By STEPHEN MONAHAN
Register Correspondent
MUENSTER — The Muenster Hornets may have made deciding who makes the playoffs in District 13-A a bit more complicated.
Hosting Collinsville on senior night Friday, the Hornets used a strong second half offensively to put away the Pirates 21-13 at Hornet Stadium.
Muenster (6-3 overall, 2-1 district) controlled the ball on offense for much of the first half, but could only muster six points thanks to a 60-yard touchdown pass from Levi Trubenbach to Andy Flusche in the second quarter.
But Collinsville (4-4 overall, 1-1 district) headed into the locker room up 7-6 after receiving a gift from the Hornets with nine seconds left in the first half.
At their own 6-yard line, instead of kneeling out the half to keep the lead at 6-0, Muenster tried to move the ball down the field, but two plays in, quarterback Levi Trubenbach was intercepted by Dalton Williams, who returned the pick 17 yards for a touchdown.
The Hornets used two key Collinsville turnovers in the second half to overcome their deficit.
Two plays into their opening drive, Collinsville coughed up the ball, which was recovered by Jeremy Lutkenhaus at the Pirates 43-yard line. Six plays later, Trubenbach threw the first of two touchdown passes to Garrett Walterscheid, who returned to action Friday from injury. The 8-yard touchdown with 8:22 left gave Muenster a 14-7 lead after Trubenbach connected with Jason Luke for the 2-point conversion.
Luke incidentally, the county’s leading receiver, was held without a catch.
On Collinsville’s ensuing possession after the score, the Pirates chewed up some clock with a 12-play drive, that included two trick plays, a 25-yard reverse by David Byrom and a halfback pass by Tyler Ford to quarterback Corey Ragsdale on second and goal from the 20-yard line that got them down to the one, but a key tackle of Ford by Garrett Walterscheid for a 4-yard loss forced fourth down from the 5-yard line. Collinsville turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass on fourth down.
Muenster scored two drives later in the fourth quarter after Scott Porter intercepted a pass at the Collinsville 8-yard line to give the Hornets great field position. On the ensuing play, the Hornets scored when Trubenbach hit Walterscheid again for an 8-yard touchdown. Muenster led 21-7 with 7:49 left to play.
With the game looking to be in hand for the Hornets, Collinsville cut the lead to 21-13 when Ford scored on a 13-yard pass from Ragsdale, capping an 8-play, 59-yard drive with 5:14 left on the clock. The extra-point attempt was no good.
The Pirates did manage another drive in hopes of tying the game, but Porter stepped in front of another Ragsdale pass at the Muenster 17-yard line to seal the victory.
The win gives Muenster its second of district play. Collinsville, Era and Muenster all have one loss in the district, which sets up key match-ups between Collinsville and Era next week and Muenster and Era in Week 10.
Trubenbach, who finished with 109 rushing and 86 passing yards with three touchdowns, honored one of Muenster’s own, Zach Swirczynski, during the game by wearing No. 45, the number Swirczynski wore. Swirczynski died in February during a pick-up basketball game at Austin College in Sherman, the school he had been attending.
The Hornets have dedicated the 2009 season in memory of Zach Swirczynski.
