Published: November 09, 2009 10:02 am      

Muenster makes playoffs with win over Era

By DARIN ALLRED

Register Sports Editor



ERA — Football is a game of emotions and that was evident after Friday’s game between Era and Muenster.

With both teams battling for the final playoff spot in District 13-A, the Muenster Hornets held off the Era Hornets 34-26 to make the playoffs for the second-straight season.

So while the Muenster players were celebrating on their sideline, an emotional J.D. Henderson addressed his Era players, who saw their season end with a 6-4 record.

“I told them that they played hard for four quarters and that’s the best game they’ve played in district play,” Henderson said, fighting back tears. “I’m an emotional guy. Football’s a game of investment. When you spend so much time trying to achieve goals and then you get there and you fall short, it’s an emotional thing. I’m emotional and I’m passionate about what I do and I’m not scared to hide that.”

For Muenster, they move on to the Class A Division II playoffs where they will face a familiar foe, Wolfe City, in the bi-district round. That game is tentatively set for Friday at 7:30 p.m., at Pottsboro. It will be the fourth time in the past two seasons that Muenster has faced Wolfe City.

“We know how athletic they are so we know what to expect,” Muenster coach Allen Cross said of the Wolves. “We know what they are going to do and how they are going to play so it should be a close battle with them.”

Before Muenster (7-3 overall, 3-1 district) could worry about Wolfe City, they had to finish off an Era team that refused to go quietly.

Muenster started the game with a 20-play drive that started at their own 4-yard line. The Hornets were balanced, using 10 rushes and 10 passes to march down the field. The longest play of the drive was a 15-yard scramble by quarterback Levi Trubenbach. Muenster converted two fourth downs. The first came on fourth and two from the Era 21 when Trubenbach ran for 11 yards. Then on third goal from the 15, Trubenbach hit Jason Luke with a pass that Luke took down to the 1-yard line. On fourth down, Chris Valliere barely got in on a carry up the middle. The two point conversion was good on a pass from Luke to Chase Hammer that made it 8-0 with 5:52 remaining in the opening quarter.

It didn’t take long for Era to respond. After a 27-yard kickoff return set the Hornets up at the Muenster 43-yard line, quarterback Trey Dunn ran left on the first play and weaved his way left for a touchdown. The two-point conversion pass failed, leaving Muenster with an 8-6 lead.

There would be no 20-play drive for Muenster when they got the ball back. Instead, they only needed two plays as on second down, Trubenbach found Luke behind the Era defense for a 65-yard TD pass. The PAT kick failed, making it 14-6.

Era moved the ball down the field on their next drive but were not able to come up with any points. Dunn had an 11-yard pass to Justin Lance and a 27-yard pass to Metzler. The Hornets got down to the Muenster 13, but two-straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs.

The two teams traded punts as play moved into the second quarter. On Muenster’s first possession of the second stanza, Trubenbach used his arm to move the red and white Hornets down the field.

He had a 31-yard completion to Luke and followed that with a 10-yard strike to Eric Hellman. Later, he had a 20-yard pass to Luke and a 13-yard pass to Tyler Anderle to move the ball to the 2-yard line. From there, Valliere scored on a nice run up the middle. Aaron Flusche added the extra point kick to make it 21-6 with 8:51 left in the half.

Again, Era had an answer. Dunn hit Lance with a 15-yard pass for a first down. Later, the Hornets converted a third and 13 thanks to a 19-yard pass from Dunn to Metzler. Later in the drive, Muenster was called for pass interference, moving the ball to the 17. One play later, Dunn ran it in for a touchdown. Era went for two and was successful on a pass from Dunn to Metzler that made the score 21-14.

It didn’t take long for Muenster to increase their lead back to double digits. Just over two minutes after Era scored, Muenster got a 59-yard touchdown run from Valliere. The extra point kick was blocked, leaving Muenster with a 27-14 lead.

Era had a couple more chances to score before halftime. A 26-yard pass from Dunn to Metzler on a slant pattern moved the Hornets to the Muenster 36. Later, facing fourth and 17, Dunn scrambled and appeared to have a first down inside the 30, but the officials spotted him down two yards short.

It looked like it wouldn’t matter two plays later as Trubenbach was hit and coughed up the ball. The fumble was recovered by Era’s Dillon Hughes, who was playing his first game of the year after breaking a leg earlier this year.

Era took over at the Muenster 16, but two big penalties moved them back and they weren’t able to get any points.

Era received the second half kickoff and Dunn got things rolling with a 45-yard kick return all the way to the Muenster 38. A 14-yard pass to Lance and a 14-yard draw play by Dunn moved the ball to the 7-yard line. From there, Dunn hit Metzler with a touchdown. The try for two failed, and Era trailed 27-20.

Just as had been the case all game, Muenster had an answer. They used a big kickoff return of their own as Trubenbach ran 45 yards to the Era 35.

The Hornets faced fourth and six from the Era 31 when Trubenbach hit Luke for a 10-yard gain to move the chains. Four plays later, Muenster had a fourth and two from the 13 and Trubenbach threw to Hellman on a slant for a 13-yard score. Flusche added the PAT kick to increase their lead to 34-20 with 5:30 left in the third.

Era came right back. Sutton had a 14-yard run to move the ball into Muenster territory. It looked like the drive had ended four plays later when a pass fell incomplete on fourth down, but Muenster was called for defensive holding. Two plays later, Dunn hit Metzler with an 18-yard pass and the quarterback followed with a 12-yard run down to the 8-yard line. One play later, Dunn threw to Metzler for the touchdown to make it 34-26 with 1:07 left in the third.

Muenster punted on their next possession and Era took over at their own 34. Knowing that Lindsay was beating Collinsville, meaning that Era needed to beat Muenster by 11 or more, Henderson took a gamble. Facing fourth and 14 from his own 30, Era went for it but Dunn came up short on a quarterback draw.

Muenster used a pair of passes to Luke (one for 16 and one for 31 yards) to move the ball to the Era 4. On first and goal from there, Era got a sack for an 11-yard loss. On the next play, Trubenbach was hit and fumbled. The ball was kicked around until Dillon Bayer was able to fall on it for Muenster back at the 46. After an incompletion, Muenster had to punt on fourth and goal from the 46.

Era had one last march in their season. The Hornets started at their own 10. Completions from Dunn to Codie Hope of 20 yards and 18 yards moved the ball to the Muenster 17, but on fourth down, Dunn was intercepted by Trubenbach at the 1-yard line with just over a minute to play.

Muenster ran three plays, including a 19-yard run for a first down by Trubenbach, and the clock expired.

While Era anguishes over a close loss to Muenster in the last game of the season for the second-straight year, the Muenster players have to feel good about the progress they have made in two seasons under Cross.

“That’s what we told the seniors,” the coach said. “They have helped us build a solid program with back-to-back years of making the playoffs. We told them to try and improve their record each year and try and improve from the year before. We were 5-5 last year and now we’re 7-3. It was a great job just fighting through. Hat’s off to Era. They battled until the last play. They played a great game and we’re just glad we were able to pull it out.”