Chargers look to rebound from tough loss as they host Seguin for homecoming

Just one game into district play and the Boerne Champion football team is already in a tough spot.

After the Chargers dropped their 13-5A DI opener to Smithson Valley last week, head coach Blane Ellis said falling to 0-2 in district would make it really hard on his team’s hopes of making the playoffs.

Champion will get the chance to even its district record to 1-1 this Friday when they host Seguin. Friday’s homecoming contest kicks off at 7 p.m.

“It’s a must win,” Ellis said. “When you look at the district opponents we have left and the path to making the playoffs, we need to win this one. A loss isn’t the end of the world, but it makes it a lot tougher. We need a win.”

After hosting Seguin, Champion still has New Braunfels, Wagner, Pieper, MacArthur and Victoria East on the schedule and has to finish in the top four if they were going to advance to the playoffs.

Champion and Seguin are familiar foes and have been in the same district over the years. They played the last two years and split, with the Chargers winning last year’s game (52-19) and the Matadors taking their 2022 meeting (42-21).

Seguin won its district opener last week against Victoria East (37-30) and is 2-2 overall and 1-0 in 13-5A DI.

The Matadors have an athlete in Nik Henry, who they like to throw the ball to. The senior finished with 8 catches for 142 yards last week and has game-changing speed.

Henry is listed as having a 4.4 time in the 40-yard dash and has run the 100 in a time of 10.4 seconds.

“He’s the fastest guy in the region in track and they like to get him the ball,” Ellis said. “We have to limit their explosive plays.”

While Ellis said Seguin is a worthy opponent, he added that the Chargers have to focus on what they do and fix mistakes. Playing a team like Smithson Valley will reveal things and Ellis said they have to address those this week.

“We made some mistakes that we can’t make. We had a punt blocked and it was a big moment in the game. It was kind of the beginning of the end if that makes sense,” he said. “We can’t make mistakes on special teams because it’s a game changer and we’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities that we have. There were several 50-50 balls that we didn’t connect on either.”

The Rangers were state runner ups last year and Ellis said their reputation might have affected his team last week.

“Some of our youth showed up last week, where it hadn’t in weeks prior. We fought and played extremely hard, but we didn’t execute,” he said. “Can you blame it on our youth or the fact that it was a district opener? Probably, but we didn’t execute the way we should and those are things as a young team that we have to get better at.”

Ellis said they need to go out and get a win for homecoming and avoid an 0-2 start to district.

“It’ll be a dog fight, but I feel like we’re up for the challenge,” he said.