Dobie's Andrew Robinson tries to keep a promising Longhorn drive alive on third down late in the first half, but he gets tangled up by Vincent Vega (22) and then runs into Deer Park's Juan Adame (93), who holds him to a yard gain and forces a field goal.
RANIER RAINS MISERY ON ERROR-PRONE HORNS, LEADS DEER TO FIRST DISTRICT CROWN IN 16 YEARS
Deer Park quarterback Austin Ranier unhinged Dobie through the air in the first half, then mopped on Longhorn errors in the third quarter as the Deer rolled to a surprisingly lopsided 41-16 victory Thursday night in a much anticipated District 22-5A showdown at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The victory gave the Deer their first district title since 1995 and prevented the Longhorns from nailing down a second-straight 22-5A crown.
Both teams will advance into the Division 1 state playoffs. Deer Park stands 9-1 for the season after finishing district play at 5-0. Dobie is 7-3 after wrapping up district play at 4-1.
The Longhorns, who came in riding a streak of five games with at least 42 points scored, were held to just a field goal until the final five minutes of the contest. Two late Dobie touchdowns took some of the sparkle off a Deer Park lead that peaked at 41-3.
Dobie's Andrew Robinson, the district's leading rusher and scorer, gained 115 yards on 18 carries. But Robinson contributed to a series of ball-handling disasters early in the second half that allowed the Deer to score 17 points in a span of 76 seconds and put the game away.
The contest was a stark reversal of Dobie's 34-13 victory over the Deer in 2010 in what was also a showdown for the district title.
Ranier turned in a brilliant performance, completing 10 of 18 passes for 176 yards against what some had considered to be a suspect Longhorn secondary.
The Deer Park senior hit Daniel Demond on a 31-yard scoring strike not quite three minutes into the game. Late in the first quarter, Ranier connected with Josh Rutherford, who raced 58 yards to the end zone as the Deer took a 14-0 lead.
Dobie's best drive -- while the game remained close -- ended at the Deer Park 8 late in the first half when Robinson was stopped on third down after just a one-yard gain. Douglas Leighton salvaged a 25-yard field goal for the Longhorns to prune the Deer lead to 14-3 at the half.
The start of the second half was a nightmare for Dobie.
Deer Park took the kickoff and immediately stormed into Longhorn territory, the big play a 51-yard run by Justin James. Dobie's defense stiffened, leaving the Deer with only a 39-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez.
But the Longhorns muffed the ensuing kicking, took possession at their 3 -- then gave it up on a fumble by Patrict Hurst. Juan Adame recovered for the Deer at the Dobie 1 and Demetrius Banks punched it in.
After the kickoff, Robinson fumbled and Casey Westmoreland recovered for the Deer. That set up an 11-yard TD run by James and opened up a 31-3 Deer Park lead.
Barely three minutes after that, Banks scored on a 67-yard run. Gonzales added a 33-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter as both coaches moved reserves into the game.
Tyler Wolfe replaced Deandre Bolden at quarterback for the Longhorns and hit Chris Stockman with a 9-yard TD pass with 4:41 to play. Wolfe added a second Dobie TD on a 1-yard run with just eight seconds left.
Deer Park piled up 398 yards behind a balanced offense. Dobie posted 340 yards, but completed only five passes in the game.
Banks, the district's No. 2 rusher, topped Robinson's total with 140 yards on 18 carries. James finished with 83 yards on 10 carries.
Deer Park quarterback Austin Ranier settles into the pocket and finds Daniel Demond (81) on a slip screen pass that develops into a 31-yard touchdown, the game's first.
Deer Park defensive back D.J. Lasua (14) steps in front of Dobie's Kyle Lohse for a first-quarter interception.
Ranier escapes pressure from Dobie defenders Todd Baumann (42) and Jonathan Jones (99), then pogo-sticks over Kerry Henderson (66) to complete a pass for a first down during first-half action.
Ranier takes advantage of strong protection from his offensive line to wing a completion downfield near the end of the first quarter. Ranier teammed with Josh Rutherford on a 58-yard pass-and-run TD on the next play.
Dobie receiver Vance Leonard (11) hauls in a pass from Deandre Bolden good for 24 yards late in the first half.
A long line of leaping Deer fails to knock down Douglas Leighton's 25-yard field goal late in the first half.
Deer Park's Justin James (5) takes off on a 51-yard romp that helped set up a Deer field goal early in the second half.
Deer Park's Juan Adame (93) eludes the chaos in the line to recover a fumble by Patrick Hurst (25) at the Longhorns' one-yard line early in the second half. The Deer scored on the next play.
Deer Park linebacker Casey Westmoreland (42) makes a diving recovery of a fumble by Dobie's Andrew Robinson (22) early in the second half.
Dobie defenders Jonathan Jones (93), Anthony Simmons (33), Kerry Henderson (66) and Todd Baumann (42) team up to stop Deer Park's Clay De La Garza after a short gain in the third quarter.
GAME ALBUM
