The Bastrop Bears beat Austin High 14-7 on Thursday to solidify their spot atop District 25-5A—and reinforce their status as one of the best teams in the Cen-Tex area.
The Bears (8-0, 5-0 in 25-5A) can clinch the district title with a win against Akins this weekend.
“We want the district championship outright,” Bastrop coach Gerald Perry said. “This district has shared it the last two or three years. We want Bastrop on there. We don’t want Westlake or anyone else on that trophy.”
The game played close throughout, and Austin stuck around until the final minutes. A missed 29-yard field goal combined with two late interceptions inside Bastrop territory squashed the Maroons’ hopes of sending the game to overtime.
“We’ve got a lot of fighters,” Perry said. “They [the Marroons] came out in the second half and scored, we didn’t panic. We’ve been up and we’ve been down. That’s one thing about this district, every game has been close.”
The decisive touchdown came with the scored knotted at 7-7 and just under five minutes left in the third. Bastrop QB Josiah Monroe rolled out to his right and completed a 32-yard strike to Auston Shipley. Shipley finished with six catches for 116 yards.
Austin did a better job at containing Monroe than most teams have this year, with a combination of stunts and blitzes.
“They came with every stunt you could think of,” Perry said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and managed to squeak a few through. I’ve never seen so many stunts in my life.”
The Austin defense kept its team in the game throughout and had good field position at times. Austin defender Darrell Green recovered a Bastrop fumble and ran it back 35 yards early in the third quarter. A few plays later, quarterback Cayleb Jones put the ball in the end zone with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Jones rotated in and out at quarterback with Hunter Jones. Both players were filling in for the usual starter Jacob Morgan, who was suspended. Morgan is expected to return next week in the local rivalry game versus Westlake.
Bastrop will play its final game at Memorial stadium next week against Akins. The Bears will play in a new stadium next season.