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Repeat Performance: Different score, same result as Horn is too much for Garland
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
ALLEN-Horn had no misconceptions that this would be a different Garland team than the one it defeated 42-0 earlier in the season.
That much was evident early on.
But it also clear from the start that the Jaguars were still the better team and they proved it by displaying a model of offensive efficiency that led to a 56-35 victory on Saturday in a Class 5A Division I bi-district playoff game at Eagle Stadium.
The victory also helped the Jaguars erase the demons from a year ago when Copperas Cove twice rallied from a 21-point deficit to eventually win a 48-47 thriller.
Horn found itself in a similar situation for much of the final three quarters on Saturday, but never let the Owls get back to within a single score for the final 20 minutes.
"We didn't address it (Copperas Cove), we didn't want to dig up those skeletons, but I think for everybody, that it probably crossed our minds," Horn head coach Rodney Webb said. "All we talked about was you can't take your foot off the gas and we didn't today."
Garland showed major progress from the first meeting when it managed only 107 yards and three first downs.
The Owls needed barely more than a quarter to eclipse those numbers and finished with 430 total yards, led by a huge effort from quarterback V.J. Gates, who completed 21-of-27 for 288 yards and four touchdowns.
But it still was not enough.
Horn racked up 555 yards, getting a nearly even mix of rushing and passing. Destri White was 11-of-14 for 286 yards and three touchdowns through the air and added 110 yards and two scores on the ground.
Jay'len Lynch rushed for a pair of scores and Treyvon Marsh added another as the Jaguars scored on six consecutive possessions in the second and third quarters to turn a 7-0 game into a 49-28 lead.
Even with all of Garland's improvement, it was too much to keep up with.
"We felt as good about our plan, offensively, coming into this game as any plan we have had this year and we did a really good job of executing it," Webb said. "Garland is a very good team and we knew the first time we played them it was not a 42-0 difference in our two teams .We knew we were going to get their best shot but we did a good job of executing and keeping the lead."
In a game that featured 91 points, the scoring got off to a slow start. But there was one big difference and that was Garland's ability to move the ball.
Webb said the team prepared for the Owls moving the explosive Ja'Taveon Green to quarterback, something they did out of necessity to win a district game against Sachse and they used on occasion on Saturday, including the game-opening 75-yard touchdown run that was negated by a penalty.
What they did not expect was shifting quarterback V.J. Gates out wide and it was something they had to adjust to.
So after White's 17-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter was quickly answered by a 11-play, 73-yard drive that J'Lon Green capped with a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7, Horn knew it had a game on its hands.
The Jaguars' answer was a prolific offensive outburst mixed in with a couple of key defensive stops that allowed them to take control.
The tide of the game changed early in the second quarter. After Garland tied the game, Horn fumbled the ensuing kick, giving the Owls a chance to take the lead.
But Nehamiah Wagner picked off a pass in the end zone to end that threat and White hit Del'Michael High on a 79-yard pass on the next play that led to a 1-yard quarterback sneak to make it 14-7.
After forcing a punt, White lofted a perfect deep ball to Brian O'Bannon for a 61-yard touchdown and the Jaguars were in control at 21-7.
Marsh scored on a short touchdown run, but that was sandwiched in between touchdown passes from Gates to Vinson Cobb and Steven Pierce, the latter of which brought Garland to within 28-21 with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Horn picked up where it left off coming out of halftime, moving 58 yards in five plays, with White finding a wide-open Justyn Oliphant for a 34-yard score and they then used a 5-yard touchdown run by Lynch on its next possession to push the lead to 42-21.
The Jaguars were in a position where they simply needed to match scores from that point and that is what they did.
Gates threw a 34 yard-touchdown pass to Jalen Evans, but less than 90 seconds later, Horn was back in the end zone when White found High all alone for a 20-yard score with 1:40 left in the third quarter.
The Owls made one final push when Ja'Taveon Green caught a 29-yard touchdown pass to draw to within two scores, but the Jaguars recovered the onside kick.
Horn then chewed up more than four minutes off the clock, with Lynch putting it away with a 7-yard touchdown run that made it 56-35 with just 1:51 left.
"We did the things we had to do," Webb said. "In the playoffs, you don't think about how pretty they are or how good they look you just want to move on and that is what we did."
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