By Robbie Brown
For the Austin Sports Journal
BASTROP – In one of the Austin-area’s oldest rivalries, Bastrop evened the all-time record Friday night with a win over a determined Elgin team with a 47-24 win at BISD Memorial Stadium in Bastrop.
The Bastrop Elgin rivalry dates back to 1917. With the Bears’ victory over the Wildcats, Bastrop (6-2, 5-0 District 11-5A-II) evened the series record that now stands at 27-27-6.
See more photos from Friday’s game.
Riding the arm of sophomore quarterback Weston Nielsen, the Bears took their first lead of the night on Neilsen’s second touchdown pass of the evening, connecting with Jaylen Gratten for a 13-yard scoring pass.
Bastrop would never look back despite some early chances from the Wildcats. Elgin (3-5, 3-2), however, came out swinging early.
Dylan Owens guided the Wildcats to an opening drive score when he found Zaire Nuells in the endzone for the early 7-0 lead. Bastrop responded when Nielsen connected with Ramonz Adams for a 75-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 707 with 2:11 left in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats had a couple of passes that missed by inches in the first half that could have kept Elgin stride for stride with an athletic Bears team.
“They showed us some different things then what we had seen on film, and it took us a while to figure it out and settle our kids down,” said Bastrop head coach Jake Griedl. “Obviously, we made adjustments that we felt were necessary and our kids executed. We preached all week that emotions don’t win games, execution does, and our kids took it to heart.”
Quintaelyn Joiner closed out Bastrop’s first half scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 19-7.
Elgin got some two extra opportunities late in the half when back-to-back offside penalties against the Bears set up a 31-yard field goal by Christian Solo with no time left on the clock at the half. His first two tries were wide left.
“We talked to the guys about looking focus and we can use this as a teaching tool moving forward,” Griedl said. “There was a quick moment right when we got into the locker room where we had to refocus. Right after that, our kids zoned back in and did a great job.”
Zoned back in was an understatement as the Bears took the second half kickoff and marched it down for Nielsen’s third touchdown pass of the night, this time a 44-yard toss to Keyshon Moore.
Bastrop recovered an Elgin fumble on the ensuing kickoff attempt, setting the Bears up on the Elgin 20-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Nielsen connected with Gratten for a 20-yard touchdown pass for his fourth of the game to give the Bears a 33-10 lead.
The Wildcats kept fighting as Dylan Owens ran in a 9-yard touchdown to pull Elgin to within 16 points with 2:16 left in the 3rd quarter.
That was as close as the Wildcats would get as Nielsen showed why he is one of the top recruits in the state for the Class of 2027.
Nielsen ran in a 9-yard touchdown and capped off his 351-yard, six touchdown night with a 56-yard scoring pass to Moore late in the game.