• BY MIKE FORMAN - MFORMAN@VICAD.COM
• Originally published November 14, 2009 at 1:39 a.m., updated November 14, 2009 at 1:45 a.m.

SEGUIN -- Andrew Thibodeaux may be the secret weapon in Cuero's offense, but the word is starting to get out.

Thibodeaux ran for two touchdowns to put the Gobblers ahead for good in a 46-12 Class 3A, Division I bi-district win over San Antonio Sam Houston on Friday night at Matador Stadium.

"Andrew has been one of the key ingredients in our whole deal," Cuero coach Mark Reeve said. "He's that third guy that just makes things happen whether it's catching the ball or running it or whatever he's doing, especially blocking."

Thibodeaux did a little bit of everything for the No. 3 Gobblers, who improved to 11-0 and advanced to the regional playoffs against Sealy, a 43-36 winner over Needville, for the second straight season. The regional game has been scheduled for Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos.

Thibodeaux, a junior, spends most of his playing time on offense blocking for quarterback Tyler Arndt and running back Trent Jackson. But he got to carry five times against the Hurricanes (8-3) and scored on runs of 1 and 52 yards in the second quarter to break open a tie game.

"You can't really push on it or anything," said Thibodeaux, who also played on defense and special teams. "Once they give me my time, I've just got to show them what I can do."

Thibodeaux bulled over from the 1 with 7:26 left in the second quarter before breaking loose through the left side of the line on Cuero's next possession and going 52 yards to help Cuero gain a 26-12 lead.

"It was a counter that we'd been working on all week and we were hoping to have success with it," Thibodeaux said. "We started off kind of weak because every time we tried to line up in a set they would shift over to it. Finally Tyler being the quarterback he is, started leading us in the right direction and the coaches took it from there."

The size and speed of Sam Houston played a role in Cuero's shaky start. Hurricane quarterback Dominique Broadnax-Lee ran for 18 yards on his first carry, but was injured and had to leave the game.

Richard DeLong replaced him and threw touchdown passes of 42 yards to Javol Lawson and 72 yards to Otis Matthews.

"Obviously we don't see that kind of speed in practice," Reeve said. "We just kept hanging in there. We knew they were going to make some plays. We told our kids there were some plays and not to panic."

The Gobblers have too much offense to panic. Jackson carried 21 times for 190 yards and scored on runs of 1, 6, 81 and 19 yards.

"Their D-line was pretty good," Jackson said. "They had a marvelous D-line. But our linemen stepped up and the next thing you know, we just started opening up big plays. We have a great backfield. In my opinion, we have the best in 3A. It's hard to stop three people like that."

Arndt threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Hoffman to put the Gobblers up 32-12 going into halftime and attempted only three passes in the second half as the Hurricanes began to wear down.

"They've got a huge defensive line," Reeve said. "Our fullbacks blocked unbelievably tonight. Maison Rickman, my gosh, he was kicking their end out and their end was twice as big as him. A lot of kids made a lot of big plays."

Thibodeaux got the opportunity to do his part and didn't miss out on the chance.

"We kind of mixed it up," Arndt said. "Andrew got a lot of playing time in the backfield and he stepped it up real well for us this week."

NOTES

CENTURY MARK - Cuero was playing in its 100th playoff game and is 73-26-1 overall...BALLHAWKS - Cuero intercepted four passes. Arndt saw playing time at safety and had the Gobblers' first pick. Mason Blaschke, Adam Hengst and Jonathan Ybarra each had one interception...SPEED THINGS UP - The officials began running the clock almost continuously to speed the game up. Cuero pulled its starters less than halfway through the fourth quarter.

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