Wagner ran away from Champion with a 47-7 victory Friday night at Boerne ISD Stadium and basically put a playoff spot out of reach for the Chargers.
Champion falls to 2-5 overall and slips to 0-4 in district. Things don’t get any easier as Champion visits district favorite Smithson Valley on Friday.
With only three games left in the season, Chargers coach Keith Kaiser said he expects his team to play like they were fighting for their playoff lives.
“it’s been a long time since we’ve been in that situation, but if we preach all the time that football is about learning and dealing with adversity, then there are still things to play for because life is tough,” he said. “What they’re facing is more real life, more than going 10-0, so we better take some lessons and learn how to deal with adversity and fight back and not just be a punching bag.”
Wagner took control early and scored on its second play from scrimmage for the quick 7-0 lead less than two minutes in.
The Thunderbirds added three more touchdowns in the first quarter and opened up a 27-0 advantage by the end of the period.
Champion struggled to move the ball and didn’t record a first down until the second half. They had six punts and two interceptions in the first half.
Wagner tacked on two more touchdowns in the second period and took a 40-0 lead into the halftime break.
At one point in the first quarter, Kaiser called the entire team over to the sideline after one of the Wagner touchdowns and said he told them to “fight back.”
“I felt like we walked out there and saw their size and speed and we were just hoping someone else was going to make a play,” he said. “When you deliver the blow instead of always taking it, you find more success through that and then you start building confidence. Early on we were just taking everything.”
The Chargers played better in the second half and scored its first and only touchdown of the game in the third quarter. After a fumble recovery by Champion’s Hayden Niemeyer, the offense set up shop at the Wagner 39-yard line.
On 3rd and 3 from the T-Birds’ 32, the Chargers gained five yards and picked up its first 1st down of the game with 5:20 left in the third.
On the very next play, Jordan Ballin rolled right and heaved a 27-yard pass into the end zone to Chase Riha for a touchdown that put Champion on the board. Crew Pulliam booted the extra point to make it 47-7 with 4:59 left in the third stanza.
Neither team scored the rest of the way, but Champion’s Luke Rossi gave the Chargers a golden opportunity after he recovered a fumbled on the ensuing kickoff just seconds later to give Champion the ball at the Wagner 2-yard line, but the Thunderbirds turned away the Chargers with an interception in the end zone to end the threat.
One positive for the Chargers was that the defense/special teams came up with five turnovers against the T-Birds.
“I thought our kids started to respond and started to play,” Kaiser said. “We’ve got to kind of learn that it’s not always about the X’s and O’s, it’s about getting physical and taking the fight to people.”
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