Historic Hardin run comes to a close
Brennan Nunan shows his emotions after the Hardin Hornets fell to the Yoakum Bulldogs on Friday night in the Class 3A Division I Regional Semifinals. Nunan, like the entire Hardin team, left it all out on the field and made the whole community proud along the way. The standout lineman will be a piece of the foundation next season, as the Hornets try to win back-to-back district titles for the first time in school history.
CYPRESS– The 2025 Hardin Hornets will not be forgotten anytime soon. In fact, they find themselves enshrined in school history as the first to go undefeated in the regular season, clinching a district and bi-district title and the school's first-ever area crown along the way.
Basically, anything else was a bonus, including the team's first-ever Thanksgiving practice and regional semifinal appearance.
On Friday night at Cy Fair ISD's Berry Center, the Hornets faced Yoakum in a Class 3A Regional Sem-final, and the Bulldogs put together a strong second half that would eventually bring the Hornets run to an end, 28-10.
"So proud of this team and these seniors who made this a historical season at Hardin," said Head Coach Chad Taylor. "We keep our heads up high tonight."
The first half was a good one for the Hornets, as they allowed Yoakum just two offensive possessions while controlling the clock.
Javion Watley took the game's first offensive play and bounced it outside for 45 yards to the Bulldogs 32-yard line.
Later in the drive, sophomore quarterback Kolten Bishop sustained an injury and had to come out for the rest of the series.
After moving to the Yoakum 15-yard line, kicker Justin Avila booted a 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 7:42 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs then moved in front at the 7:01 mark of the second quarter with a 67-yard drive that resulted in a Kennan Dilworth 27-yard touchdown run and a 7-3 lead.
Hardin answered with their best drive of the night that went 75 yards and used all but the final 18 seconds of the first half. Watley scored from 2 yards out, and the Hornets were back in front 10-7 heading to the locker rooms.
The second half was all about field position as Yoakum started their drives at the Hardin 40, 34, 43 and midfield.
After a nice kickoff, the Bulldogs start at the Hornets 40-yard line. They would need only three plays to move in front as Germarquis Robinson scored from 17 yards out and a Yoakum 14-10 advantage.
Hardin then turned the ball over on downs and the Bulldogs took over at the Hornets 34-yard line.
Trevor Jones made a huge defensive play on first down, resulting in a four-yard loss, and a couple of plays later, the Hardin defense had held.
Taking over at their 26-yard line, the Hornets offense could not do anything with the football. After one successful fake punt by Thomas Gallaspy moved the ball to the 36-yard line, a second fake punt attempt was unsuccessful, and Yoakum had the ball at the Hardin 43-yard line.
Three plays later, it was Jace Morales finding Dilworth for a 47-yard score and the Bulldogs had extended their lead to 21-10 with 8 seconds left in the third quarter.
Yoakum (11-2) then put the game away with 5:02 remaining, with Robinson scoring from 18 yards out to make it a 28-10 lead.
The Bulldogs will face Columbus in the Regional Final, while the Hornets see their season end with a 12-1 record.