BALLINGER — The Sonora Broncos took the long road, but they're returning home from Ballinger with a district title.
Sonora didn't take its first lead until the fourth quarter — and the Broncos twice scored on 97-yard touchdown drives — before hanging on for a 28-21 win at Bearcat Stadium.
Sonora would have fallen all the way to the district's No. 4 seed with a loss.
Instead, Sonora (6-4 overall, 4-1 in district) will be the No. 1 seed from District 2-3A Division II, and the Broncos are district champs for the first time since 2017, though they'll have to share the title with Brady and Grape Creek.
"It's huge. I don't think anybody expected it," Sonora head coach Blake Weston said. "But it feels good to bring that back to the community."
Ballinger (5-4, 2-3), the district's defending champion, had an opportunity to move up to the No. 3 seed with a win.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and they led 21-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
After falling behind late, Ballinger had a last-minute drive reach Sonora's 5-yard line with three seconds left in the game, but a penalty that resulted in a 10-second runoff prevented the Bearcats from having a chance to send the game to overtime.
Despite the loss, the Bearcats look like a dangerous No. 4 seed in the playoffs after losing to the district's top three teams by 13 points or less in each game. They were without their starting quarterback in two of those losses.
"I want them to keep their heads up, because we're playing good," Ballinger head coach Chuck Lipsey said. "And we're gonna go try to get a gold ball next week."
Ballinger will play the District 1-3A champ, Crane (8-2), at 7 p.m. Friday at San Angelo Stadium.
Sonora will open the playoffs next weekend against the fourth-place team from District 1-3A, Odessa Compass Academy.
Sonora trailed 14-0 before it touched the ball Friday, quickly putting the Broncos to the test.
Ballinger's Carter Arrott lofted a beautiful 53-yard touchdown pass to Blake Collom on the game's opening drive. The Bearcats then recovered an onside kick, and Arrott hit Beau Perkins for a 6-yard TD strike.
"Being down 14-0 is a little scary — in any game you play in," Weston said. "But to see the adversity they've faced all year, I didn't expect anything different from our kids. They're gonna fight until the bitter end."
Sonora answered with a 13-play, 60-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Hunter O'banon's 1-yard run late in the first quarter.
The Broncos defense made a stop, and Arrott's punt pinned them at their 3-yard line.
Sonora went on the march, driving 97 yards in 15 plays while chewing up most of the second-quarter clock. Sean Mungia capped it with a 1-yard TD run with 1:47 left, tying the game at 14-14.
Ballinger answered with a quick score — Arrott had a 1-yard QB sneak with 33 seconds left in the half — and the Bearcats took a 21-14 lead into halftime.
Sonora scored on the opening drive of the second half to get within 21-20, and the Broncos defense came up with another stop.
Once again, Arrott pinned Sonora at its 3 with a punt.
The Broncos were again up to the challenge, driving 97 yards in 13 plays to take their first lead on Mungia's 25-yard TD run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
"We always talk about our linemen leading the way and leading us up front, and they did that tonight," Weston said. "With (Jaime) Buitron being able to throw it when we want and run it when we want, obviously we're a run-first team, but we made some big throws down the stretch too."
Buitron was 7-of-9 passing for 83 yards with a TD pass to Jackson Carroll. Buitron also carried the ball 22 times for 101 yards.
O'banon had 17 carries for 100 yards and a TD, while Mungia had 15 carries for 86 yards and two TDs.
After trading punts, Ballinger took over at midfield with 4:43 to play, but Arrott was intercepted by Carroll when he took a shot at the end zone while scrambling on a third-and-6 from the 36 with 2:32 left.
Sonora was unable to run out the clock, however.
Despite an offense that had generated 27 first downs up to that point, Sonora was held to one first down and had to punt, giving Ballinger the ball at midfield with 39 seconds left.
Arrott had a 16-yard run that got Ballinger to the 5-yard line. With no timeouts left and the clock winding down, the Bearcats scrambled to spike the ball with three seconds remaining, but a player moved before the ball was snapped, ending the game due to the 10-second runoff rule.
Arrott was 9-of-18 passing for 175 yards with two TDs, and he led the Bearcats on the ground with 12 carries for 58 yards and a TD.
He also averaged 42.7 yards per punt and placed all three of his punts inside the 5-yard line.
Sonora was coming off a 7-6 loss to Grape Creek last week that derailed the Broncos' chances at an outright district title, but Buitron said the team was unaffected by it this week.
"We left that in the past as soon as the game was over," Buitron said. "We weren't worried about it anymore, and we were focused on Ballinger, and we came out ready.
The Sonora Broncos won six straight district titles from 2012 to 2017, but they went through a mini-drought the past three seasons.
Buitron, who is just a sophomore, hopes to add a couple more before he graduates.
"Growing up, I watched my brother and his class win district championships. It feels great I finally get to get one," Buitron said.
Sonora 28, Ballinger 21
Sonora 6 8 6 8 — 28
Ballinger 14 7 0 0 — 21
First Quarter
B — Blake Collom 53 pass from Carter Arrott (Briley Clinton kick), 10:19 remaining
B — Beau Perkins 6 pass from Arrott (Clinton kick), 7:37
S — Hunter O'banon 1 run (run failed), :23
Second Quarter
S — Sean Mungia 1 run (Jaime Buitron run), 1:47
B — Arrott 1 run (Clinton kick), :33
Third Quarter
S — Jackson Carroll 6 pass from Buitron (pass failed), 9:19
Fourth Quarter
S — Mungia 25 run (Buitron run), 11:15
Sonora Ballinger
First downs 28 16
Rushing-yards 54-287 22-111
Passing 83 175
Comp-att-int 7-9-0 9-18-1
Punts-avg 2-32.5 3-42.7
Fumbles-lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 3-30 9-75
Individual statistics
RUSHING -- Sonora: Sean Mungia 15-86, Jaime Buitron 22-101, Hunter O'banon 17-100; Ballinger: Carter Arrott 12-58, Nathan McDuffee 4-39, Zach Canada 4-11, Beau Perkins 1-2, Trey Matschek 1-1.
PASSING -- Sonora: Jaime Buitron 7-9-0 for 83; Ballinger: Carter Arrott 9-18-1 for 175.
RECEIVING -- Sonora: Owen Jones 2-27, Jackson Carroll 3-28, Fernando Gonzalez 2-28; Ballinger: Blake Collom 2-63, Beau Perkins 4-56, Trey Matschek 1-(-4), Zach Canada 2-60.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Sonora survives scare from Ballinger, wins share of district title
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