The Smyer Bobcats led for most of the second half, but could not hang on in the final minutes, falling to the Plains Cowboys 24-22 in UIL Class 2A Region I, District 4 football action last Friday.
The Bobcats were forced to punt on their first possession. Plains took over on their own 30yard line and marched 70 yards, scoring with 5:30 left in the first quarter.
Smyer wasn’t taking it lying down, however. The extra point kick was blocked and Mattheu Corder ran it all the way back for a Smyer safety and a 6-2 Plains lead.
The Bobcats entered the endzone again on an interception by Aiden Martinez with 3:42 left in the first quarter, but the touchdown was called back on a roughing the passer penalty.
Plains also had a chance to score in the second quarter, facing second down and goal from the Smyer one-yard line. Martinez again stepped in and forced a fumble to give the Bobcats the ball.
Plains had the ball to start the second half, but Smyer’s Kaden Price recovered a fumble on the second play from scrimmage for a Bobcat first down and goal from the eight-yard line.
Preston Moore ran the ball down to the one, then Peyton Casillas found Cody Armes for a touchdown. The two-point play was successful and Smyer led 106 less than a minute into the third quarter.
Smyer scored again on the first play of the fourth quarter, and eight-yard pass from Casillas to Rylan Smith for a 16-6 lead.
The Cowboys answered on their next drive, going 74 yards 11 plays over four minutes and culminating in a Plains touchdown to cut the Bobcat lead to 16-12.
Plains forced Smyer to punt, then took over with 6:35 left. The ball was initially spotted on the Smyer 49-yard line, but officials moved it ahead 15 yards as though they had assessed a penalty on the punt, but there was no flag and no call by the officials.
Starting from the Smyer 34yard line, the Cowboys found the end zone again some 3 ½ minutes later for an 18-16 lead.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Smyer’s Casillas took the ball 58 yards on the first play of their next drive for a Bobcat touchdown and a 22-18 Smyer lead.
Plains took over on their own 25-yard line and worked their way down to the Smyer 11-yard line with 1:06 left in the game. Four plays later, the Cowboys scored the final touchdown of the game with just 37 seconds left.
Smyer’s final possession was anything but anti-climactic, though. The Bobcats took over on their own 44-yard line with 28 seconds left. They threw three incomplete passes with two timeouts in between.
A pass interference call on the third incomplete pass gave the Bobcats the ball on the Plains 40yard line.
Casillas found Armes on first down for 31 yards and a first down and goal to go from the Plains nine-yard line.
With just three seconds left, Casillas went to Smith again, but the pass was caught out of bounds for a Plains win.