BUDA, Texas — The Austin Anderson Trojans are in uncharted territory.
Despite a season-low scoring output, Anderson took care of business with a workmanlike 29-14 district victory over Buda Hays on Thursday night at Bob Shelton Stadium.
Anderson is 8-0 for the first time in school history. The Trojans are also 6-0 in 12-5A Division I play, seeking their first outright district championship since 2003. Anderson has just one postseason win in its 52-year history. That came in 2010 against Round Rock Westwood.
Junior quarterback Cove Darbyshire finished 19-of-23 for 195 yards without an interception. He threw a 9-yard touchdown to Jay Fullmer on the game’s opening drive, then scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter to increase Anderson’s advantage to 24-14 over the Hawks (4-4, 2-4).
“We knew this was going to be a hard game,” Darbyshire said. “We knew we were 7-0 for the first time ever, but we also knew they were going to play their heart out every play.
“We knew if we played our game, we could win. It still wasn’t pretty, but we came out of here with a dub. I’m proud of this team for pushing through adversity. The whole team bands together when things get shaky and stuff gets rough. We face it as one team. We’re all in.”
Senior running back Caleb Crenshaw was also big for Anderson. In addition to scoring on a 6-yard touchdown run, he broke free for huge runs of 30 and 57 yards that led to touchdowns while rushing for 234 yards on 28 carries. He has more than 1,500 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns this season.
“[Hays head] Coach [Mark] Torres had these guys ready to play,” Anderson head coach Donald Hatcher said. “Everybody we are playing now we seem to get at their best because they have to win to get in the playoffs. We are battle-tested. Our guys haven’t blinked. They rise up.
“It’s exciting. We’re trying to keep it all together. I’m excited for the guys. I’m excited for the community. We have to stay on them. We can’t let them slack off. Ten-and-0 is the goal, but it’s not the prize. This group has high expectations. We have 38 seniors on the squad.”
Although the Hawks never led, Hays showed some explosiveness and tied the game at 7-7 in the first quarter on a 20-yard touchdown run by Eyan Stigall. The Hawks cut the lead to three, 17-14, on a touchdown strike from Troy Wright to Miller Johnson in the third quarter.
Anderson’s defense held its ground, though, forcing a safety by River Anderson and a pair of losses of down in the second half to preserve the win.
The Trojans are two wins away from finishing the regular season undefeated. Anderson hosts Lockhart (1-6, 1-4) on Oct. 30 and wraps things up at Pflugerville Weiss (7-1, 5-1) on Nov. 6.
“This is the tightest Anderson team I have ever been through,” Darbyshire said. “My whole family went to Anderson, so it just means more to me. I consider these boys my family because of how tight we are. That means a lot to me, too.”
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