Another chapter was added to the Wimberley- Navarro rivalry as the Texans defeated the Panthers 31-28 in the district opener for both teams.
Wimberley improves their overall record to 3-2 and their district record to 1-0 while Navarro falls to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in district.
The Panthers struck first against the Texans, going on an eightminute drive down to the Wimberley oneyard line before punching it in for the touchdown to go up 7-0.
On their first offen- sive possession of the game, the Texans answered. Driving down to the Navarro 22-yard line, senior quarterback Jackson Parker found sophomore running back Wesley Milam on the pass before Milam made a couple of juke moves to avoid the Panther tacklers and score the touchdown.
After the extra point kick from junior Bo Holeman, Wimberley tied the game at 7-7.
Going into the second quarter, the Texans looked to take their first lead of the game.
It was a low scoring affair in the quarter as both the Navarro defense and the vaunted ‘Code Red’ defense held their opposing offenses out of the endzone.
Following a fourth down stop by the ‘Code Red’ defense, the Texans made one final drive before halftime, going down to the Navarro six-yard line. After being kept out of the endzone, Holeman kicked a 23-yard field goal to put Wimberley up 10-7 going into halftime.
Forcing a Wimberley punt on the first offensive possession of the second half, the Panthers took back the lead. Driving to the Texan five-yard line, Navarro punched it in for the touchdown to go up 14-10 over the Texans.
But Wimberley answered back. After Parker hit senior wide receiver Christian Sansalone for a 31-yard pass to put the Texans at the two-yard line, sophomore running back Madden Wharton scored from the oneyard line to retake the lead at 17-14.
After the touchdown, the Panthers responded, scoring on a 50-yard touchdown run to put Navarro back up 21-17.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Texans looked to answer back. The ‘Code Red’ defense made the interception after junior Tytus Anderson made the pick to put Wimberley inside the Navarro 10-yard line. Parker then hit junior wide receiver Colt Wright for the eightyard touchdown pass, putting them back in front 24-21.
The Panthers answered back again, driving down to the Texan 12-yard line before scoring on another touchdown run to go up 28-24 over Wimberley.
With a little over five minutes remaining in the game, the Texans looked to pull-off another fourth quarter comeback.
Driving to the Panther 17-yard line with 45 seconds left in the game, Wimberley faced fourth down, needing to get past the fouryard line for the first down. On the ensuing play, Parker found Wright who was then pushed out of bounds at the one-yard line, extending the drive for the Texans.
Pushed back to the four-yard line on second- and-goal, Parker hit junior wide receiver Micah Espinoza for the touchdown with 21 seconds left in the game. After Holeman’s extra point kick, Wimberley led Navarro 31-28.
The ‘Code Red’ defense thwarted a Hail Mary attempt by the Panthers as Wimberley sealed the win.
Parker passed for 182 yards and three touchdowns for the Texans with Espinoza leading the way with six catches for 49 yards and one touchdown. Wright was second with three catches for 38 yards and one touchdown followed by Sansalone with one catch for 31 yards.
Sophomore running back Wesley Milam led the team in rushing with nine carries for 43 yards followed by Wharton with 13 carries for 33 yards and one touchdown.
The Texans will be on a bye this week before going back on the road to Salado.
