Photo by Brian Gosset
BY BRIAN GOSSET & NOLAN RUTH
X – @Gosset41 & @RealNolanRuth
ARLINGTON— Junior quarterback Casen Carney rushed for four touchdowns, including the go-ahead 6-yard run with under a minute left in the game as Muenster defeated Shiner 36-29 in the Class 2A Division 2 state championship on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium.
The Hornets cap off a 14-2 season with their second title in program history and first since 2017.
Shiner (12-4) came up short of its fifth title.
The Comanches appeared to be in the driver’s seat after QB Carson Schuette got in from the 1 to pull within 28-27 with no time left in the third quarter. Following a Muenster penalty, Shiner went for two and converted to grab a 29-28 lead.
Both offenses stalled in the fourth quarter and Shiner forced a punt with under six minutes left still controlling a 1-point lead. But Caden Klement booted a punt 45 yards which was downed at the 1. The Comanches looked to kill the clock, but the Hornets held them to 5, 1 and minus-2 yards to get the ball back.
“We were considering going for it,” Muenster head coach Brady Carney said in his postgame press conference. “I decided to that we would go ahead and punt but then I thought about taking the delay of game and scoot us back just a little bit and give Kaden a little more room to give Kaden just a little bit more room to pin them deep.”
Shiner registered a 30-yard punt from inside the end zone and Maverick Bayer returned it to the Comanches’ 20-yard line with 3:08 left to play.
Muenster ran five plays capped by Carney’s 6-yard TD and then Carney found Klement in the corner of the end zone for the conversion to push the Hornets’ lead to seven with 40 seconds on the clock.
The Comanches had one more chance – getting to the Muenster 40, but a Hail Mary was intercepted by Ethan Hinton and the Hornets ran out the final second for the win.
Carney was voted offensive MVP with 147 yards rushing, four touchdowns along with 171 yards on 15 of 20 passing. Nolan Peel added 40 yards and one TD. Garrett Hess and Klement led the receiving core with 63 and 45 yards, respectively.
The Hornets surprised Shiner with an onside attempt on the opening kickoff. After the Comanches elected to receive, Muenster executed the onside kick, recovered and started on the Shiner 49.
“We talked about yesterday a little bit,” Brady Carney mentioned about the onside kick decision. “The first time we repped it was this morning before we left. But we had talked about it. They kind of had a big gap up there in their front five. We’ve done it two or three times this year and we’ve executed all of them perfectly.”
Carney had a hand in all six plays on the Hornets’ opening drive. Carney completed passes of 18 and 11 yards before rushing for 6, 8 and 4. Then on second and goal, Carney punched it in from the 2 to give the Hornets a 7-0 edge with 10:14 on the clock.
The Comanches responded nicely with a 12-play, 78-yard drive.
Shiner converted two third downs on the drive before finding some trouble at the Muenster 26. Schuette was tackled for a loss of three and following an incompletion, the Comanches faced a fourth and 11 at the 29.
Schuette was nearly taken down, but got off a pass to Jarvis Williams who completed the 29-yard touchdown that tied it with 4:11 left.
Carney rushed for 32 yards on Muenster’s next drive before the quarter ended. Then on the first play of the second quarter, the QB called his own number for the 1-yard score and 14-7 lead.
Once again, Shiner answered and tied the contest.
It only took the Comanches four plays as Quincy Jones rushed to the left side and found a gap on his way to a 74-yard touchdown.
The Hornets orchestrated a 14-play, 68-yard drive that ate up nearly six minutes. They converted one third down and two fourth downs – the last resulting in a 7-yard TD keeper by Carney to give Muenster a 21-14 lead with 4:17 left before the half. Carney had a hand in 13 of the 14 plays – with four completions for 58 yards.
Muenster’s defense made the stop and forced a punt, but Shiner got it back one play later from scrimmage on an interception by Williams, who returned it near midfield. The Comanches scored two plays later on a 44-yard touchdown by Clayton Fric to even it at 21.
However, Williams, a freshman, came down awkwardly on his left arm in the third quarter and didn’t return.
Shiner was led by freshman Triston Vesely, who was defensive MVP with a game-high nine solo tackles and 14 overall along with one sack, 2 1/2 tackles for a loss and one pass breakup. Jones rushed for 87 yards and Schuette chipped in 48 rushing and 52 passing.
