Jerry World State Champs, Game 2...

So, for the second and final game of the area teams' state championships Stamford was playing Mart in the Class 1A Div. I championship game. Of all the games involving area teams this was going to be the toughest and probably the best game, and boy did it ever live up to its expectations. Mart opened up the game swinging for the fences, throwing deep and scoring on the first play from scrimmage. After that Stamford marched the ball down the field methodically and scored to tie it up.

Things went back and forth. Then Mart started taking over building a big lead. It looked like Stamford just wasn't going to be able to do it and was going to come up short of a title again for the second year in a row. In the second half though, Stamford's QB, Hagen Hutchinson took the game over on both sides of the ball. It was an incredible effort by someone who just wasn't going to give anything up. Stamford ended up taking the lead for good with just over 30 seconds left in the game, with a great touchdown by Hutchinson just powering his way through defenders for a touchdown. Then on Mart's final drive he sealed the game with an interception as time expired. It was a really great effort by someone who literally left everything on the field. During the scrum after the game you could see him just leaning on his teammates, completely spent. It was one of the best state championship games I've seen. And, close games like these always make for nice photos.

Jerry World State Champs, Game 1...

Now that I'm nearly a month behind... Munday played Teneha in the Class 1A Div. II state championship game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. It was a rematch of last year's state championship. Last year Teneha won the game pretty easily, however, most of their best players had graduated while the majority of Munday's starters were returning. Teneha was loaded with underclassmen and had lost 4 of their first 5 games of the season, but had started playing a lot better since. Munday on the other hand had pretty much been beating every team they played, and beating them convincingly.

This game opened up a lot like every one of Munday's other wins of the year, with the Moguls jumping out to a quick lead and showing the superior speed they had and not letting up. The defense was looking good too and it was obvious the results this year were going to be a lot different than last year. Both the offense and defense were looking great and Munday ended up winning 42-14. After watching most of our local teams lose in the state championship games last year it was nice to see things turns around this year with the third local team to win and one more game left.

First of the State Champs...

Stephenville High School had been a football power in Class 4A since before I moved here. They won four state titles while being coached by now Baylor head coach Art Briles. And the last few years they had been knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual state champs always in a close game. So, this year when they dropped down to Class 3A they were quickly thrust into the state championship conversations. After dropping their first game they had been on a tear. And especially through the playoffs the Yellow Jackets' offense was clicking on all cylinders.

The El Campo team they were playing was the typical pound the ball up the gut type of team that could give Stephenville's defense fits if it got rolling. But, the offense came out quick and set the tempo and Stephenville stacked the box to stop the run and jumped out to a quick lead. El Campo did come back and add a couple scores to get the game close again and went into the half with Stephenville up 35-21.

In the second half Stephenville proved without a doubt who the better team was. El Campo held there own for part of the third quarter, but towards the end of the quarter, the Yellow Jackets were pulling away with it and blew things wide open in the fourth quarter to win the game 70-35. The 70 points scored was also a record for most points scored in an 11-man state championship game. It was the school's 5th state title and the first in 13 years.

Back to Football Doubleheader, game 2...

The nightcap of the Arlington football doubleheader between Abilene and Arlington was Abilene High playing Arlington Lamar. On paper this game wasn't going to be close at all Abilene was coming in with an unblemished record and Lamar had a .500 season and barely squeaked out a win in their previous playoff game. But, like they always say, that's why they play the game instead of just playing it on paper.

Lamar came out in the game swinging. With their two big wide receivers they were able to move up and down the field. The Abilene High defense was playing well and the Eagle offense was moving the ball pretty well too. But Lamar was making it a game. A few key turnovers were what was keeping the Eagles in the lead at halftime, but Lamar didn't look out.

On the opening kickoff of the second half Abilene High took the kick and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown to open things up. That pretty much turned the tide of the game. After Lamar got the ball back they didn't look the same. Abilene then started to move the ball really well both with short passes and grinding the ball out on the ground. The final score was 53-34 with AHS winning the game pretty easily. Looking back the game never really felt in doubt, but up until the latter half of the third quarter Lamar never seemed to be out of it either. It made for a really entertaining game.

Back to Football Doubleheader, game 1...

So, after taking the first week of the football playoffs off to cover state volleyball I was itching to get back to shooting football. The playoffs are six weeks long, but they always seem to fly by, probably because of all the travel and how busy I am. With Thanksgiving coming earlier than normal this year, we were in the second week of the playoffs and most of our 11-man games were being played on Friday. The great part about the Friday after turkey day is since there is no school there are usually afternoon games to cover as well, which means nice light.

Cooper and Abilene High (they're a later post) were playing a doubleheader against a pair of Arlington schools on Friday in Arlington. Cooper had pulled the harder of the two draws playing a good Arlington High team. It was back and forth the whole game and it never looked like the Cougars were able to get into a decent groove. However, they did make quite a few nice plays, which made for some nice photos as well. One of the biggest problems with these games is the light. On one side if the field it is fabulous, then going the other way it is awful. Going into the nice light I didn't have to do much work at all. though when I was looking into the sun, it took a while to get the photos toned right and there were a couple areas of the field I just couldn't shoot at all, that's a pain, but something that needs to be dealt with.

Even though Cooper ended up losing the game 27-20 it was back and forth the whole time, which always makes for a more entertaining game than a blowout, going either way. They had the lead for a lot of the game, but a few stalled drives just couldn't make it work out of them in the end.