Llano football hosts Florence in district opener
Watch highlights of Llano’s win against Comfort.
CAPTION: Llano senior Jose Sillas has a nose for the end zone. As a running back, he’s scored six touchdowns this season. As a defensive back, he has returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Llano High School football team welcomes Florence in the District 13-3A Division I opener for both teams Friday, Oct. 3.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Llano Stadium. It’s also Llano’s homecoming.
After the 41-0 thumping of Comfort Sept. 26, Yellow Jackets head coach Matt Green thought about the week ahead.
“Number one, I want our kids to enjoy that,” he said. “On the flip side, we’re certainly going to talk to them about being focused. We got beat (Sept. 19 at Jarrell), and our kids don’t like losing. And so I know that they’re going to be motivated to practice.”
He added that practices would operate a little differently.
“We won’t practice quite as long, but the intensity will actually ramp up,” he said. “What I’ll do is try to get them done earlier. But we will pick the intensity up. That’s normally how I like to approach these type of weeks. And we really get after it, and I think to me, that’s how you go out and play well on these homecoming weeks.”
Florence’s (0-5) head coach is familiar to Highland Lakes residents. He is Robert Draper, who served as the Marble Falls High School offensive line coach for four years and then added offensive coordinator his last season. He was on the staff when the Mustangs made their postseason runs in 2020 and 2021 using the slot-T offense, a run-basked scheme that utilizes misdirection to cause the defense to be confused on who has the ball. He left at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
In five games this season, the Buffaloes have 730 rushing yards and two touchdowns thanks to 178 carries.
Junior running back Mariano Palacios, a three-year letterman, has 182 rushes for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior running back Kaden Moss, a three-year letterman, has 64 carries for 308 yards and a score and 15 catches for 98 yards. Freshman Jayden Fuentes has 53 rushes for 172 yards.
Llano will counter with linebackers Cody Greenwood and River Thompson and senior defensive backs J.D. Friday Grayson Lilie and Jose Sillas. The five lead the team in tackles with at least 20 on the season. Junior defensive end Cole Kennedy leads with 2 sacks, while Sillas has 1.5. Friday, Sillas and senior defensive back Austin Humphries each have 2 interceptions. Senior linebacker Isaiah Aguilar has two fumble recoveries.
Opponents are scoring an average of 51 points against the Buffaloes per contest.
The Jackets are averaging 47 points a game led by junior quarterback Luke Davis, a three-year starter. In 25 games, he has completed 321 of 523 passes for 4,335 yards, 57 touchdowns and 20 interceptions and 201 carries for 1,013 yards and nine scores. This season he has completed 76 of 112 passes for 1,250 yards, 18 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and has 45 carries for 190 yards and 3 scores.
As a team, the Jackets have 190 carries for 999 yards and 12 touchdowns led by a trio of senior running backs: Jose Sillas, who has 49 carries for 272 yards and 6 scores, Brayton Shaw, who has 37 rushes for 250 yards and a touchdown, and River Thomison, who has 23 carries for 191 yards and a score.
Junior receiver Cash Lynch leads with 25 receptions for 517 yards and 7 touchdowns followed by senior receiver Graham Prokop, who has 14 catches for 211 yards and 4 scores, senior tight end Brady Kelly, who has nine catches for 200 yards and 4 scores, and senior receiver Austin Humphries, who has 7 receptions for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“We have that explosive ability, and hopefully we’ll show that (against Florence),” the coach said.
Green wasn’t into the 2025 records. He was more about what happened during the 2024 contest when the two teams played to a 14-14 half-time tie before the Jackets scored 20 unanswered points in the second half.
“Make no mistake,” he said. “Last year we had plenty of struggle with Florence. I’m just telling you right now. We will underestimate nobody, and we’ll continue to try to get better.”
