Edna earns a Bi-District title, prepares for Area

    The District 14 3A Division 1 District Champions Edna Cowboys traveled to Beeville to take on the Universal City Randolph Ro-Hawks and return as Bi-District Champions. The Cowboys defeated the Ro-Hawks 40-7.
    #6 senior wide receiver Marquis Bates said, “You can’t just judge a team because they lost a couple of games. Randolph came out and played harder than we thought they would, but we were just the better team at the end of the night.”
    #11 junior wide receiver Cade Orsak said, “From the game against Randolph, we learned how we need to take control the game from the beginning.” He added, “To improve moving forward we just need to keep working hard every day at practice, and if we do that as a family we will always improve.”
    Randolph won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kick-off. The Ro-Hawks didn’t take long to run in for the first score of the game with 10:50 left in the first quarter. The extra point was good making the score Randolph 7, Edna 0.  
    Cowboy offense took over and answered right back after #18 quarterback junior Landon O'Connor connected with Orsak for a 54-yard Cowboy touchdown run. Orsak converted the extra point, and the score was tied, 7-7.
    Edna’s offense kept the momentum when #44 senior defensive end AJ Garcia recovered a Ro-Hawk fumble that led to a 11-yard touchdown run by #9 senior running back Braveon Terrell. Orsak tacked on the extra point and the Cowboys increased their lead to 14-7.
    Cowboy offense found the end zone once more before the end of the first quarter when Bates scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left in the first. Orsak added another extra point making the first quarter score Edna 21, Randolph 7.
    The second quarter was defensively competitive. Cowboy defense had really settled in and kept the Ro-Hawks offense at bay. The only points in the second quarter were made by the Cowboys when Terrell ran in for his second touchdown of the game with 5:30 left in the first half. The extra point try was no good and the half time score was Edna Cowboys 27, Randolph Ro-Hawks 7.
    The Cowboys received the second half kick-off and didn’t waste any time increasing their lead. Terrell found the end zone for the third time of the game with 9:54 left in the third quarter. Orsak came through with the PAT making the score 34-7.
    The new score was all the Ro-Hawks needed to induce a continuous running clock throughout the remainder of the game.
    The final quarter of the game was almost a mirror image of the third. Cowboy defense did not allow another single point for the Ro-Hawks. Edna found the end zone once more for the final points of the game when Terrell found good running room and got the Cowboy touchdown with 2:29 left in the game. The extra point try was no good.
    The final score was Edna Cowboys 40, Randolph Ro-Hawks 7.
    #21 Daylin Haynes said, “Everyone has a role on the team, and when it’s my time to step up as a player, I must respond to anything the other team throws at us.” He added, “I plan to continue to improve in every aspect that football has to offer because no one should
settle for where you are, you must always work hard to get even better.”
    Bates added, “I plan to improve on catching the ball more and more every game. I go back and look at my mistakes on how I dropped passes and try to correct them for me and my teammates who count on me to make those big plays.”
    The Cowboys are now Bi-District Champions and will face the Mathis Pirates in the Area Playoff game at Victoria Memorial Stadium this Friday, kick-off set for 7:30.
    Defensive Coordinator Craig Nairn said in preparing for Mathis, the team has to do a great job of reading their keys and trusting the other team to take us to the ball. “Defensively, to give our team the best chance to win we have to win the line of scrimmage with our defensive line and linebackers. Against Mathis it's going to be a physical game,” he said. “In practice this week we have to get after each other, and not just go through the motions. Watching film on Mathis it is very evident they are not a team to be taken lightly, they're well coached and tough. Just the type of opponent we will see throughout the rest of the playoffs.
    “I anticipate the biggest challenge in the game to be defensively. The even bigger challenge will be getting their offense off schedule. Defensively, we have to put them in uncomfortable situations,” Nairn ended.