball for the touchdown. Oscar Almeda didn't get the extra point this time either. Yorktown returned the kick-off to Ganado's 20 yard-line and scored, raising the score to the tight 14-12 that ended the half.

    During the first half, as the score showed, both teams played evenly. The Indian offense had a good passing game, with a notable 31-yard pass -among many- to McCann and a few significant passes to Michael Garza. Unfortunately, with the passing came three interceptions, one of which indirectly led to a touchdown in the second half.

    The Indians kicked off the third quarter, but ended up recovering the ball at the Yorktown 42. Maresh relied heavily on Sterling and McCann, who took the offense to the red zone. In a fourth down situation, the Almeda attempted the field goal, but it was no good.

    It appeared then to be the moment where the Indians lost their momentum. Cy Strieber returned the kick-off for 90 yards to score. Ganado lost the ball again on this kick-off with the aforementioned interception and scored once more, the score now 28-12.

    Just after that, Ganado fumbled the hand-off and Yorktown recovered, returning the ball to the end zone, and raising the score 34-12.

    The Indians found a break in a punt situation when the ball was snapped over Indian Logan Hurt's head. Ganado recovered the ball, while simultaneously Yorktown was penalized for a face mask. This resulted in an Indian automatic first down. This time, they capitalized. Sterling ran for a touchdown and McCann scored the two-point conversion.

    In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats continued to run the ball. Strieber scored again with nine minutes to go, and another Wildcat scored again three minutes later. The Indians were unable to score again, ending the game and their season with the 48-20 final score.

    This game was critical. A win would have sent the Indians into the playoffs, but instead, the Wildcats will go, joining Weimar, Shiner, and Refugio. The Indians finished with a season record of 5-5.