By Neil Robertson
MaxPreps.com
Nazareth 32, New Deal 20
The New Deal Lions roar no more.
Class 1A Division II unbeatens Nazareth and New Deal met last Friday night at Lubbock's Lowery Field in state quarterfinal action. 5,500 were on hand to witness Nazareth's offense score early and often and fend off a Lion second-half rally.
New Deal, coming in ranked No. 3 in 1A could not stop the Swifts from scoring on four of their first five offensive series. It was 25-7 by halftime, advantage Swifts. Senior quarterback Justin Schulte was prolific all night, particularly in the first half. Passing often to his brother, Brady Schulte, the two combined for three touchdowns, 152 yards passing and the majority of the Swifts' total 289 yards offense.
Swift running back Tucker Waggoner ripped off a nice 29-yard first half touchdown run, as well.
New Deal quarterback Jason Ybarra had two rushing touchdowns, a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Jackson and passed for 245 yards of 354 total Lion offensive yards.
Nazareth, a school renown for multiple 1A state championships in girls basketball, advances to the football semifinals for the first time ever.
Nazareth meets Windhorst (41-7 over Electra) in the upper bracket of the 1A Division II semifinal game at Abilene's Shotwell Stadium Friday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Stratford 19, Idalou 17
What a game.
With 3:46 left in the contest, Idalou took a17-13 lead in a tug-of-war game on a Bo Bryant 12-yard touchdown run. An ensuing squib kick had the Stratford Elks on their own 40 yard line and 60 yards from reaching the state semifinals.
That is when the "we believe and refuse to lose" mantra infamous in Elk football lore kicked into full gear. Eleven plays, four passes, and seven quite ordinary short yardage run plays later, junior running back Craig Kautz bulldozed a three-yard run over the goal line for the winning score at the 51 second mark.
Kautz scored all three touchdowns for Stratford, rushing for 88 yards, Jonathan Licon added 113 rushing yards, and junior quarterback Hunter Buckles ran for an additional 79 yards. All said, the Elks out-rushed the Wildcats 280-107 and 142-9 in the first half.
"That's what we've done all year," Stratford coach Eddie Metcalf said. "That's what got us here."
Stratford, the 2000 state 2A champion, advances to its sixth-consecutive semifinal in the last eight years. Stratford ford plays Cisco (14-10 over Holliday) in the upper bracket semifinal in 2A Division II Saturday, Dec. 16 at Lubbock's Lowery Field at 2 p.m.
Texarkana Liberty-Eylau 36, Canyon 20
Last Saturday night at Sweetwater's Mustang Bowl, the Leopards of Liberty-Eylau sped past the soaring Canyon Eagles in 3A Division I semifinal action.
The Eagles, enjoying their deepest football playoff run ever, finally met their match. The Leopards scored on seven of their first 10 offensive drives, with six plays going for 30 yards or more during that span.
Leopard quarterback/place kicker Will Middlebrooks passed for 210 yards and connected on three field goals. Running back James Batts had touchdown runs of 30 and 5 yards on 18 carries for 128 yards.
Eagle senior quarterback Anthony Ramos finished his prolific high school career by hitting on 22 of 38 passes for 241 yards. Look for him to be playing NCAA Division II ball next year.
Liberty-Eylau, playing in its second-consecutive semifinal game, advances to the 3A Division I state championship game versus Robinson (62-21 over Ingleside) this Friday at SMU's (Highland Park-Dallas) Ford Stadium at 6 p.m.
Wofford Frenship 20, Wichita Falls Rider 17
The Frenship Tigers advanced on a late, come-from-behind drive for a 20-17 victory over Wichita Falls Rider Raiders in the Class 4A Division II Region I final last Friday night at Jones AT&T Stadium.
The Tigers arrive at a second-straight berth in the state semifinals.
Tiger junior tailback Michael Connor rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winner at the 4:25 mark.
"Everybody has been committing to what they're doing and never gave up," said Connor, who now has 1,857 rushing yards for the season. "You play as a team, never give up and just keep going.''
Trailing 17-6 after Rider (9-5) scored with a little over six minutes left in the third, the panic alarm was on for the Tigers. But Frenship narrowed the deficit to 17-12 by answering that score with one of its own on a 29-yard scramble by Conner around left end with 4:29 remaining in the period.
Then, on fourth-and-inches on the Raider 41, Rider coach Scott Ponder opted to punt, in reaction to the Raiders having been stopped cold on fourth-and-two on their previous possession. Tigers safety Eric Britton deflected Joey Neale's punt causing it to come up short at the Rider 36-yard line.
Frenship's Connor then went into overdrive carrying the ball on all seven plays of the drive, scoring from eight yards out, and converted the two-point conversion for the 20-17 lead.
On their ensuing possession, the Raiders committed their singular error of the game - a fumbled exchange between quarterback Shavodrick Beaver and running back Damien Washington. Tiger defensive star Ryan Haliburton recovered the live ball at the Tigers 43-yard line, only to have Frenship forced to punt the ball back with 1:20 remaining in the game.
It was just too little too late on the final offensive Raiders' series as their running game went askew and Raider signal caller Beaver was finally forced out of bounds by Tiger defensive back John Swope on fourth down at the Rider 29 with 56 seconds remaining, nailing shut the lid on a Tiger victory.
Wofforth Frenship plays Waco (44-13 over Brownwood) at Justin (North of Fort Worth) Justin Northwest High School (North of Fort Worth) Saturday 1 p.m.