MANSFIELD -- Aubrey head coach G.A. Moore bit into a Snickers bar minutes after Friday’s Class 2A Division II Region II semifinal game against McGregor.

The taste in his mouth was sweeter than the feeling in his head and the sound in his voice.

After Aubrey lost 31-21 at Newsom Stadium, Texas’ all-time high school coaching wins leader was visibly upset.

“I am very disappointed,” said Moore. “We made too many mistakes. When you make as many mistakes as we did, you won’t win ballgames.”

It was mistake after mistake after mistake that doomed Aubrey (11-2). The Chaparrals had turnovers. They had dropped passes. They missed tackles. They committed penalties.

“We didn’t get here to this level in the playoffs by making mistakes,” Moore said. “They are going to wake up tomorrow and realize it is all over.”

Aubrey trailed the entire game but never let up on its comeback bid.

It cut the lead to three points twice in the second half. A Billy Feathers 4-yard run cut the lead to 17-14 early in the third quarter. But McGregor answered quickly with a touchdown run by Keith Reineke.

On Aubrey’s next possession early in the fourth quarter, Feathers found the end zone for the third time in the game when he rushed in from 3 yards out to cut the lead to 24-21 with a little more than nine minutes to play.

“Then McGregor answered again,” Moore said.

After a failed onside kick and a penalty by Aubrey, McGregor (13-0) had the ball on Aubrey’s 38, and eight plays later Sean Chappell scored from 1 yard out to put a stamp on the game.

“I kept thinking we would come back,” Moore said. “And we just kept making mistakes.”

Aubrey had the ball two more times, but an interception ended the first drive and a sack ended the final drive of the game.

“This is not good enough,” Moore said. “We had no business losing this game. Not to take anything away from McGregor, but we should have won this game.”

Aubrey mistakes haunted the Chaps early in the game.  On its second possession of the game, they fumbled the ball on their own 15.

One play later McGregor, was in the end zone thanks to a 15-yard touchdown run by Julian Young.

Mistake No. 2 came minutes later when Aubrey quarterback James Wurster tried to throw the ball away while he was sacked.

It resulted in a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown by McGregor linebacker Dustin Schilling.

“We gave them too many points too early,” Moore said.

The Chaps finally turned jeers into cheers early in the second quarter when they drove 80 yards in five plays, capped by a 4-yard rushing score by Feathers. The touchdown cut the lead to 14-7, but it was the last time Aubrey touched the ball in the first half.

McGregor drained the final 6:04 off the clock and ended the half with a 17-7 lead after Dirk Gerhardt hit a 34-yard field goal as time expired.

Aubrey had the ball for only 2:24 in the second quarter and only 7:56 in the first half.

“Can’t score if you don’t have the ball,” Moore said.

The loss ends a Cinderella season for Aubrey in Moore’s first year at the helm. The legendary coach helped bring back life to an Aubrey program that has struggled in the last decade, leading to a season with a school-record 11 wins.

When asked if he was going to return next season, Moore said he did not know yet.

“I’ll have to think about that,” Moore said. “Right now I am just trying to get over this loss. This is not a good feeling right now.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is mmuench@dentonrc.com.

McGregor 31, Aubrey 21

McGregor            14           3              7              7              --             31

Aubrey 0              7              7              7              --             21

Scoring summary

First quarter

M—Julian Young 15 run (Dirk Gerhardt kick) 5:42

M—Dustin Schilling 21 interception return (Gerhardt kick) 2:36

Second quarter

A—Billy Feathers 4 run (Levi Birdsong kick) 6:04

M—Gerhardt 34 field goal, 0:00

Third quarter

A—Feathers 4 run (Birdsong kick) 4:35

M—Keith Reineke 11 run (Gerhardt kick) 3:01

Fourth quarter

A—Feathers 3 run (Birdsong kick) 9:21

M—Sean Chappell 1 run (Gerhardt kick) 5:06

Team statistics

                M            A

First downs        12           11

Rushing yards    45-162   33-152

Passing yards     86           98

Total yards          248         250

Passes  4-5-0      5-20-2

Fumbles-lost     1-1          2-1

Punts-avg            3-38.4    2-31

Penalties             2-25       7-60

Individual statistics

Rushing : M—Julian Young 19-55, Keith Reineke 19-76, Sean Chappell 6-33, Peyton Fisk 1-(minus 2). A—Justin Griffin 3-22, Billy Feathers 19-100, James Wurster 4-6, Kaleb Parrent 1-2, Skylar Craig 3-16, Taylor Conway 1-3, Chase Mahurin 2-3.

Passing : M—Keith Reineke 3-4-0-37, Sean Chappell 1-1-0-49. A—James Wurster 5-19-2-98, Kaleb Parrent 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: M—Sean Chappell 1-9, Raul Olvera 2-64, Peyton Fisk 1-13. A—Kendall Jones 3-30, Kaleb Parrent 2-68.