High School Football: Abilene High knocks off Denton Ryan in second-round playoff game

FORT WORTH — Dylan Slack threw two touchdown passes, and Jadrian Carrillo recovered a muffed punt in the end zone as Abilene High upended Denton Ryan 31-21 in a Region I-5A Division I area-round playoff game Friday at Crowley ISD Multi-Purpose Stadium.

Brayden Henry had a 1-yard TD run, and Naim Segura kicked a 32-yard field goal to propel the Eagles (10-2) into the Thanksgiving week.

AHS — moving on to the third round for the second consecutive year — will play Justin Northwest (10-2) in a region semifinal game at 7 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. Northwest beat Amarillo Tascosa 41-0 on Friday night.

The other region semifinals pits No. 1 Aledo (12-0) against either Red Oak (11-0) or Amarillo High (6-5).

Red Oak plays Amarillo High at 2 p.m. Saturday in Wichita Falls.

T.J. Hobbs, who took over for injured starting quarterback Braeden Mussett with 5:20 remaining in the first half trailing 10-7, ran for a TD and threw for another to lead the Raiders (8-3).

Two turnovers led to AHS’ final two TDs to blow the game open in the second half after leading 17-14 at halftime.

Abilene High running back Bam Rashaw dances in celebration with his Eagles teammates in the final minutes of their Class 5A Div. I playoff game against Denton Ryan in Fort Worth Friday. Final score was 31-21, Abilene High.

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Tight first half

Ryan drove 70 yards on six plays for a TD on the game’s opening drive. One play after Mussett threw a 49-yard pass to Lorenzo Hill, down to the AHS 1, Hobbs scored out of the “Wildcat” formation.

Dillon Arkansas picked off a Slack pass to give the Raiders the ball at their own 30. Ryan fumbled the ball back to AHS on the next play.

The Eagles cashed the turnover into a TD — driving 21 yards on three plays. Slack threw passes of 15 and 4 yards to Brelon Badon and Trey Simpson. Henry then scored from 2 yards out.

Segura broke the tie with a 32-yard field goal with 10:26 to play in the first half. AHS punted the ball from its own 44 after the drive stalled, but Kha’Ron Freeman-Wade ran into the punter John Miles Wagstaff, giving the Eagles the ball and a first down.

Slack later threw a 15-yard pass to Jackson Howle on fourth-and-13 from the Ryan 31. Four plays later, Segura kicked the field goal.

Ryan re-took the lead as Hobbs threw a 16-yard TD pass to Nemo Warmate with 4:09 to play in the half.

Mussett sparked the drive with a 46-yard pass to Hill on third-and-8 from the Raiders’ 26.

Two plays later, Mussett was injured after being tackled on a 7-yard run. Hobbs took over and ran 3 yards to pick up the first down, before capping the drive with the TD.

AHS took the lead back before halftime. Slack threw a 7-yard TD pass to Howle 23 seconds before intermission.

DeMarco Upshaw sparked the drive with a 17-yard punt return to the Ryan 36 with 1:32 remaining in the half. After a 10-yard run by Chad Lara, Slack hit Howle for passes for 7, 3 and 9 yards before the TD pass for a 17-14 halftime advantage.

Abilene High linebacker Bryce Neves intercepts a pass meant for Denton Ryan’s Tre’Vaughn Reynolds during Friday’s Class 5A Div. I playoff game in Fort Worth at Crowley ISD.

Eagles break it open

The Eagles never trailed the rest of the night. They padded their lead when Anthony Hernandez recovered a Raiders’ fumble at the Ryan 33. Five plays later, Slack hit Bryson Perez for a 21-yard TD catch, pushing the lead to 23-14.

Another Ryan miscue all but sealed the win for AHS. Carrillo recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a 31-14 advantage with 10:24 to play in the game.

Ryan got its last score on Reynolds’ 1-yard TD run with 2:40 remaining.

FRIDAY’S STARSJackson Howle, Abilene High

Howle had a game-high nine catches for 92 yards, including a 7-yarder for a TD.

Dylan Slack, Abilene High

Slack completed 20-of-32 passes for 166 yards and two TDs. He also threw two interceptions.

Chad Lara, Abilene High

Lara had a game-high 69 yards on 15 carries. It might not sound like much, but his punishing runs once the Eagles had the lead were tough on the Raiders.

Lorenzo Hill, Ryan

Hill led the Raiders with six catches for a game-high 109 yards, including 49- and 46-yarders. The 49-yarder set up a TD, and he also had a 16-yard TD catch.

Abilene High running back Chad Lara slips past Denton Ryan defensive lineman Tre’Von Bates Friday.

They said it

Abilene High coach Mike Fullen on the win: “Just super proud of the players and coaches. We really grinded it out. I don’t think anyone gave us a shot at winning this game, and we just wanted to be together another week. That was important for us. … We’re happy to be practicing on turkey day.”

Fullen on Howle’s big night with Ryan trying to shut down Ryland Bradford: “Take away one, and it establishes a threat somewhere else. (Offensive coordinator) Coach (Colby) Hartfield was taking what the defense gave us offensively, and our defense played lights out, creating turnover and scoring off turnovers and set up the offense. It was just a tremendous game by both sides.”

Ryan coach Dave Henigan on losing his starting QB Braeden Mussett in the first half: “It hurts a lot but give Abilene High credit. That’s not why we lost the game. We lost the game because they played better than we did. But that certainly didn’t help our cause.”

Henigan on T.J. Hobbs job filling in for Mussett: “I thought T.J. came in and played well. That’s not an easy task to come in a second-round playoff (game) against a good defense and have to take over when you’re not really expected to play. And it changes what we do because they’re two different players, and we’ve been leaning on our running game (with Mussett). When you take an elite runner off the field it makes it a little tougher.”

Denton Ryan defensive back Mun’terrius Ellis intercepts a pass meant for Abilene High wide receiver Jackson Howle Friday.

REGION I-5A DIVISION I AREA PLAYOFF

Abilene High 31, Denton Ryan 21

Ryan … 7 … 7 … 0 … 7 – 21

Abilene … 7 … 10 … 7 … 7 – 31

FIRST QUARTER

RYA – T.J. Hobbs 1 run (Daniel Rodriguez kick), 9:43

AHS – Brayden Henry 2 run (Naim Segura kick), 6:46

SECOND QUARTER

AHS – Segura 32 FG, 10:26

RYA – Lorenzo Hill 16 pass from Hobbs (Rodriguez kick), 4:09

AHS – Jackson Howle 7 pass from Dylan Slack (Segura kick), 00:23

THIRD QUARTER

AHS – Bryson Perez 21 pass from Slack (Segura kick), 4:14

FOURTH QUARTER

AHS – Jadrian Carrillo fumble recovery in end zone (Segura kick), 10:24

RYA – Tre’Vaughn Reynolds 1 run (Rodriguez kick), 2:40

TEAM STATISTICS

……………… RYA … AHS

First downs … 13 … 17

Rushes-Yards … 28-80 … 27-60

Passing … 220 … 177

Comp-Att-Int …… 19-34-1 … 21-36-2

Punts …… 4-38.2 … 4-37.5

Fumbles-Lost … 4-3 … 0-0

Penalties-Yards … 3-35 … 3-25

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Ryan, Nemo Warmate 8-50, Braeden Mussett 4-17, Tre’Vaughn Reynolds 7-11, T.J. Hobbs 8-11, Byran Simmons 1-(-9); AHS, Chad Lara 15-69, Dylan Slack 3-3, Brayden Henry 6-0, Team 3-(-12).

PASSING: Ryan, Mussett 6-9-0—113, Hobbs 13-25-1—107; AHS, Slack 20-32-2—166, Henry 1-4-0—11.

RECEIVING: Ryan, Lorenzo Hill 6-109, Warmate 4-25, Reynolds 2-39, Jose Melendez 17, Simmons 2-15, Raymond Smith 2-11, Xaier Hill 1-4; AHS, Jackson Howle 9-92, Ryland Bradford 4-40, Brelon Badon 2-24, Trey Simpson 2-16, Bryson Perez 1-18, Bam Rashaw 1-3, Henry 2-(-2).

RECORDS: Denton Ryan 8-3; Abilene High 10-2

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High finishes off Denton Ryan in high school football playoffs