Big third quarter helps Byron Nelson beat Keller, Bobcats clinch playoff berth
Trophy Club Nelson broke open a close game at the half with 21 third-quarter points to secure a playoff spot in District 4-6A with a 42-28 win over Keller on Thursday night at Keller ISD Stadium.
Byron Nelson (6-3 overall, 3-2 district) will likely fall into the Division 2 bracket of the Class 6A playoffs. Keller (6-4, 2-4) still has a decent shot at the final playoff spot. The Indians’ regular season is over and Keller Timber Creek will have to beat either Southlake Carroll or Haslet Eaton to knock Keller out.
Byron quarterback Jacob Wilson picked up the slack after the Bobcats running game was shut down by the Indians. Wilson threw for 348 yards completing 19 of 29 passes with four touchdowns on very windy night.
Three of the TDs were to Landon Ransom-Goelz including a terrific grab between two defenders for a 59-yard score to give the Bobcats a 28-14 lead with 3:55 left in the third quarter.
“I was really surprised because I was in double coverage there, but Jake just threw a perfect ball for me to catch,” said Ransom-Goelz, who caught six passes for 194 yards. “This feels amazing to know we have a playoff spot and makes us feel better going in to Week 10. We did it last year, but it ended in the first round and hopefully we can go farther this year.”
Byron had to punt on its first possession of the second half, but scored on the next three. Wilson slipped in a 13-yard scoring pass to Amarion Withrow to make it 21-14.
On the first play following the Ransom-Goelz 59-yard score, David Kabongo picked off a Keller pass at the Byron 48 and took it back 31 yards to the Keller 21. It took three plays for the Bobcats to capitalize on an 8-yard scoring run by Michael Giordano to put Byron up 35-14 with 2:24 left in the third quarter.
After Giordano gave the Bobcats a 42-14 lead on a 4-yard run with 6:04 left in the game, Keller made a mini comeback behind quarterback Tre Guerra.
Guerra, who led Keller with 169 passing yards completing 15 of 29, hit Amarion Henry with scoring passes of 34 and 11 yards to cut the lead to 42-28 with 2:23 left. Henry had 10 catches for 123 yards.
The Indians recovered an onside kick after the second score, but an interception by Byron’s Owen Flores with 1:27 left sealed the game.
The teams traded scores in the first half. Jayden Hart, who comes in on the “Jumbo Package”, scored on a 1-yard run to open the scoring after running back Jackson Kraatz picked up 44 yards on seven carries on the drive.
Nelson tied the game two plays later when Wilson found Ransom-Goelz for a 61-yard TD with 7:49 left in the first quarter.
“It was windy at first so we didn’t know how we were going to perform, but we just stuck to what we knew and it worked out for us,” said Wilson. “I thought that it was going to be bad in our pregame warm up, but it wasn’t that bad and didn’t affect me that much.”
Hart added a 3-yard scoring run, after Kraatz again did most of the work with 39 yards on five carries, to put the Indians up 14-7 with 9:47 left before halftime. Kraatz led Keller with 127 rushing yards on 23 carries.
Wilson found Ransom-Goelz wide open over the middle for a 45-yard TD with 1:59 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 14.
“We made some defensive adjustments at the half, they were running the ball pretty effectively at first, and I think the kids just came out playing a little tight,” said Nelson head coach Travis Pride. “After the half I think that they just relaxed and started to have a little fun.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 1:06 AM.