Hernandez breaks 100 scrimmage yards in Elks’ loss to Summit
The junior receiver scores Burleson’s only touchdown in 35-10 loss
MANSFIELD – Jaden Hernandez broke 100 yards from scrimmage and scored the Burleson Elks varsity football team’s only touchdown in a 35-10 loss to the Mansfield Summit Jaguars Friday at Vernon Newsom Stadium.
The junior receiver Hernandez caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown and ran for eight yards on one carry in the Elks’ loss.
Hernandez’s touchdown came on a 50-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Andrew Sparks to cut Summit’s lead over Burleson to 21-10 with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
Sparks completed four of eight pass attempts for 79 yards and the touchdown and ran for 38 yards on 12 carries.
Junior quarterback Cade McNeely replaced Sparks for most of the second half and completed six of 13 passes for 41 yards.
Burleson got an early takeaway as junior defensive back/wide receiver Jaden Flournoy grabbed an interception to end Summit’s first drive of the game and give the Elks the ball on their 3-yard line with 10:44 left in the first quarter.
The turnover didn’t have much of an effect on Summit as they went on to outscore the Elks 21-3 in the first half.
Senior kicker Gavin Keine got the Elks on the board with a 26-yard field goal to bring the score to 14-3 with 7:08 left in the second quarter.
Burleson made the most of receiving the second-half kickoff as they scored on a four-play, 63-yard drive capped off by Spark’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Hernandez to make it a two-possession game.
On their way to shutting Summit out in the third quarter, Burleson forced another takeaway on junior defensive back Lynden Kilgore’s interception to give the Elks the ball on Summit’s 49-yard line with 6:56 left in the third.
Burleson didn’t score any points on either of their takeaways.
Summit’s sophomore receiver Zaeden Smith scored on a 27-yard pass from junior quarterback Demarus Bird to give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead over the Elks after the extra point with 5:51 left in the first quarter. Summit never lost the lead.
Bird completed nine of 14 passes for 126 yards and the touchdown pass and carried the ball three times for 22 yards and two touchdowns.
Smith caught four passes for 89 yards and the touchdown and ran for 12 yards on one carry.
Summit’s sophomore running back Omogbolahan Daudu scored on a seven-yard run to give the Jaguars a 14-0 lead over the Elks after the extra point with 2:42 left in the first quarter.
Daudu ran for 12 yards and the touchdown on three carries.
Bird scored his first rushing touchdown of the game on a four-yard run to increase Summit’s lead over Burleson to 21-3 with 4:17 left in the second quarter.
After the Elks shut Summit out in the third and for the first four-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, junior running back Adarion Nettles scored on a three-yard run to increase Summit’s lead to 28-10 with 7:28 left in the fourth.
Nettles ran for 113 yards and the touchdown on 17 carries and caught a four-yard pass.
Bird scored on a nine-yard rush to bring the score to 35-10 after the extra point with 2:47 left in the fourth quarter.
Burleson junior running back Nate Jackson ran for 58 yards on 17 carries in the loss.
The Elks (0-2 in district, 1-3 overall) have a bye week next week before they’ll seek their first district win as they return home to face the Grapevine Mustangs (0-2, 0-4) October 4 at 7 p.m. at Burleson ISD Stadium.