Mustangs lose district opener

KARNES CITY — Nixon-Smiley could not keep up with Karnes City’s scoring as they dropped their district opener on the road, 40-28.

The Badgers opened with a touchdown in the first quarter, and the Mustangs were able to match touchdown-for-touchdown in the second quarter, with Colby Newman throwing three touchdown passes to match Karnes City’s three touchdown runs, ending the half down 28-22. Then in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs tied the game with 8:50 left on another Newman touchdown pass, but Karnes City added a touchdown with 5:03 left and another score at 4:28 left to ultimately win the game 40-28.

Newman finished the night 9-of-17 passing for 215 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed 15 times for 83 yards, fumbling the ball once. Meanwhile, Devin Hester caught five balls for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Daniel Rodriguez had three receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns. Elix Carillo had one catch for 21 yards.

Nixon-Smiley (2-4, 0-1) take on Dilley (2-4, 0-1) on the road, with kickoff set at 7:30 p.m.