Davenport running back Zayden Garza had three prescient words written on his nose strip.
“Against all odds.”
Behind Garza’s three fourth-quarter touchdowns, Davenport overcame the odds as the Wolves rallied to beat Somerset 35-32 in a Class 4A Division I first-round playoff game Friday at Heroes Stadium.
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Garza rushed for 245 yards on 35 carries, leading a Davenport rushing attack that gashed Somerset for 309 yards and rumbled back from a 24-14 deficit.
The Wolves advanced to the second round to play Corpus Christi Miller next week. Miller trounced Zapata 52-0 in their bi-district playoff clash on Friday.
“I definitely knew I was going to come here and do what I do, no matter what,” Garza said. “One out of three people had us losing this game. They’re (Somerset) the number one seed, we came in as the fourth seed, dropped some games, but we’re here to show that it doesn’t matter. We got in and we’re going to make a run.”
Somerset (8-3) came in as District 14-4A-I champions, but the Bulldogs had lost to Davenport (8-3) each of the previous two seasons when they competed in the same district. The Wolves suffered close losses to Kerrville Tivy and Fredericksburg in their new home, 13-4A-I.
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Garza said Davenport was able to wear down Somerset with its grinding rushing attack late in the game.
“They (Somerset) had some guys that played both ways and they were going to load the box on us,” Garza said. “We knew those guys were going to get tired once that fourth quarter comes along and they weren’t going to be able hang with our tempo. So, we just keep pounding, pounding them and see what the result is.”
Davenport coach J.D. Zimmerhanzel said the game turned for his squad when the offensive line began to control the line of scrimmage in the fourth quarter.
“You got to give it those big ol’ linemen,” Zimmerhanzel said. “They did a really good job. I felt like we wore them down with our tempo and Zayden (Garza), he’s been unbelievable all year long. We put everything on his back. He said, ‘I want the ball’ and we kept feeding it to him.”
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Somerset went up 24-14 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter on a 42-yard touchdown run from John Alvarez, capping off a 21-0 Bulldogs run which came after Davenport went up 14-3 in the first quarter.
Garza and Davenport then went to work, going on a 10-play, 73-yard drive which ended on Garza’s 15-yard touchdown run with 10:44 left in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 24-21.
After forcing Somerset to punt after a three-and-out, Davenport drove 71 yards in four plays to take the lead. Garza punched it into the end zone on a 2-yard run, putting the Wolves up 28-24 with 6:45 left in the game.
Davenport then sprung a surprise onside kick on Somerset, with Jax Zamarripa recovering the ball for the Wolves at the Somerset 35. It took Davenport only two plays to take advantage of the gamble, as Garza dashed 27 yards for the score, extending the Wolves’ lead to 35-24 with still over six minutes remaining.
Davenport’s Josh Johnson runs the ball after catching a long pass to score a touchdown on the play while Somerset’s Anthony Almazan watches during the Class 4A Division I first-round playoff game at Heroes Stadium in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News)
But Somerset wasn’t done. Behind quarterback Adrian Buentello, who threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, the Bulldogs only needed two plays to get back in the game. The first on a 55-yard completion from Buentello to Shamar Nichols and the second, on a 20-yard scoring toss from Buentello to Malakai Iverson, who caught the ball as he was falling backwards in the end zone. Buentello then connected with Alvarez for the two-point conversion, cutting Davenport’s lead to 35-32 with 5:32 left in the game.
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Davenport then mounted a long, methodical drive, going 13 plays and taking over five minutes off the clock before Somerset stopped Kele Solidum at the Bulldogs’ 1-yard line on fourth down. Even though Davenport didn’t score on the drive, it allowed Somerset just 17 seconds and no timeouts to mount a game-tying drive. The Bulldogs advanced to midfield before a Buentello desperation pass fell incomplete to end the game.
“We knew it was a dog fight going into this game,” Zimmerhanzel said. “But we told our guys to stick together, keep believing in each other, keep believing in the process. I’m so proud of how they responded.”
The Wolves took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Solidum’s 4-yard scoring run. Somerset answered on the ensuing drive, as a long drive led to a Josh Moreno 23-yard field goal with 38 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
It didn’t take Davenport long to go up 14-3 as quarterback Tristan Torrez found Josh Johnson behind the Somerset secondary for an 86-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the first quarter.
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Somerset got within 14-10 at halftime as Buentello connected with Shamar Nichols on a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. The duo connected again early in the third quarter, on a 6-yard scoring toss which gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 17-14.
For Somerset, Nichols finished with five catches for 114 yards, with Alvarez rushing for 159 yards and one score. Johnson was a deep threat for Davenport, as he had four receptions for 119 yards, with most of them coming on his 86-yard touchdown reception.
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This article originally published at Zayden Garza’s 3 fourth-quarter touchdowns rally Davenport over Somerset.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
