Cibolo Steele Knocks off District Rivals

SCHERTZ- Cibolo Steele (4-1, 2-0) claimed victory over Schertz Clemens (2-2, 0-2) 28-7 Thursday night in the Battle of 3009 at Lenhoff Stadium.

After a promising opening drive for Clemens ended in despair with a missed 38 yard field goal, the Knights quickly took advantage. After a personal foul backed Steele up to their own 16, Malcolm Brown took over and streaked 84 yards for the game's first score, just 3:55 into the game. Steele added two more touchdowns late in the first; a 14 yard pass from quarterback Nick Sergent to Brian Vandenberg, and another Malcolm Brown touchdown. Brown scored this time from 12 yards out.

Two first quarter fumbles by Clemens helped to fuel the early Steele onslaught. Bryce McCoy committed the first Buffalo snafu, after being pounded by two Knight defenders, and was out for the remainder of the evening. Stanley Harris coughed up the ball later in the quarter, setting up the third Steele touchdown, and leaving the score at 21-0.

"(The loss to Southwest) has really helped us to refocus" Brown said. "It was our first loss on our own field in two and a half years or so."

Refocus is exactly what the Knights have done. After the loss to Southwest (3-0), Steele has outscored their two opponents 56-7 in the first half.

Let's not forget the overall spectrum of the victory tonight. With the win, Steele gains Schertz-Cibolo bragging for the third year in a row, redeems their television performance on local KMYS-TV after dropping the game against Southwest on the same network, and moves to 2-0 in District 27-4A.

"While the rivalry victory is nice," Steele head coach Mike Jinks said,"what we're really excited about is the 2-0 (district record)."

Steele will face off against New Braunfels Canyon (2-2), while Schertz Clemens takes on Boerne Champion (3-1).