Steele won the battle but did they lose the war?

Photos by Aubrey Oswalt

Cibolo Steele won the battle Friday night against Del Rio 28-10 but did they lose the war? Junior dual threat quarterback Xavier Martin went down early in the first quarter to what appeared to be an ankle injury. Xavier ran up the middle and got tackled, nothing serious but when he tried to get up, his leg just collapsed and he retreated back to the ground.

Martin has been remarkable this season for the Knights. After seeing little to no time at quarterback last year he has exploded for 1,884 yards passing with 19 touchdowns completing 70 percent of his passes this year. Also, what separates him from the pack is his ability to run the football and make things happen with his legs. He has rushed for over 600 yards and 8 touchdowns; two games of over 100 yards rushing. One of those games was against traditional powerhouse 10^th ranked Judson Rockets; a team that is also still in the playoff picture. Just a few of the many reasons why Coach Kliff Kingsbury and Texas Tech can’t wait for Martin’s arrival in 2017.

The players and the whole town of Cibolo showed their concern for Xavier when he went down. Many were seen crowding around him by the training table where he was being examined by Texas State’s medical staff. “When No. 1 (Martin) went down the first play of the game, that takes the wind out of everybody’s sails a little bit,” Steele coach Scott Lehnhoff said. “But the kids did a good job of rallying and playing hard.” – Ben Baby MySanAntonio.com

There is no timetable on Xavier’s return. This would be a huge loss for the Knights who are looking for their first perfect season in school history. With just two games left until the state championship, the competition will start to tighten up. Although the knights are still eying that much anticipated rematch with Katy, there is another familiar face standing in their way next week. It will be the sequel between Steele and Clemons; two teams that know each other all too well.

Steele dominated the last meeting but Clemons has been putting up basketball numbers in the playoffs thus far. I’m sure the news about Xavier Martin has reached the Clemons’ locker room and they see an opportunity that they sure need to take advantage of. If there is one thing we know about rivalry games, it’s that nothing is guaranteed.