A tale of two halves

For a half of football in their home-opener, the Navasota Rattlers proved they can play with the elite teams in the state, however the No. 5 Sealy Tigers pulled away for a 29-0 victory.

Navasota’s defense held the potent Tiger offense to eight points in the first half, but a lack of offense never gave the Rattlers a chance. The Rattler offense was limited to 202 yards and committed three turnovers in the shutout.

Zack Dyer completed 11 of his 27 passes for 114 yards with a long of 29 and one interception. Truman Garza led the limited rushing attack with 44 yards on five carries and a long of 35 yards.

Aaron Nichols showed off his hands hauling in five catches for 46 yards including a catch along the home sideline where he managed to get his feet down before stepping out of bounds. His longest reception was 11 yards.

Sealy (2-0) scored on a Garrett Redden 1-yard run in the second quarter. Draper Parker ran in the conversion to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead.

Navasota threatened to score moving the ball deep into Sealy territory before halftime. Navasota elected to attempt to convert a fourth-down opportunity, but Dyer’s pass was picked off.

“We were up against the clock before halftime and if we would have had the opportunity to call a timeout then we could have set up a better play. Instead we elected to go with six-man protection because they were bringing the house because that’s where they were having success early in the game,” explained Navasota head coach Casey Dacus. “Our receiver got held up inside and couldn’t get loose. In hindsight we would have done something a little different offensively there, but our kids competed and if they don’t learn anything else from tonight, they need to know that we can play with anybody.”

Navasota received the ball to begin the second half but had to punt it back to the Tigers. Redden tacked on his second of three scores on the night, this one good for a 3-yard run.

Matt Lord escaped for a 58-yard run to extend the Sealy lead in the third quarter. Parker ran in the conversion. Redden capped the scoring in the third with his third touchdown, a 2-yard run. Ricky Avila kicked the point-after.

Lord carried the ball 13 times for 156 yards and a touchdown. Redden followed with eight carries for 30 yards and three scores.

This is the second week that the Rattlers have been held out of the endzone. “We lack consistency right now big time,” stated Dacus. “If you watch the film, and I know this sounds cliché, but we have about nine guys doing the right thing and about two guys not doing the right thing. On offense you can’t hide that. On defense you can. If you misalign then you still have guys that still pursue and make plays. In order to be balanced on offense like we’re trying to be, you must be consistent in your execution and right now we are not. We’re making far too many mistakes whether it’s turning the ball over, missing a blocking assignment, the receiver not running the correct route or the quarterback not making the right read. It seems like it’s always one of those things every play.”

Sealy hosts Waller Friday, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m. Navasota hosts Rudder at 7:30 p.m.