Rattlers ‘D’ takes the sting out of the Yellowjackets; Sharyland to face Calallen in area round
For the second straight week, Sharyland’s defense shut down the opposing offense and held them scoreless to help lead the Rattlers to a 29-0 victory over Edcouch-Elsa on Friday at Richard Thompson Stadium in the 5A bi-district playoffs.
Sharyland (10-1 overall, 6-0 district) defeated Rio Grande City 38-0 in the season finale on Nov. 6 to finish undefeated in district and claim the 31-5A title.
The Rattlers will face Corpus Christi Calallen (7-4, 5-3) at Texas A&M-Kingsville in the second round of the playoffs. The Wildcats defeated Somerset 57-14 on Friday in bi-district.
“Our defense showed up to play, our special teams did a phenomenal job and offensively we looked good in spurts,” Sharyland head coach Ron Adame said. “We played a tough defense. It’s just a good overall feeling the way we’ve been playing defense. We’ve had two shutouts in our last two games and we’ve got some good momentum on our side.”
“The defense was outstanding, they were flying to the ball tonight,” he added. “Our boys have bought into our scheme and they’re executing it quite well. They’re playing with a lot of confidence, but more than anything else is that they’re playing united.”
That unity has led the Rattlers to seven consecutive victories since they last stumbled and dropped a heart-breaking 36-35 decision against Laredo Alexander at home on Sept. 19.
“We got a team of 80 kids that are united, they’re beating to the same heartbeat and you can’t replace that,” Adame said. “The chemistry on this team is unbelievable and that’s a reflection of the leadership that we have within our senior captains.”
Sharyland didn’t waste any time getting on the board when senior QB Lance Madden connected for a 40-yard TD pass to junior WR Seth Carter with 9:40 left in the opening quarter to take a quick 7-0 lead.
Senior WR James Cole broke away for a 45-yard TD run with 11:43 remaining in the half and senior kicker Abraham Chan added a 30-yard field goal with 8:27 left to take a 17-0 lead into the intermission.
After halftime, the Rattlers’ offense took some time off from the crucial playoff game and weren’t seen or heard from again until the fourth quarter.
That’s when the defense took it up another notch.
Sharyland’s “D” caught the Yellowjackets deep within their own territory and forced a safety with 37 seconds left in the third quarter to increase the home team’s lead to 19-0.
Carter gave the Rattlers a 26-0 advantage on a 14-yard catch for a score with 7:42 left in the game.
After Edcouch punted the ball back to Sharyland, the Rattlers put together a 10-play drive that ended with Chan’s second field goal completion of the night after putting a 24-yard attempt through the uprights with 7:42 left to play to give the home side a 29-0 victory.
All the while, Sharyland’s defense didn’t give up too much territory.
“The defense came out and we did everything we were planning to do,” Rattlers senior ILB Rudy Tornero said. “We watched film all week, we got ready and the offense executed. The defense will always put in the work. We just focus on doing our part of the game and that’s what we did.”
