Menard Subdues Miles, Advances to Next Round Against Lindsay

BALLINGER, TX—The Menard Yellowjackets defeated Miles 52-20 Friday night in a Division II 2A Region 1 Playoff Matchup to decide the Bi-District Championship.

“We played hard for four quarters. Miles is a good football team, they’re physical,” Menard Head Coach Jayson Wilhelm said. “I thought it would take a full game for us. That’s what we have been doing. We wear on people and that’s what we did against them.”

Watch Menard Head Coach Jayson Wilhelm:
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The Yellowjackets took command of the game early on behind star running back Christian Salazar who had four total touchdowns on the night.

A Salazar rushing touchdown late in the first quarter was immediately followed by a Brody Baugh interception to Menard up on Miles 14-0 with 3:14 left in the first quarter. Miles had an opportunity for a field goal at the end of the first quarter, but were unable to convert.

 Menard began the second quarter with the ball only to turn the ball over to Miles on downs with 7:07 left in the first half.

Miles was unable to capitalize on the Menard turnover and later in the half Salazar scored once again with 2:39 left in the half to give the Yellowjackets a commanding 20-0 lead.

Even though the game seemed lopsided to this point, the Bulldogs kept battling and were rewarded on a touchdown run by quarterback Jared Flores to cut Menard’s lead 20-8 going into the half.

Despite Miles showing grit throughout the game, Salazar was too much for the Bulldogs as he made several touchdown runs look easy.

When asked about what he did, Salazar said, “Just run hard and keep running.”

WATCH Menard RB Christian Salazar:
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To begin the second half, Salazar scored once again on a 45-yard touchdown run to extend Menard’s lead 26-8 with 9:47 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs did not go away however, and quickly scored again on a Mason Bryan touchdown run to pull Miles within 12 points of Menard.

With 5:26 left in the third quarter Miles defensive back Trey Wachsmann came up huge with an interception in the end zone to prevent Menard from tacking on another touchdown.

Going into the fourth quarter, Miles had a chance to win, only down 26-14. Yet the Yellowjackets were too much for the Bulldogs in the final quarter.

The Yellowjackets quickly scored two touchdowns in the fourth behind Tee Jay White and Garrett Hill to put Menard up 39-14 with 8:26 left in the game.

Gary Gabrielli of the Bulldogs gave Miles some hope on a 64-yard touchdown run, but the star of the night, Salazar, answered with a 50-yard touchdown run of his own to make the score 45-20 in favor of Menard with 7:48 left to play.

Although it wouldn’t matter since the game was out of reach, Jasper Salas of Menard would add another touchdown late in the game for the Yellowjackets.

The final score resulted in a 52-20 Menard victory in the first round of the 2017 Football Division II 2A Playoffs.  Menard (9-2) faces Lindsay (9-2) Saturday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. in Cisco.