Sealy junior quarterback D’vonne Hmielewski connected with classmate Haden Wernecke for three touchdowns and the Tiger defense recorded three takeaways to secure a 40-30 win over the Navasota Rattlers Friday night in non-district action on the road.

In the waning moments of the second quarter, Navasota used a late touchdown to cut its deficit to 21-14 with only 50 seconds before halftime. The hosts capitalized on the momentum with a heavy dose of run plays right up the middle to start the third quarter but Sealy Head Coach Shane Mobley said the message to his defense was to bend but don’t break.

“They came out real fast at us off the edge and then in the second half, they came right down our throats. We're not the biggest team in America and when you’ve got some big ol' boys, we're going to have to start chomping at some ankles,” Mobley told the Sealy Tiger Sports Network. “Right now, we kind of have the mentality – and I'm trying to instill that in our defense – to bend but don't break. We don't have to pin them back every time, they're going to make some other adjustments and some other calls and we have to settle down a little bit too. They got inside the red zone quite a few times and I think we were very productive defensively at times to stop them.”

The Tiger defense recovered two fumbles and stole an interception but the latter fumble forced by Thomas Clark – the team-leading tackler – came at a pivotal moment in the third quarter. Navasota quarterback Ja’Mar Jessie was on another first-down run but Clark jarred it lose from behind and Sealy was able to cash in to extend to a 17-point lead heading into the final frame.

Mobley said the team is working on becoming a better second-half squad and although the Tigers outscored the Rattlers by three in the final two quarters, it’s performances like that which will continue to make the difference.

“We know in our district and the people we play in the future that the second half is major, we’re not going to win a ballgame in the first quarter,” Mobley told the Navasota Examiner. “It happened last week, it happened again this week where we got stagnant a little bit but we made the adjustments. Some of our seniors stepped up and some of our underclassmen stepped up and I thought it was big for them.”

A pair of those now-upperclassmen, Hmielewski and Wernecke, provided two second-half touchdowns that helped extend the visitors’ lead and stave off a late rally from the Rattlers. Wernecke cited the halftime adjustments as the key.

“I was holding my head down a little bit, but (Mobley) came up to me and said, ‘Defense has got to step your stuff up,’” Wernecke told STSN. “We came out and executed on offense and defense and that's what the team is going to do all year.”

Wernecke finished with 12 catches for 157 yards and three touchdowns of 23, 25 and 11 yards. Hmielewski compiled 293 throwing yards on 19-of-29 passing with four touchdowns and no interceptions. A’vonte Nunn – who supplied a three-yard touchdown in the first – helped Sealy rack up 147 rushing yards on the night. Krenek caught Hmielewski’s other touchdown pass and pulled down his third interception this season.

The Tigers won the time of possession battle 25:19-22:41 and finished with 440 yards of total offense over 69 plays.

Sealy returns to the road next week to face the Montgomery Lake Creek Lions who will be coming off a 35-14 win over Porter to also move to 2-0 on the season. Lake Creek competes in District 10-5A-D2 with Fulshear, a former district foe of the Tigers.

Sealy 21-0-13-6

Navasota 7-7-3-13

Q1

10:18 Sealy D’vonne Hmielewski to Connor Krenek 12 pass, Amador Lopez kick, 7-0

Navasota Ja’Mar Jessie 2 rush, Juan Vargas kick, 7-7

8:06 S Hmielewski to Haden Wernecke 23 pass, Lopez kick, 14-7

3:37 S A’vonte Nunn 3 rush, Lopez kick, 21-7

Q2

0:17 N Jessie throwing touchdown, Vargas kick, 21-14

Q3

4:10 N Vargas 28 field goal, 21-17

3:12 S Hmielewski 7 rush, kick failed, 27-17

0:50 S Hmielewski to Wernecke 25 pass, Lopez kick, 34-17

Q4

9:08 S Hmielewski to Wernecke 11 pass, two-point failed, 40-17

7:45 N Jamal Thomas 1 rush, Vargas kick, 40-24

1:34 N Jessie to Thomas 23 pass, two-point failed, 40-30