Denton Ryan blows out Granbury in bi-district playoff game
Compared to his first playoff start under center in 2018, Denton Ryan quarterback Seth Henigan noticed a difference in his composure during his team’s 56-19 rout of Granbury in a Class 5A-Division 1 bi-district game Thursday night at C.H. Collins Athletic Complex.
“Last year, I feel like I was a scared little kid,” the junior said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into with Texas high school football playoffs. But this year, I’m more experienced, and I’m ready to take it on.”
Take it on and then some.
Henigan threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns on 12-of-17 passing in just one half of play before he handed over the duties to Martin Rodriguez, who inherited a 56-7 halftime lead.
“Seth’s always been a poised kid, even all the way back to last year,” Ryan coach Dave Henigan said. “The difference this year is the weight that he’s put on in the weight room in the offseason. He’s gained 25 to 30 pounds of good muscle. It’s made him stronger in the pocket. He has more velocity, a better runner.”
It was all Ryan (11-0), ranked No. 3 in 5A-1 in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, from the get-go. The Raiders got touchdowns from five different players in the first half and scored on all seven possessions over that span of play.
Emani Bailey took the first scoring honors when he ran from 4 yards out on the fourth play of the initial Ryan drive — his first of three touchdown runs in the first half. The score put the Raiders ahead 7-0 just 52 seconds into the contest. Bailey finished with 108 yards and the three scores on just four carries.
Granbury recorded two first downs on the ensuing series, thanks to a 14-yard rush from Zach Watson on the first play. But the Ryan defense then found its footing and proceeded to force the Pirates into a punt after stuffing Granbury on three straight plays.
It was all Ryan from that point on.
Henigan threw a 30-yard dart to Alabama commit Drew Sanders in the back right of the end zone for a two-TD lead. It was the first of three Raider touchdowns over the final 6:25 of the first quarter. Sanders led all receivers with 128 yards and two touchdowns on just three receptions.
It wasn’t just the Ryan offense that found the end zone.
Following a three-and-out on offense for Granbury, Billy Bowman Jr. returned a punt 54 yards for the first of two first-half touchdowns for the Texas commit, who also had a 54-yard catch-and-run for a score, as the Raiders led 21-0 with 4:47 left in the opening 12 minutes of play.
After another three-and-out for the Pirates, Raiders running back Keori Hicks followed a Tomas Hernandez block for a 22-yard touchdown and a 28-0 Ryan lead with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
“Our line started it off,” Seth Henigan said. “We had good sets from our center Noriece (Lawrence), and we just found the matchups and took advantage of it.”
Ryan added four more touchdowns in the second quarter as the Raiders totaled 516 yards of offense in the first half and 654 yards for the game.
The Raiders defense, meanwhile, forced six sacks of Pirates quarterback Austin Jinkerson and held Granbury to 263 yards of offense — with most of that damage coming in the second half, against Ryan’s backups.
“We’ve got a lot of really good players,” coach Henigan said. “Keori played really well. Drew, Billy, too. Ja’Tavion (Sanders) didn’t have very many catches tonight. Del’Shun (Neal) is a very good player, too. There’s a lot of weapons. We have a pattern to rotate those guys in to keep them fresh on both sides of the ball. We haven’t really been tested yet, but will as the playoffs go along.”
Granbury didn’t get its first touchdown until late in the second quarter. It was a well-designed trick play that led to the score. A 71-yard pass on a lateral from Austin Jinkerson and Cordel Gibson to Tristan Morris moved the ball to the Ryan 4. One play later, Jinkerson threw to Morris for the TD.
Morris caught three passes for 92 yards, and Zach Watson rushed hard all night to finish with 73 yards on 17 carries for a Pirates team that finished the season 6-5 after winning just two games in 2018.
Ryan moves onto the area round and will face the winner of Friday’s game between Lubbock Coronado and El Paso Eastwood.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 11:09 PM.