Claude dominates for historic win

It was a historic night at Mustang Stadium in Claude as the Mustangs are headed to the postseason for the first time ever in Six-Man action taking down White Deer, 46-0, to seal that playoff berth.

The Mustangs dropped down to UIL Class 1A in 2018, and the road has been bumpy as last year’s squad posted a 6-4 mark which, until this year, was also the most wins since dropping down. All that history just served as fuel for the fire of this year’s squad.

It didn’t take long for Claude (8-2, 3-1) to make noise in this contest as Trapper Godfrey raced 42-yards for an apparent score on the very first play from scrimmage to give the Mustangs an apparent early lead.  However, a holding penalty pushed the ball back ten yards and nullified the score.

That penalty turned out to be just a blip on the radar as Claude marched down field and Godfrey plunged in from one yard to put the home team up 8-0.  After holding the Bucks on four downs, the Mustangs went to work again in White Deer territory. On a first down at the 20, Thomas Slack raced around right end for the first of his three scores and a 16-0 lead midway through the first quarter.

Claude’s defense, which held the Bucks (6-3, 1-2) to 30 total yards on the night, stiffened again and gave the ball back to their offense and Godfrey did the rest. Picking his holes before taking off on a dead sprint, the speedy junior found the right pylon as he was being pushed out, and the Mustangs were starting to see the road to the playoffs.

On White Deer’s next possession, Godfrey grabbed his fifth interception of the year, and Claude went back to work. Using their dynamic running attack and the efficient passing of quarterback Holden Tice, the Mustangs marched down the field and Slack bowled in from the three to put this game out of reach and to put a playoff berth in the hands of Claude.

The thunder and lightning duo of Slack and Godfrey was just too much for the Bucks. The hard charging style of Slack gained 47 yards on six carries while the slippery Godfrey posted 149 yards on twelve carries while scoring twice. The junior runner also had a 31-yard receiving touchdown from Tice.  

Also in the district, Booker had no problem with Wildorado, taking down the Mustangs 64-8, to claim the outright district title for the second straight year. The Kiowas (7-2, 3-0) finish off the season on Thursday against White Deer at Bucks Stadium.  

District 2-1A Division I

Week 10 action cleared everything up in this district as Nazareth and Springlake-Earth clinched playoff berths.

Nazareth, sitting at 3-0 in the district, just needed a Happy loss to not only clinch a playoff berth but a district title and that’s exactly what they got.  

Behind the rushing of Hart’s Tradien Worsham, the Longhorns (7-2, 1-2) notched their first victory over the Cowboys since 1992 with a convincing 58-22 win. The win was also the first over Happy (2-7, 1-2) in Six-Man play as the Cowboys had won the first 13 meetings between the squads.

Worsham was unstoppable posting 310 yards rushing on 11 carries and four scores plus he tacked on a receiving and passing touchdown. Yael Soltero was a good compliment to Worsham by tacking on 80 yards rushing and a score and pulling down two passes for touchdowns.

Springlake-Earth will be the No. 2-seed out of this district after they dispatched Kress, 52-6, before the hometown faithful. The Wolverines (5-5) now sit at 3-1 in district and can relax and get ready for the playoffs during their bye week knowing they are moving on.

Nazareth travels to Happy on Friday night in a game that always means a lot to both fierce rivals but, with everything wrapped up now, this game has definitely lost some luster. The Swifts will want to get out of the Cowboy Corral with a win but, more importantly, a healthy team as they prepare for the runner-up out of District 1-1A.

District 5-1A Division I

Both teams have been decided in this district as well, but the title of champion is still up for grabs. Valley went on the road Friday night to Spur and picked up a convincing 56-8 win over the Bulldogs (0-9, 0-3) to push the Patriots (3-6, 3-0) into the playoffs.

Petersburg, who was sitting at home with a 3-0 district mark, had already sealed a playoff berth last week. Now the Buffaloes will travel to Valley Friday night with a district title on the line.  

The road to this point for both squads has been impressive. Petersburg came into district action with a 1-5 mark with all five losses by 45 points or more and their lone win was against a winless Southland squad.  The Buffaloes turned things around in district play though. 

After taking down Lorenzo in impressive fashion at home, they took to the road to seal a playoff berth. Rallying from behind in the second half, Petersburg picked up a one-point win over Silverton then went into Spur and grabbed a 58-34 victory last week.

For the Patriots, a brutal non-district schedule that was considered the toughest in all of Class 1A, led to an 0-6 record. That schedule did, however, get Valley ready for district action and they have been impressive since they got there. Three straight mercy rule wins has the Patriots headed to the playoffs and a district title within their grasps.

One game that had no bearings on the playoffs was Lorenzo (3-6, 1-2) winning a nail biter, 40-39, on Thursday night in Silverton. The loss is the second one-point loss at home for the Owls (2-8, 1-3) in district action. If the Owls could have swung both of those games in their favor, they could have been primed for a playoff spot out of this district.

District 1-1A Division II

The only ranked team in the Texas Panhandle is Miami and the Warriors showed off their ranking with a 77-16 thrashing of Lefors (5-4, 1-2) Friday night at home. 

With the win, Miami (9-0, 2-0) is officially the district champ regardless of what happens Thursday night in Groom when they take on the Tigers.

Last week’s victory over Follett was viewed by many as the de facto district title but the Warriors still had to get a win against the Pirates to claim the crown.  

For Follett, they are heading to the playoffs but not in the manner they would like. After getting district wins over Groom and Lefors the Panthers couldn’t control the rushing attack of Miami last week. 

This week they hit the road in a non-district tilt with McLean, and the Tigers (3-6) left Follett’s head spinning with an impressive 93-48 win Thursday night over the Panthers (4-6).

District 2-1A Division II

This district comes down to one game this Friday night. 

Motley County, ranked No. 8 in the state, came from behind to get a 45-44 win over No. 10-ranked Paducah.  

The Dragons (7-1, 1-1) led this game 44-32 heading to the fourth quarter, but the Matadors (8-1, 2-0) rallied for the victory. Facing a fourth and goal from the two, Paul Johannes plunged in for the score, but the two-point conversion kick was no good to cut the lead to 44-38.

After turning the ball over on downs, Motley County went to work at their own 36. Facing a fourth and 11 at the 39, Johannes scrambled 18 yards for a first. A penalty flag on first down pushed the ball back to the Dragons 33 but that didn’t stop Johannes.  

The diminutive senior went back to pass and was quickly swarmed by Paducah defenders. Johannes avoided the pressure in the pocket, stepped up and went down the right sideline for a score late in the fourth quarter. That pushed the game to 44 all with the two-point conversion kick to come.

Motley County coach Mike Bigham chose to go the one-point route as he set up for the kick but the holder, Karmelo Guzman, caught the snap, stood up and fired a strike to Josiah Martinez to push the lead to 45-44.

The Matadors defense then held Paducah on their next possession to walk away with a big district win. Motley County now travels to McLean next week where the Tigers are still clinging to playoff hopes. A McLean victory coupled with a Paducah win over Hedley would put the district into a three-way tie atop the standings where the final score would determine the playoff berths and champion.

Week 10 quick hits

Whitharral secured a District 5-1A title with a 78-0 thumping of Anton on Thursday night. The Panthers (9-0, 3-0), ranked No. 6 in the state, will enter the playoffs unscathed in a rough and tumble Region I.

Greg Johnson was too much for the Anton defense amassing 124 yards rushing on only six carries finding paydirt three times while Nate Samson picked off two passes and returned both to the house for touchdowns.

Amherst can join Whitharral as the second seed in district 5-1A with a home win Thursday night against Lazbuddie. The Bulldogs (4-4) geared up for next week’s game with a 62-6 bouncing of Clovis Christian out of New Mexico.

It’s been a tough year for Groom as the Tigers (2-7) couldn’t muster enough defense to slow down Amarillo PCHEA, falling 67-50 at home on Friday night.

In TAPPS District 1 Division III action, San Jacinto Christian Academy (4-4, 2-1) ran wild against Holy Cross Catholic Academy, taking down the Mustangs 75-0. Jaxon McKnight was efficient on three runs scoring all three times while picking up 81 yards and Kyson Swick chipped in three total scores for the Patriots.