Thoughts & Notes From the 1A Title Games

It was great to be at AT&T stadium and see all 4 teams and towns come out for the big day!  Safe to say no one was left in any of those 4 towns on Wednesday!

Attendance on the whole was one of the lowest I've seen at a state game (missed a few since 1995 but not many) and I think the combo of it being played on a Wednesday and in Arlington really hurt the attendance.  However, there is no question the environment and meaning of being able to playing on the same field as the Cowboys to these kids and coaches is worth the hit in attendance.

Walker Tippie of Richland Springs ran into the record books, as he has been in the entire playoffs he seemed to be untouchable, thanks in large part to an outstanding offensive line blocking for him and excellent lead blocking by Hutton Lusty and Jordan Burkhart.  Tippie had 414 yards rushing (4th most in a 6man state game), with 8 rushing TDs, which tied him for most rushing TDs in a state game with Trey Richey and Dewayne Miles, on just 15 carries.  He was also 4-6-0 for 62 yards with 2 TDs passing...oh and he was 2nd on the team with 9 solo tackles, had 1 assist, 1 fumble recovery and 1 INT!

Not to be over looked is kicker Jared Martin's 12/12 in PAT kicks for Richland Springs, which is the best kicking performance ever in a state game (Brett Chudej of Garden City was 13/16 in 2009, making one more but has a worse percentage).

As a team Richland Springs had 29 carries for 530 yards rushing scoring 10 TDs on the ground and had 592 yards of total offense.  Defensively Brandon Tharp had 12 unassisted tackles and was in on 1 assist to lead RS.

96 points scored is 3rd most in a state game.

Balmorhea was in this game for good portion of it, however they suffered a few injuries, including one to RB Kyle Garcia, and a couple of key dropped passes that set them back.  Marcos Mendoza caught 6 passes for 156 yards, 5^th most in a state game, and 2 TDs and had 192 all-purpose yards to lead the Bears.  Kyle Garcia rushed for 135 yards 1 TD and was 4-6-0 83 yards 2 TDs passing.  QB Marco Martinez was 10-17-1 for 175 yards 4 TDs passing.

Combined total offense for this game was 1,063 yards.  146 points scored is the 4th most in a state game.

This was Richland Springs 8^th title, tying them for the most ever by a school in any classification.

In the DI game Borden County had more of a balanced attack and their classic bend don’t break 2-3 defense allowed just 12 points, tied for 3^rd least amount of points allowed in a title game, to a solid Jonesboro squad.

Borden County’s Corbin Sumners had 135 yards 3 TDs rushing on 15 carries while Hunter Jones had 152 yards rushing on 13 carries.  Passing Jones was 5-6-0 for 88 yards with 3 TDs and Sumners was 1-1—0 for 22 yards with 1 TD.  Sumners caught 1 pass for 31 yards and a TD, Braxton Coors caught 2 passes for 29 yards and 2 TDs, Trace Richey caught 1 pass for 22 yards for a TD, and Kale Yarbo caught a pass for 28 yards rounding out the balanced passing attack.

The highlight of the game was Trace Richey’s one handed INT that would have been returned for a pick 6 had there not been a penalty on the return by Borden County.

Even defensively Jones and Sumners balanced it out as both had 6 solo tackles and 2 assists to lead the Coyotes.

Jonesboro grinded out and earned every inch of their 197 total yards.  Robert Robuck bruised out 59 yards and 2 TDs on 11 carries on the ground.  As a team the Eagles had 28 carries for 162 yards rushing and they ate up a lot of time with long drives, however they couldn’t convert many of them into points.  Jonesboro had 8 possessions, scoring on 2 of their first 3, they had a turnover on downs twice, were forced to punt twice, had one turnover (Richey’s INT), and were in possession of the ball as time ran out to end the 1^st half.

The oddity of this game was the fact that Borden County received both the opening and the 2^nd half kickoffs…I have only seen that once in a game before so this was safe to say the first time it has happened in a state game...or not!  It has been pointed out to me that this happened in the 2008 DII game when the wind was very bad and involved Borden County...but it was BC who decided to kick off twice in that game.

Semi-Final Six-Man Standouts

Semi-Final Six-Man Stand Out Performances:

Some big game last week and some great performances!  Up next...the State Championship Games Wednesday at 4 and 7pm!

Walker Tippie – Richland Springs – 19 carries 310 yards 6 TDs rushing; 4-5-0 for 100 yards 1 TD passing; 2 catches 31 yards 1 TD receiving; 7 tackles

Tippie ran rough shot over Crowell’s defense and threw for 100 yards as well as the Coyotes won 92-62.

Hunter Jones – Borden County – 10-18 for 293 yards 3 TDs passing; 16 carries 127 yards 3 TDs rushing; 14 tackles

Corbin Sumners – Borden County – 3 catches 123 yards 2 TDs receiving; 15 carries 101 yards 3 TDs rushing; 3-4 for 69 yards 1 TD passing; 12 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT

Big night for both Sumners and Jones as Borden County upsets #1 Happy 92-58.  Easton Edwards was also 11/11 on PATs and kicked a 32 yards FG that was the first score of the game.

Kyle Garcia – Balmorhea – 30 carries 274 yards 3 TDs rushing; 2-3-0 for 41 yards 1 TD passing; 9 tackles

Marcos Mendoza – Balmorhea – 12 carries 140 yards 2 TDs rushing; 5 catches 132 yards 4 TDs receiving; 17 tackles; 5/11 PAT kicks; 46 points scored

Garcia carries the rock 30 times eating up the clock and yardage along the way, 274 yards to be exact, in Balmorheas 74-52 win over Valley.  Mendoza accounted for 276 yards of total offense, 6 TDs scored and 46 total points scored for the Bears.

Robert Robuck – Jonesboro – 27 carries 216 yards 4 TDs rushing; 16 tackles

Jimmy Apodaca – Jonesboro – 1 catch 32 yards 1 TD

Robuck had a huge night running the ball and helped out on defense with 16 tackles.  Senior Apodaca scored his first TD of the season in the final seconds of the game to win it for Jonesboro 50-46 over Union Hill.

Tristen Hayes – Crowell – 32-68-1 for 475 yards 5 TDs passing; 12 carries 136 yards rushing

Hayes had another big night passing in Crowell’s loss to Richland Springs.  He set a single game record for attempts with 68, and ends the season as the single season record holder in passing yards with 3,946.

Rushing:

Hutton Lusty – Richland Springs – 3 carries 105 yards 1 TD rushing; 2 catches 44 yards receiving; 15 tackles

Andy Sarmiento – Jonesboro – 7 carries 76 yards rushing; 7 tackles

Passing:

Marco Martinez – Balmorhea – 8-11-0 for 159 yards 5 TDs passing

Jordan Burkhart – Richland Springs – 3-3-0 for 46 yards 2 TDs passing; 2 carries 36 yards 1 TD rushing; 8 tackles

Receiving:

Tyler Durham – Crowell – 13 catches 176 yards 3 TDs; 9 tackles

Evan de los Santos – Crowell – 5 catches 97 yards 1 TD; 5 tackles

Ben Justice – Borden County – 3 catches 86 yards

Trace Richey – Borden County – 3 catches 85 yards receiving; 1 carry 3 yards rushing; 17 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT

Special Teams:

Easton Edwards – Borden County – 11/11 PATs, 1/1 FG (32 yards)

Jared Martin – Richland Springs – 10/12 PAT kicks

Defense:

Wyatt Young – Jonesboro – 23 tackles

Trace Richey – Borden County – 17 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT

Marcos Mendoza – Balmorhea – 17 tackles

Robert Robuck – Jonesboro – 16 tackles

Hutton Lusty – Richland Springs – 15 tackles

Hunter Jones – Borden County – 14 tackles

Braxton Coors – Borden County – 11 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 INT returned for TD

Corbin Sumners – Borden County – 12 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 INT

Brandon Tharp – Richland Springs – 10 tackles

Cameron Parham – Richland Springs – 7 tackles, 1 INT

Iraan Advances to 2A DII State Title Bout

Iraan Advances to 2A DII State Title Bout

By:  Leman Saunders

Iraan’s offense busted loose for some big plays, while their defense held up their side of the ball to defeat Wellington 42-21 in the 2A Division II title game Friday night at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.  Five of the Braves’ six touchdowns were on plays covering more than 40 yards, including a 78 yard Kick Off return by Kyle O’Bannon to start the 2nd half.

Wellington just didn’t seem to have an answer for Iraan’s option run attack all night, the Braves toted the rock just 24 times, but gained 274 yards to the tune of 11.4 yards a carry.  Daryel Lozoya found pay dirt 3 times racking up a team high 184 yards rushing on just 13 carries, while Kyle O’Bannon added a touchdown run of 66 yards and finished the night with 83 yards on 6 carries.

Iraan’s big victory came to the delight of many of the fans in attendance that were out in full force from all over the area braving the cold night air in support of Iraan.  Between 80 and 100 schools had cheerleaders present adding over 1,000 fans to the Iraan side of the stadium, along with several area mascots in full regalia, to show support and cheer on the Braves after last week’s fatal cheerleader bus crash that took the life of one of their beloved cheer sponsors and seriously injured the other sponsor as well as several cheerleaders while riding back from their Quarter-Final win over Munday.  Support also came in from their opponent Wellington as their band played Amazing Grace in Iraan’s honor at halftime and then the Wellington Cheer Squad present the Iraan Cheerleaders with a $3,000 check, money they had raised in one week to help support their opponent in their time of need.  The overflow of support for Iraan, and even more so Wellington’s kindness and show of support more than anything, showed more than any words can describe what true sportsmanship is and part of what makes Texas High School Football so special to us all.

#2 Iraan has been the favorite in many of their games so far, but now will be a true Cinderella team next week as they will be facing off with #1 ranked Bremond at 10am Thursday morning at Jerry’s World (AT&T Staduim) in Arlington.  In their Semi-Final match Bremond was down 25-22 to Burton with 5 minutes left in the 3^rd quarter only to mounted a big offensive attack and win 50-31.  Like Iraan, Bremond also features a great running game behind QB Roshuud Paul and RB Kaidyn Peralez who together combined for 492 yards and 6 TDs against Burton.  Needless to say with these two teams the game will feature a lot of rushing yards and a very fast moving game clock.  It is safe to say the only people rooting for Bremond will be from Bremond while Iraan will be bringing with them to Arlington the love and support of the rest of the state, and dare I say the nation as well…so how can you pick against the Braves!  I say Iraan controls the clock and keeps Bremond’s offense off the field just enough to pull off the upset as they win their first state title since 1996 and the hearts of all Texans in the process!

Iraan 28 Bremond 21