Shadow Creek Pulls Away Late To Top Wagner; Clinches 2nd Straight State Title Game Appearance

For the second consecutive season, Shadow Creek football earned a spot in the UIL 5A Division I state title game with a state semifinal win against San Antonio Wagner. The Sharks pulled away on Friday for a 45-21 win at San Antonio's Alamo Stadium.

"We were all locked in," VYPE Player of the Game Kyron Drones said of Friday's performance. "And then, we got unfinished business to take care of."

The latest meeting had a lot of early scoring and Shadow Creek took advantage of every San Antonio Wagner miscue. The trend started with a Thunderbird fumble that set up Drones' three-yard touchdown pass to Greg Hancock and the Sharks' 7-0 lead. Another was a missed extra point that would've tied the game at 14 with 5:15 left in the period.

Shadow Creek's second score was Drones' 24-yard touchdown run and their third was an Eric Landaverde 25-yard field goal. Meanwhile, San Antonio Wagner kept it close with Joerell Brown and Jordan Patterson touchdown runs.

The teams followed the 30-point opening period with seven scoreless drives to start the second quarter, but showed their magic in the final four seconds of the first half. Drones found Carlton Guidry on a 55-yard touchdown strike before Avante Stevens' 75-yard kickoff return and San Antonio Wagner's successful two-point conversion made it a 24-21 game at halftime.

The start of the second half seemed to follow a similar path because Guidry returned the opening kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown at the 11:45 mark of the third quarter, but it ended up being the start of something new. It launched a 21-0 second half surge that also included Drones' 55-yard touchdown pass to Jared Jackson and a pair of interceptions forced by the Shadow Creek defense in the third period, as well as Jay'Veon Bell's 28-yard touchdown run with 1:47 left in the fourth.

Shadow Creek has to wait til Saturday to find out who it will face next week. The Sharks will take on Denton Ryan or Frisco Lone Star at Arlington's AT&T Stadium on Friday December 20th. Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm.

"We know we have to have a great week of preparation," said Shadow Creek coach Brad Butler. "We're going up there. We're not sure who we're going to play yet, but either way that game goes tomorrow. It's going to be a tough task and we gotta come prepared."

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