Defense keeps Central Catholic unbeaten; Kennedy rebounds with win over Burbank

AREA TEAMS INCLUDED: Burbank, Central Catholic, Edison, Highlands, Kennedy, Sam Houston, South San, Southside.

Sam Houston (2-0) seems bound to avenge its 2014 losses.

In Week 1, the Hurricanes reversed the outcome of a game against Bandera. Sept. 4, Southside (1-1) was the victim of a Sam Houston turnaround.

Last year, the Cardinals scored nine points in the fourth quarter to edge the Hurricanes by a point. This time, at the SAISD Complex, the second half of the non-district 40-24 victory belonged to Sam Houston.

Devin Harris (58 yards, 5 carries) ran for two touchdowns and Travon Vaughns (171 yards, 4 receptions) scored on a 70-yard pass play from Raymonte Prime to secure the win for Sam Houston. Southside was within 19-16 at halftime.

Taveon Jones produced his second interception of the game with 6:15 left in the third quarter. Jones made the pickoff in the Cardinals’ end zone as Southside was driving to take the lead. Prime found Vaughns for the touchdown on the ensuing drive.

Southside junior back Matt Collier (220 yards, 39 carries) scored his third touchdown with 3:03 remaining to cut Sam Houston’s lead to 33-24, but Harris responded with a 34-yard scoring run.

Collier scored on runs of three and 14 yards to keep Southside close in the first half. Prime (11 of 18, 340 yards), who has thrown for nine touchdowns in the Hurricanes’ first two games, staked Sam Houston to a 13-0 lead with scoring passes of 43 yards to Dewayne Brown and 14 yards to Jawon Anderson. Vaughns added a 74-yard touchdown reception early in the second quarter.

Sam Houston’s only other loss in 2014 was to Kerrville Tivy in the bi-district round. The Antlers might be well advised to pay attention to the Hurricanes’ current trend – just in case the UIL sets up a rematch.

Southside began the season with a 49-14 win over Burbank as Collier ran for five touchdowns Aug. 29 at the SAISD Complex. Collier rushed for 238 yards on 33 carries.

Eddie Perez (70 yards, 4 carries) had a 16-yard rushing touchdown and quarterback Marc Garza added a 23-yarder. Garza passed for 50 yards.

Senior quarterback Devin Gusme scored both Burbank touchdowns on runs of three and 54 yards.

Central Catholic 16, South San 12

The Buttons (2-0) remained undefeated with a narrow non-district victory over South San (0-2) Sept. 4 at Bob Benson Stadium. Central Catholic’s defense has limited its first two opponents to 9.5 points a game and again was a key factor in the win.

An interception from Jeremy Medina with 10 seconds remaining sealed the win. Medina’s third pick of the young season.

South San scored all of its points after halftime, on runs from Justin Acosta (74 yards, 21 carries) and Chris Cardenas. Bobcats sophomore James Valencia ran for 85 yards on seven attempts.

A 25-yard field goal from Tavian Wilson and Clayton Townsend passed to Thomas Palomera to give Central Catholic a 10-0 halftime lead. The Buttons increased their lead to 16 with a fumble return from Marc Castillo in the third quarter.

Kennedy 14, Burbank 6

The Rockets (1-1) bounced back from a blowout season-opening loss to Victoria East to win a non-district defensive struggle against Burbank (0-2) Sept. 3 at the SAISD Complex.

Kennedy, which accumulated 211 rushing yards, ran for two touchdowns after Burbank took a 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored first, on a one-yard plunge from senior Rubyn Salazar little more than three minutes into the game.

Senior Dominic Franco (51 yards, 11 carries) tied the game 31 seconds before halftime on a two-yard run. Kevin Garduno gave the Rockets the lead with an extra-point kick. Christino Garcia scored the clinching touchdown with 3:26 remaining.

Edison 14, Floresville 7

The Golden Bears (1-1) shut down Floresville (0-2) in a non-district contest Sept. 3 at Alamo Stadium. Edison kept the Tigers scoreless after they claimed a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.

Edison tied it 7-7 on Joey Rodriguez’s five-yard run, 40 seconds into the fourth quarter. First-year quarterback Danny Cadena scored the game-winner on a one-yard keeper with 4:50 to play.

Junior Matthew Garcia gained 159 yards on 20 attempts for the Golden Bears. Cadena ran for 46 yards and completed seven of 15 passes for 52 yards.

Uvalde 42, Highlands 20

Uvalde (2-0) halted the Owls’ bid for a second-consecutive victory Sept. 4 at Alamo Stadium. Highlands (1-1) snapped a 11-game losing streak with a 32-23 win at Floresville Aug. 28 in its season opener.

Against Uvalde, a nine-yard run from Christopher Ferguson (158 yards, 23 carries) put Highlands within 7-6 with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter. Before Ferguson could score again on a 10-yard carry, Coyotes quarterback Elias Garza (15 of 23, 285 yards) connected with Trace Garcia on a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Uvalde back McRae Rutledge (242 yards, 31 attempts) scored the first of his two tochdowns with 9:10 until halftime, giving the Coyotes a 21-13 advantage.

Ferguson finished with three rushing touchdowns, including a 33-yard sprint with 5:06 left in the half. Uvalde scored the last 21 points.

In the win over Floresville, Highlands’ Bruce Moody returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown that signalled the Owls’ competitiveness this season under first-year coach Juan Morales.

Moody also scored on an 11-yard run in the first quarter. A 14-yard pass from junior quarterback Dylan Camacho to senior Richard Saldana brought Highlands within 23-20 at halftime.

In the second half, the Owls kept Floresville scoreless while tacking on two touchdowns. it never relinquished. A 68-yard run from Ferguson with 6:44 left in the third quarter and a four-yard score from Camacho with 7:48 to play clinched the win.