Miami topples Follett for district supremacyÂ
For only the third time in the last 25 years, Miami took down Follett, 36-30, in a pivotal District 1-1A Division I tussle at Warriors Stadium on Friday night.
A late defensive stop and subsequent touchdown propelled Miami (8-0, 1-0) to its first win over Follett (6-2, 0-1) since 2019 in what a lopsided one-side Follett matchup since 1998.
With the game tied, 30-30, with 3:03 remaining, Follett found itself facing a fourth and seven inside Warrior territory. Follett’s David Meeks received the pitch looking downfield for an open teammate but pressure from Preston Thelen forced Meeks to dump the pass off to Wyatt Terrell. As soon as Terrell turned to take off down field, Miami’s do everything star, Haiden Thompson, flew in and knocked Terrell off his feet well short of the first down marker.
With still plenty of time left, the Panthers began marching down the field looking for a game tying score. After a Meeks run put Follett in Warriors territory, Miami’s defense sealed the victory. The Panthers handed the ball off to Osiel Ventura who appeared to never quite get a handle on the ball. That’s when Luke Wheeler flowed down the line and helped knock the ball loose and Thompson was Johnny on the spot to grab the ball and victory for Miami.
Thompson had another great game going 10-of-12 through the air for 153 yards and three touchdowns while also toting the rock 16 times for 114 yards. The talented senior also made a huge impact defensively registering 19 tackles including four of those in the Panthers backfield, three pass deflections and that huge recovery. Wheeler chipped in two scores on the ground and ten tackles and Early nabbed three balls for 98 yards. Meeks found the end zone twice on the ground for Follett while Ventura had a receiving score.
Turnovers spell doom for Swifts
Nursing a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, turnovers spoiled an upset bid by Nazareth as they fell 46-30 to No. 8 Happy at the Cowboy Corral on Friday night.
For three quarters, the Swifts gave the highly rated Cowboys (7-1, 1-0) all they wanted in this crucial district 2-1A Division I matchup. Nazareth’s Will Young plunged in from the one-yard line with 2:19 left in the third to give the Swifts a 30-24 lead headed to the fourth.
That would be the last time the Swifts (2-6, 0-1) scored as turnovers spelled doom. Facing a fourth and seven from their own 33-yard line, Young dropped back to pass and initially couldn’t find anyone open. Alejandro Guerrero slipped out of the backfield to try and give Young an outlet when Happy’s Kole Gibson leaped high at the Swifts 36 to intercept the pass then broke Young’s attempt at a tackle inside the 20 to score and tie things up at 30 with 8:52 to play.
On the ensuing possession, Cutter Hodges rocked Zane Schulte forcing a turnover that Jaxon Stoker recovered at the Swift 32. Three plays later, Stoker took it in from eight yards out but a block in the back negated the score and the Swifts stopped Happy at the eight to get the ball back. The very next play, however, saw the shotgun snap clang off Young’s hands and was recovered by the Cowboys Mason Hix at the Swift four-yard line. Two plays later it was Quay Hodges plowing in from the one to give Happy the 38-30 lead and a huge momentum swing. After a stop on downs, Stoker finished off the Swifts with a nifty 25-yard run to seal the victory for Happy.
Stoker finished the night 106 yards rushing and that score while Hodges rushed for 28 and grabbed three balls for 62 yards a score. Young had 158 yards passing on eight completions plus that rushing touchdown while Schulte gained 58 tough yards on 18 carries and two scores.
News and Notes
McLean (6-2, 1-0) won a hard fought 32-15 battle with White Deer. The Bucks (3-5, 0-1) are getting healthy down the stretch with Davin Hext and Brodie Weathers back so they could surprise teams that look past them.
Claude made a statement with a 70-24 win over Wildorado (2-6, 0-1). The win at home keeps the Mustangs (3-5, 0-1) in contention for a playoff berth. Wildorado’s Ryan Cox tossed three touchdowns and Blu Washington ran one to paydirt in the loss.
Silverton (7-2, 3-0) handled Darrouzett 55-0 as both teams finished the latter part of the first quarter and the entire second quarter with only five players on the field as the Longhorns (0-8, 0-2) lost a player to injury during the game.
Groom (5-5, 3-1) got the forfeit win over Hedley (2-7, 0-3) due to a lack of players for the Owls. Valley (4-4, 1-0) had no problems with Spur (1-7, 0-1) with a convincing 53-0 win. Booker (5-4) found No. 7 Whitharral (8-1) a tough task falling 52-6 on Thursday night in Vega as Jack Griffin threw for 174 yards and three scores for the Panthers.
Looking ahead
Next week’s schedule is intriguing with games that will help determine which teams will likely make the playoffs this season.
In District 1-1A Division I, Miami is on the road at McLean while Follett visits White Deer. Both Miami and Follett will need to avoid a letdown after their district battle Friday night. Both the Tigers and Bucks are capable of pulling an upset.
Nazareth travels to Claude in District 2-1A Division I in a game that likely determines the second seed in the district. The Swifts will be the favorites, but the Mustangs would love nothing more than to stun a banged-up Nazareth squad. Valley gets a big challenge in No. 1 Knox City in District 4-1A Division I but a win would shock the state and give the Patriots a big shot of confidence.
Finally, in District 1-1A Division II, Groom hosts Lefors (2-6, 1-1) in a game that will determine the second seed in the district.
State Recap
District play began for most teams across the state with all ranked teams in both divisions picking up wins, most of the lopsided variety. Twelve of the sixteen matchups saw the ranked team notching mercy rule wins.
Top-ranked Knox City (8-0, 1-0) throttled an upstart 6-1 Northside squad, 62-0. The Greyhounds only ran nine offensive plays in the game with quarterback Bryson Callaway tossing three touchdowns while the Knox City defense chipped in with two defensive scores and held the Indians (6-2, 0-1) to negative 40 yards of offense.
Riley Sustala was big for No. 4 Abbott (8-0, 2-0) rushing for 251 yards and three scores while getting 126 yards through the air and two more touchdowns as the Panthers beat took down Coolidge, 64-14.
Another week, another tight won ballgame for Kress as the Kangaroos (4-5, 3-0) held on to beat Lorenzo, 50-48, to lock up a playoff berth in District 3-1A Division I with a big game looming in two weeks against Springlake-Earth (5-3, 2-0). Jaleel Baker led the way for Kress rushing for 167 yards and four scores while Cole Todd added three scores and 160 yards rushing.
Big week across the state
Just as upcoming schedule in the Amarillo-area has several impactful games on the docket, next week’s state-wide schedule is chock full of heavy-duty district matchups as well.
The top game is likely No. 7 Rankin (6-2, 2-0) and No. 9 Borden County (7-1, 2-0) facing off in Red Devil Stadium for the inside track to a District 7-1A Division I title. No. 6 Jonesboro (8-1, 2-0) travels to May (7-2, 3-0) in a battle for District 14-1A Division I supremacy.
No. 2 Westbrook (7-1, 3-0) will try to lock up a District 8-1A Division I title on the road at Ira (5-2, 3-0). Newcastle (7-1, 1-0) travels to Gold-burg (4-2, 1-0) with the winner having an inside track at the District 8-1A Division II crown.