Comeback comes up short against Cuero

The Wimberley Texans couldn’t complete the comeback against the Cuero Gobblers falling 34-28 in the final game of the regular season. The loss drops the Texans record to 7-3 overall with a second-place finish in district.

Turnovers ended up hurting the Texans as the team fumbled the ball three times in the first half, which led to seven points for the Gobblers.

“We turned over the ball three times in the first half,” Head Football Coach Doug Warren said after the game. “You can’t do that and expect to play well. And in the second half we just didn’t stop them (Cuero). They lined up and decided they were going to be more physical than us.”

The omens were bad from the start as Wimberley fumbled the ball on their first possession.

Though the defense forced the Gobblers to punt, Cuero was able to spot the ball at the one-yard line.

Both defenses held firm during the first quarter as neither team was able to move the ball on the other.

After trading several possessions, the Texans seemed to have found a hole in the Cuero defense but a fumble inside the Texans 20-yard line ended the drive.

The Gobblers were able to take advantage of the turnover and turn it into seven points as Cuero Quarterback JD Nataro snuck in on one-yard run on 4th and goal to give the Gobblers the early lead.

The Texans tried to respond again but another fumble ended all hope and gave the ball back to Cuero. But this time, the Texan defense held firm and stopped the Gobblers from scoring.

The offense finally found some momentum to build on as Texan running back Moses Wray capped off a big run to put Wimberley in scoring position. The drive was finished as Josh Limley scored from ten yards out on the wide receiver sweep to tie the game at 7-7.

The Gobblers were not deterred on the touchdown and respond with long drive that took up the clock before scoring on the five yard run to retake lead at 14-7.

After completing a big pass to Jaxon Watts, Texan Quarterback Cooper McCollum found Christian Marshall for a 38-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14 with 1:37 left before half.

The Gobblers tried to retake the lead before half but a Carson Minnix sack ended the drive and kept the score tied.

After receving the ball to start the second half, the Gobblers jumped out in front as Nataro scored on a 43-yard run to retake the lead at 21-14.

The Texans responded to the Gobbler touchdown with a long drive of their own before McCollum found Marshall again on a six yard pass for their second touchdown of the game to tie the game at 21-21.

But the Gobbler offense couldn’t be stopped as Cuero exploded for a 64-yard run. The Gobblers wore down the Texan defense before Nataro scored his third touchdown of the game to retake the lead at 28-21.

Texans responded with a drive of their own and were deep in Cuero territory. But a sack on 3rd and 10 forced the Wimberley offense to convert a 4th and 25 which ultimately failed and gave the ball back to the Gobblers.

Cuero then went to a devasting drive that chewed up the majority of the clock in the 4th quarter. Driving all the way down the field, the Gobblers finally scored from two yards out as Nataro scored his 4th rushing touchdown of the game to extend the lead at 34-21 after the miss extra point.

To give credit where it is due, the Texans didn’t give up. Following the touchdown, Wray ran for a big gain for the Texan offense to put them into scoring position. Following up on the big run, McCollum found Jaxon Watts for the 15-yard touchdown with just 3:29 left in the game.

The special team’s unit came up in a big way for Wimberley as the Texans recovered the onside kick to breath life into the Texan comeback.

The offense drove deep into Cuero territory and inside the 10-yard line. Following a controversial no call on a pass interference, the Texans were faced with 4th down. The offense tried a trick play on a wide receiver sweep pass with Josh Limely but the pass came up short and allowed the Gobblers to take home the win.

Though not all things were bad for the Texans. With Bandera’s loss to Navarro, Wimberley is locked in a second-place finish in district and will play the Poteet Aggies next Friday in San Antonio at Edgewood Veterans Stadium. The winner will face the Raymondville-Corpus Christi West Oso winner in the Area Round.