The Sealy Tigers used two rushing touchdowns from senior Ethan Hart, a fake punt touchdown from senior Connor Krenek and multiple defensive stops in the red zone to claim their fourth Bi-District Championship in five years with a 21-19 win over the Silsbee Tigers Friday night at W. W. Thorne Stadium in Aldine.

Sealy advances to face China Spring in the Area Championship which will be played at Waco ISD Stadium next Friday, Nov. 19, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.

After the visiting Tigers from Sealy opened the scoring in the first quarter, the Tiger defense provided two stops in the second quarter that spoiled Silsbee drives that went to the doorstep of the goal line.

Senior Gage Grigar pulled down an interception in the end zone and even though Sealy’s ensuing offensive possession also stalled near midfield, Special Teams Coach Chase Janczak said it was a perfect scenario to run a fake punt that Krenek took 52 yards for the touchdown that served as a difference-maker on the scoreboard.

“The flow of the game that was going, we just kind of felt like we needed to take a shot to try and flip the momentum going back to our side,” Janczak said. “We saw something on film that we liked so we designed it during the week, ran it, practiced it and executed it real nice.”

The Tigers followed that up with a stop on fourth-and-inches that left Silsbee on the 10-yard line in the second quarter and although the host Tigers scored twice in the third quarter, Sealy prevented both two-point conversions from scoring to maintain the final edge.

“That was just the kids making plays, stepping up and believing in each other when it was needed the most. That’s what we tell them, defense is going to win games in something like this, you have to play good defense,” Head Coach Shane Mobley said. “We got points on special teams and if you’re on the defensive side of special teams that feels like defensive points so I think it was really effective.”

Even though no points were scored in the final frame, Silsbee had a chance on its final drive after a measurement forced Sealy to turn the ball over on downs with 4:43 left in regulation.

“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” junior linebacker Richard Hahn said. “I was just thinking we need to keep working together, we need to keep going and eventually I feel like they got worn out and they started kind of giving up on us. Then we got the momentum back when they got that first down and they gave it back to them, that really woke us up on defense and we came out that next drive and blew it up.”

With the crowd behind them, the Sealy defense not only shut down Silsbee’s drive but blocked the fourth-down punt to secure the victory.

“It wasn’t the football game overall but it’s always the official’s call and you just have to state your case,” Mobley said of the measurement giving Silsbee the ball back. “The defense just had to make some plays and we got a little more aggressive toward the end.”

Offensive Coordinator Chris Carruthers was able to take advantage of the dialed-up defense once again and Hart put the finishing touches on another two-touchdown game this season.

“They had four people down and only one linebacker so somewhere there was a cutback lane and I was just taking advantage of it and trying to get as much as I could every time I got the ball,” Hart said.

“We made enough good plays and, in the playoffs, that’s the key is getting to next week,” Carruthers said. “The two-point conversion was big, that had them chasing the two pointer at the time, but Silsbee is a good football team and we knew it was going to be a tough one.”

In the five years since Mobley and his staff took over coaching football in Sealy, the Tigers have won in the first round of the playoffs all four times they’ve qualified and for Hahn and Hart, it was both part of a dream and the legacy they leave behind.

“It means a lot, I’m glad to be able to get to do it with this special group of guys,” Hart said.

“It's awesome, ever since I was a little kid (I’ve been wanting to be part of this),” Hahn said.

Sealy draws No. 5 state-ranked China Spring in the Area Championship in what will serve as a rematch of last year’s third-round playoff game where the Cougars ended the Tigers’ season.

“Coach Brian Bell is a tremendous coach; I have the utmost respect for him with us dealing with them last year. He’s got a special group, a majority of those guys that we played last year are back so just like us, they’re playing with a purpose,” Mobley said. “They’re highly ranked and I think a lot of it is going to be the schemes and being smart on things to be able to compete and make things happen but our kids are going to bring it to the table next Friday night, we are going to bring a family and it’s going to be a good football game.”

“It’ll be just another week,” Hahn said of next week’s practices. “We’re going for round two against them again, we know what kind of team they are and we just need to put the work in at practice.”

“I feel pretty good, I think we’ll have a good game plan going in, the coaches always work hard every day and the players go out there and practice hard so I think it’ll be a good game,” Hart said.

Scoring Summary

Sealy 7-8-6-0

Silsbee 7-0-12-0

Q1

7:57: Sealy Ethan Hart 1 rush, Amador Lopez kick, 7-0

4:51: Silsbee Marquis Dodd 5 rush, Kolby Arceneaux kick, 7-7

Q2

8:14: Se Connor Krenek 52 rush, D’vonne Hmielewski to Haden Wernecke two-point pass, 15-7

Q3

8:22: Si Dodd 4 rush, two-point fail, 15-13

4:34: Se Hart 2 rush, kick blocked, 21-13

0:35: Si Mason Brisbane to Adam Saenz 36 pass, two-point fail, 21-19

Stats courtesy Sealy Tiger Sports Network

Connor Krenek: 1 carry, 52 rushing yards, 1 touchdown; 1 catch, 5 receiving yards; 7 tackles

Jeffrey Neu: 9 tackles

Ethan Hart: 16 carries, 95 rushing yards (long of 22), 2 touchdowns

Richard Hahn: 6 tackles

D’vonne Hmielewski: 2 of 9 passing, 11 throwing yards, 1 interception; 25 carries, 43 rushing yards

Mason Klotz, Hector Murillo: 5 tackles

Haden Wernecke: 1 catch, 6 receiving yards; 1 carry, 10 rushing yards; 4 tackles

Thomas Clark, William Forrester: 4 tackles

Jonathan Monterroza: 3 tackles