Courtesy Photo/Kerens ISD
The Kerens Bobcats football team enters the field at Corsicana High School for their Nov. 14 Bi-District game against Dawson, which Kerens won to advance to the Area round of the playoffs versus Tioga, played in Royce City Nov. 22.

CORSICANA–The Kerens Bobcats football team had no trouble defeating the Dawson Bulldogs in the first round of the Class 2A playoffs Nov. 14, pulling away in the second half and winning 49-14 behind quarterback Muziq Gunnell’s five touchdowns.
Kerens (6-5 after the Dawson win) next took on the Tioga Bulldogs in the Area round Nov. 22 in Royse City. Tioga beat Ballinger, 42-7, at Boyd Nov. 15 to move to 9-2 on the season. Kerens had defeated Dawson in the regular season, too, winning 35-9 Sept. 19.
Gunnell got things started against Dawson with a 62-yard touchdown run on the game’s first play. Kerens next added another 62-yard touchdown run, this time by D’Mari Payne. 
Gunnell scored his second touchdown, this time from 12 yards out, to make it 21-6 with 8 minutes left until halftime.
A Dawson touchdown and 2-point conversion allowed the Bulldogs to creep closer with 2 minutes left before intermission, at 21-14, but Kerens scored in the late moments of the second quarter when Gunnell found Isaiah Jordan for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
Leading 28-14 entering the second half, Kerens’ Gunnell added a 78-yard touchdown run on the Bobcats’ first possession of the third quarter. Now up to 35-14, Kerens, the Bobcats scored next when Nehemiah Massey ran 53 yards for a touchdown for a 42-14 Kerens lead, still early in the third quarter. Gunnell ran 43 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 49-14 after David Limon’s extra point.
Gunnell gained 227 yards on the ground, while Massey totaled 121 rushing yards and Payne ran for 119 more.