NAVASOTA, Texas — It took Silsbee a while to find its bearings Friday night, but the Tigers overcame a sluggish start and held off a late Navasota rally for a 39-34 district win at Rattler Stadium.
With 38 seconds remaining in the game, Silsbee stopped a Navasota two-point conversion attempt and then recovered an onside kick to knock off their district foe.
The teams are now tied at 1-1 in District 10-4A with three games remaining.
Silsbee (2-4, 1-1) scored a touchdown with 1:12 left on the clock to take an 11-point lead. Navasota’s Ladadrien Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to set up Navasota at the Silsbee 12. After three incompletions and facing fourth down, Navasota senior quarterback Jeb Malek fired a pass on a slant route that was tipped into the air and caught by a diving Micah Mock in the back of the end zone.
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Navasota (3-4, 1-1) went for the two-point conversion, but Malek’s pass was just out of the reach of Payne Gessner. Navasota’s onside kick rolled 10 yards but a Silsbee player fell on it to ice the game.
Silsbee overcame a rather sloppy first half that included 85 penalty yards — 65 in the second quarter alone — that helped Navasota take a 14-3 lead halfway through the first quarter.
“We found some momentum at the end of the second quarter and we played with a lot of excitement in the second half,” Silsbee Coach Randy Smith said. “This was a big win for us tonight.”
Silsbee lost its district opener at Little Cypress Mauriceville and was playing its fourth road game in five weeks — this one almost three hours away on a yellow bus.
Silsbee, typically known for its potent running game, got a huge night in the air from quarterback Jacob Collins, who connected with speedster Tre Lowe on 74-yard touchdown pass from a flea flicker to put the Tigers on the board trailing 14-10.
Navasota extended its lead when Malek found Quantavius Moore in the end zone. Moore leapt and grabbed the touchdown over Kalon Barnes to put the Rattlers ahead, 21-10.
Barnes, a Baylor commit who was the Class 4A state champion in the 100- and 200-meter dash last spring, got revenge on the next Silsbee drive when he made a leaping catch in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. A run by Dralyn Taylor on the two-point conversion closed Navasota’s lead to 21-18, which held until halftime.
Taylor, one of Silsbee’s two dynamic sophomore running backs, took the second half kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers a lead they would never relinquish.
Silsbee extended its lead to 32-21 when Collins found Barnes for another touchdown. Malek hit Jackson for a 7-yard touchdown on a slant route as time expired in the third quarter.
Navasota travels to Cleveland (3-3, 1-1) next week while Silsbee hosts Bridge City (1-4, 1-1). In the other 10-4A Div. I game, Huffman Hargrave (2-3, 0-2) will travel to Little Cypress-Mauriceville (3-2, 2-0).
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