Llano football faces Marion for possible district title
CAPTION: Llano senior running back Brayton Shaw is making the most of his carries thanks to averaging 6.9 yards per touch. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Llano High School football team will play at Marion at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31, in a key District 13-3A Division I clash.
Much is at stake. If the Bulldogs (5-3, 2-1) win, they have a shot at a co-district title depending on how the Ingram Tom Moore-Llano contest ends next week.
If the Yellow Jackets (7-1, 3-0) win, they will host Ingram (4-4, 3-0) for what is most likely a district championship since the Warriors should beat Luling (1-6, 1-2) Oct. 31.
Ingram defeated Marion 40-33 last week. The Bulldogs were driving for the game-tying score only for the drive to stall out late in the fourth quarter.
Llano head coach Matt Green said he, his players and assistant coaches welcome the challenge that comes with traveling to Marion.
“If we want to win in the playoffs, if we want to make a deep run and this team wants to maximize our potential, this is the kind of game we need,” he said. “We need to go to Marion, we need to play a good team and I’ll tell you the thing about Marion that’s different. We haven’t faced a team that could really throw the ball like this team.”
In many ways, Marion mirrors Llano when it comes to offensive firepower.
The Bulldogs average 13 yards per completion for 247 passing yards and six yards per carry and 182 rushing yards per game.
“Their quarterback is a good runner, and they have a running back that is good,” the coach said. “They have two very potent runners, and so you have to play honest; you can’t sit there and say, ‘Oh, they’re a heavy-run team and they’ll throw a little bit.’ You’re going to have to defend the entire field. And so they’re definitely going to put a challenge up to our defense. Our defense needs it. It’s not that they haven’t been challenged, but we need this game. You need to see an offense like Marion and on the road to boot for a potential partial piece of the district title and so this is good for us.”
Senior quarterback Kade Pape, a three-year letterman, has completed 255 of 456 passes for 3,753 yards, 45 touchdowns and nine interceptions in two seasons as the starter. He already has thrown for more yards this season — 1,897 thanks to completing 139 of 227 attempts — than a season ago with two more games remaining in the regular season.
Senior Jaiden Riley has 48 receptions for 925 yards and 20 touchdowns. Junior Jack Wells has 20 catches for 273 yards and a score in seven contests.
Senior running back Tanner Otis, a two-year letterman, has 209 carries for 1,407 yards and 16 touchdowns. This season he has 150 rushes for 976 yards and 10 scores.
The Jackets will counter with junior linebacker Cody Greenwood, who leads the team with 56 tackles, senior linebacker Isaiah Aguilar, who has 41 tackles and three fumble recoveries, and junior noseguard Mario Hernandez, who has 39 tackles. Senior defensive back Niko Arms and junior defensive end Cole Kennedy each have four sacks, while Kennedy has nine quarterback hurries and Arms has four. Senior linebacker Gavin Hays has recovered two fumbles in three games. Senior defensive backs J.D. Friday and Austin Humphries each have four interceptions.
“They are the most balanced football team we have played by far,” Green said. “It goes back to their ability to throw it; they’re willing to throw the ball a lot. And they will throw the ball vertically, they will throw quick screens on the perimeter. They’re willing to do it all, they’ll throw intermediate. So they remind me of us. Now they have a little different scheme. But my point is we’re willing to throw the ball 20 to 25 times a game if that’s what we need to do to win. Marion has shown that, too, but they’re not just a throwing team – they can absolutely run.”
Green noted the last time Llano visited Marion, which was in 2023, the Jackets lost 28-21. That outcome propelled the Bulldogs into the playoffs where they lost to Jourdanton in the first round.
But that Llano team didn’t have something it has now – an experienced signal caller. Junior quarterback Luke Davis, who is a three-year starter, has completed 336 of 545 passes for 4,730 yards, 64 touchdowns and 20 interceptions and has 209 carries for 1,108 yards and 11 scores. Senior quarterback Grayson Lilie has completed 17 of 23 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown and has 11 rushes for 55 yards and two scores this season.
Junior receiver Cash Lynch has 35 receptions for 704 yards and nine touchdowns and senior receiver Graham Prokop has 18 catches for 307 yards and five scores.
Senior running backs Jose Sillas has 76 rushes for 475 yards and 12 touchdowns, Brayton Shaw has 55 carries for 379 yards and two scores, and River Thomison has 28 carries for 233 yards and a touchdown.
Green noted the Jackets must accomplish several tasks to exit Marion with a win.
“Create big plays,” he said. “But we’re going to approach this like we did last week (in a 35-0 thumping of Universal City Randolph). We want to be able to establish the run because it lets you control the clock. Number two, it’s demoralizing if you can run the ball on them consistently, and then three, it allows you to set up all kinds of play action and screens when they’re having to heavily be concerned about your run game. Going into this again, I think that we want to be balanced. But that doesn’t mean 50-50. We just want to be able to give them equal concerns in our run and our pass game.”
CAPTION: Llano senior Austin Humpries’ versatility allows him to be a scoring threat whether he’s playing receiver or defensive back. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
