LUBBOCK – Storybook beginnings don’t necessarily mean similar endings, which meant four years of thrilling chapters finally ended sadly for the West Plains Wolves on Friday night.
In a rematch from last season, West Plains ran into storied Stephenville in the Class 4A Division I region final at Lowrey Field and couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. That didn’t translate into such a strong finish, though, as unbeaten Stephenville lived up to reputation and record, closing the game with 34 straight points to beat the Wolves 41-21 and end another stellar season for the young school.
West Plains (12-2) came out with a go-for-broke attitude and it paid off fairly quickly, as the Wolves led 21-7 early in the third quarter and looked slated for a second straight improbable win over Stephenville (14-0), after beating the Yellowjackets 42-35 in the same round last year. After that, though, the Wolves found out why Stephenville is Stephenville.
“We felt really good about our start obviously,” West Plains coach Adam Cummings said. “We were playing really good defensively and executing offensively. We heard that we didn’t have a chance but we had some untimely things happen there before the half. I’m so proud of our kids and the way they kept their composure.”
Things couldn’t have started better for the Wolves if they’d written a script, as they scored touchdowns on their first three possessions. However, Stephenville took all the momentum into the locker room at the half, scoring 10 points in the last 34 seconds to cut the West Plains lead to 21-17.
West Plains seemed intent on making a statement from the opening kickoff. The Wolves took the kickoff and went 82 yards in 16 plays, taking 7:16 off the clock.
During the drive, the Wolves converted a pair of fourth downs. It concluded when Gianni Peck ran in from a yard out to make it 7-0.
Later in the half, West Plains went for it twice on fourth down in the second quarter and didn’t make it. Yet, that was part of the plan for Cummings in keeping his team in the game.
“We knew we had to be aggressive and we were,” Cummings said. “We’ve been aggressive on fourth down all year and that’s really nothing new for us. I have a lot of faith in our kids to get the job done and our coaches to get us in a good spot. We had our opportunities and didn’t always get it done, and part of that credit goes to Stephenville defensively.”
Stephenville answered the way the Yellowjackets have long been known for in these situations. They got the ball past midfield after a long kickoff return, and Trot Jordan hit Rhett Donham for a 40-yard strike down to the West Plains 1-yard line. Zyler McClendon carried it in on the next play to tie it 7-7.
The Wolves responded quickly on their next possession, as Reid Macon hit Kane White-Tinsley for a 37-yard gain to the Stephenville 12. Boston Ladd then carried it in from there on the next play to make it 14-7.
That was the first of Ladd’s two scoring runs in the first half. White-Tinsley intercepted a deep throw by Jordan on Stephenville’s next possession and the Wolves took over at their own 20.
On the next play, Ladd took a handoff and made the most electrifying play of the game, weaving the last 40 yards of an 80-yard touchdown run to avoid all Stephenville defenders and give West Plains a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter.
With leading ballcarrier Slade Russell out with an injury, it was up to people like Ladd to pick up the slack. He led West Plains with 109 yards on 10 carries, but in the second half had only three carries for minus-1 yards.
“It was just whatever (offensive coordinator Jeff) Liles was feeling,” said Ladd, who also led West Plains in receiving with eight catches for 89 yards. “He told me to be rady for anything. He did call me a lot tonight and I loved it. I think (Stephenville) just changed up some things and we didn’t execute well with the passing game after that.”
Late in the half, the Yellowjackets started living up to their reputation offensively. Jordan hit two big passes before finding Adan Jergins on a 16-yard score in the back right corner of the end zone to cut it to 21-14 with 34 seconds left in the half.
The Wolves didn’t opt to play it safe on their ensuing possession. Macon was forced out of the pocket and while he gained yardage he was stripped of the ball, and Stephenville’s CJ Spellmeier recovered at the West Plains 47 with eight seconds remaining in the half.
Jordan then hit Caden Monk for a 17-yard gain and the Yellowjackets called timeout with three seconds left. Brighton DeVivo then hit a 47-yard field goal to end the half and make it 21-17.
“There’s always room for second guessing but when you’re in this game there are always going to be things you go back and look at and say woulda, shoulda, coulda,” Cummings said. “At the end of the day I’m just proud of all the things our kids and coaches have done.”
For the game, West Plains ended up with more yards rushing and passing than Stephenville, an indication that the game was closer than the final score. The Yellowjackets had only 11 yards rushing and no first downs on the ground in the first half.
Two huge carries by Jordan in the third quarter changed that.
With the ball on the West Plains 42 midway through the third quarter, Jordan kept it on an option and lost control of the ball, but it bounced right back to him, and he took it up the sideline the rest of the way for a touchdown. It not only was the first rushing first down of the game for the Yellowjackets, it gave them their first lead as well, 24-21, and they never trailed again.
On Stephenville’s next possession, Jordan kept it on a similar play which went 34 yards for a score and 31-21 lead, further signaling Stephenville’s control of the game.
“The first quarter a lot of things didn’t go our way,” Stephenville coach Sterling Doty said. “There was some execution by West Plains picking up a couple of fourth downs. We didn’t bat an eye and just got to the next play and overcame that adversity. We just settled into the game.”
West Plains struggled offensively in the second half, picking up just 103 yards. The Wolves ran for only eight yards after halftime.
Also, it was uncharacteristically a game for Macon that he didn’t throw a touchdown pass. He still completed 19-of-32 passes for 234 yards without an interception.
It was the final game of a stellar career for Macon, who stepped in with a group of freshmen in the summer of 2022 and left a mark in a new school which will be felt for years to come. Macon ends his high school football career making 54 starts going 42-12 as a starter.
“I knew we had a special group our freshman year,” Macon said. “The juniors who were above us had a special group too. They kind of guided us in the right direction and were good role models. All in all this class was an amazing group which had so much talent and I’m so proud of these guys.”
Stephenville 41, West Plains 21
Stephenville 7 10 14 10 – 41
West Plains 14 7 0 0 – 21
First Quarter
WP – Gianni Peck 1 run (Gipson Gnagy kick), 4:44
S – Zyler McClendon 1 run (Brighton DeVivo kick), 2:38
WP – Boston Ladd 12 run (Gnagy kick), 1:00
Second Quarter
WP – Ladd 80 run (Gnagy kick), 10:40
S – Adan Jergins 16 pass from Trot Jordan (DeVivo kick), 0:34
S – DeVivo FG 47, 0:00
Third Quarter
S – Jordan 42 run (DeVivo kick), 5:19
S – Jordan 34 run (DeVivo kick), 2:40
Fourth Quarter
S – DeVivo FG 33, 6:11
S – Jergins 30 pass from Jordan (DeVivo kick), 1:49
Stephenville West Plains
First Downs 17 17
Rushing 138 161
Passing 212 234
Total yards 350 395
C-A-I 13-25-2 19-32-0
Punts.-Avg. 2-38.0 3-32.7
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-yards 4-20 6-63
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Stephenville: Jordan 12-72, McClendon 14-66. West Plains: Ladd 10-109, Reid Macon 14-41, Peck 5-16, Kane White-Tinsley 1-(-5).
Passing – Stephenville: Jordan 13-25-2-212. West Plains: Macon 19-32-0-234.
Receiving – Stephenville: Rhett Donham 1-40, Caden Monk 6-71, McClendon 1-(-3), Jergins 3-66, DeVivo 1-30, Xavier Gonzalez 1-8. West Plains: Hooker 4-24, Ladd 8-89, White-Tinsley 3-59, Schneider 4-62.