GEORGETOWN — The Hornets weren’t going to let this one slip away. 

After being staggered by a couple of third-quarter punches, Huntsville tightened up and delivered the knockout blow in the fourth. The Hornets scored four touchdowns in the final period Saturday afternoon and ran away from the Hays Rebels 45-14 in a bi-district playoff game at Birklebach-Eagle Stadium. 

“It sure feels good to get this one,” Hornets coach Mitchell Coey said. “Last year we let one get away from us, then today in the third quarter it started getting a little close. Buda Hays kept fighting and kept fighting, but our guys stepped up and got the job done.”

Huntsville (8-3), which won its first playoff game since 1991, advances to the area round of the Class 4A Division I playoffs to meet Beaumont Central, a 7-0 winner over Baytown Goose Creek on Friday. 

The Hornets and Jaguars (8-3) will play Saturday at 6 p.m. at Thorne Stadium in Houston.

Hays, the runner-up in District 17-4A, scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and cut Huntsville’s once 17-point lead to three. Momentum seemed to be on the Rebels’ side, especially after they marched 69 yards in eight plays late in the third quarter and scored on a 1-yard run by junior Torrance Smith.

That made it 17-14, and Hays (4-7) soon got the ball back when the Hornet offense stalled without senior quarterback Justin Gilbert. Leg cramps forced Gilbert out of the game early in the third, and Huntsville failed to do anything offensively while he was on the sideline.

The Hornet defense decided it was time to take over. After backup punter Chris Crawford unloaded a 47-yard kick and got Huntsville out of a tough spot, senior safety Gabe Franklin came up with the biggest play of the day.

Watching the eyes of Hays quarterback Sam Breyfogle, Franklin broke on a pass and snagged it in full stride. Franklin sped 25 yards to the Rebels’ 13. 

“I read it all the way,” Franklin said of his third interception this season. “I read it when he rolled out and I read it when when he threw it. I knew if I caught the ball that would be motivation for the team.”

Motivation? Franklin’s interception appeared to be the exact kind of pick-me-up the Hornets needed. And it was exactly what the Rebels did not need.

Two plays after Franklin’s interception, senior running back Shaqulle Ross did his best Earl Campbell impression, chugging through a jersey grab and banging over from 8 yards out to put the Hornets on top by 10.

“Once Gabe intercepted that ball, our confidence shot straight up,” Coey said.

After stopping the Rebels in three plays, Huntsville got the ball back following a 4-yard punt. Gilbert returned to the game and scored his second touchdown of the day, this one on a 4-yard run that put Huntsville on top 31-14.

The Hornets added two more scores to turn a nail-biter into a rout. Ross picked off a pass and ran it 56 yards for a touchdown, then sophomore speedster Henry Ford broke loose for a 46-yard scoring run.

“Our offense executed and our defense shut them down,” a happy Franklin said after the two-time district champion Hornets were presented another gold football for being bi-district champs. “We were just on point today.

“I was a little nervous when they scored those two touchdowns,” Franklin added, “but coach (Shane) Martin told me to step up and be a leader. That’s what I did.”

“This is what we’ve been working for our whole lives, ever since the Huntsville Youth Football League days,” Huntsville senior Kase Delaune added.

The Hornets got off to a great start Saturday. Three minutes into the game, Huntsville held a 14-0 lead.

Gilbert gave Central Texas fans their first glimpse of athleticism, Huntsville style, when he took off on a 46-yard touchdown run. After rolling left and seeing nothing there, Gilbert zipped back to the right and found lots of room.

Three Rebel defenders had an angle on the speedy Gilbert, but the Huntsville quarterback turned on the jets and raced untouched to the end zone.

The Hornets got a break following Martin Juarez’s successful point-after kick. Hays’ Anthony Garza slipped and fell on the field turf while trying to catch a bouncing ball on the kickoff.

Huntsville sophomore Darius Evans sped down the field and recovered the ball. He cruised into the end zone, but the ball could not be advanced.

That mattered little. Two plays later, Ross powered over from the 6-yard line and put the Hornets on top 14-0.

Juarez, who was perfect on extra points, threw in a 21-yard field goal early in the second period to give Huntsville a 17-0 halftime lead.

“They made a mistake early,” Coey said, “and we made them pay for it. We drove it in the red zone two more times in the first half, but didn’t get anything out of it. That had me concerned at halftime.”

The way it turned out, Coey didn’t have to worry. The Hornets took care of business and are moving on to the next round.