Eagles beat Smithville in district finale

After holding on to beat the Smithville Tigers in the final game of the regular season, the Salado Eagles will face the #10 Bellville Brahmas in the first round of the 4A, Div. II playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station.

Salado’s win breaks a 23-game losing streak under coach Brent Graham and gives Graham a 2-28 record in three seasons as Eagles head football coach.

After giving up two touchdowns in the first quarter, Salado answered with a score in the second quarter on a 32 yard pass from Hayden Ebeling to Jake Harvey.

Cutter Hudgens returned a Smithville punt 81 yards for a touchdown, but the kick failed to bring the Eagles within a point.

The Tigers answered with a scoring drive in the third period. Malachi Jones scored his second touchdown of the game, this time on a five yard run.

Hayden Ebeling, who led the Eagles rushing attack with 109 yards on 21 carries, scored later in the third on a nine yard run. Ryan Kyburz found senior receiver Tyler Stairs in the end zone for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 21-21 going into the fourth.

The Eagles took over the lead in the fourth on a three yard run by Ebeling and the PAT kick gave Salado its final score of 28-21.

The Bellville Brahmas bring an 8-2, 4-0 district record into the game, while the Eagles are 1-9 and 1-3 following their 28-21 win Nov. 6 at home over Smithville.

The Brahmas had two early non-district losses; 40-15 to Stafford, ranked #8 in 4A, Div. 1 and 28-26 to the Giddings Buffaloes, who are ranked #8 in 4A, Div. 2 with a 10-0, 4-0 record.

While the Brahmas lost closely to Giddings, winners of District 11-4A, Div. I, they beat Caldwell, the second place team in 11-4A by a score of 41-30. Giddings handled Salado

The top four teams in each of the 16 districts in 4A, Div. 2 make the playoffs for a six-round system. In fact, in District 10, all four teams made the playoffs. Houston Scarborough went 1-9 and 0-3 in district 10 play and will face the West Orange Mustangs who are 9-1 and 4-0 in District 11 play. Scarborough broke a 60 game losing streak early this year and went to the playoffs in 2014 with an 0-10 record. Of the 96 teams in 4A, Div. 2, only 20 will miss the playoffs.

The Giddings Buffaloes finished the season in the top spot of District 11-4A and face the Sweeny Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 2-8, 1-3 for fourth place in District 12-4A. They play at Ricebird Stadium in El Campo on Nov. 13.

The Caldwell Hornets finished in second place in District 11-4A with a record of 6-4, 3-1 in district. They face the Columbus Cardinals, the third place team in District 12-4A with a 5-5, 2-2 record.

La Grange struggled to a third place finish in District 11-4A after making it to the Regional finals last year. With a 7-3, 2-2, the Leopards will face the 7-3, 3-1 Wharton Tigers, the second place team from District 12-4A. Wharton Tigers were the runner-up last year before bowing out in a first round loss to Giddings.