District 4-3A game stories

[wildstangs]

Sweetwater avenges loss
By Joshua Parrott / Reporter-News Staff Writer
November 20, 2004

Joseph Banyard didn’t want to squander this chance for revenge.

Banyard ran for a game-high 105 yards and scored three touchdowns as Sweetwater High School sprinted past Lubbock Cooper 35-14 on Friday night in a Class 3A Division II area playoff game at Shotwell Stadium.

With the win, Sweetwater avenges a 17-14 season-opening loss to the Pirates earlier this year.

"Not many people get a chance to play someone they lost to earlier in the season. We did tonight and took care of business," said Banyard, one of 19 sophomores playing for the Mustangs (10-2 overall). "I always tell people not to underestimate anyone because of their age of experience. When the team needed us, we (the sophomores) were there."

Sweetwater used a stellar option attack to run for 377 yards as seven different players carried the ball for the Mustangs, who finished with 402 yards of total offense in the win.

Sweetwater senior quarterback Jeremy Thompson added 104 yards on 14 carries, while sophomore running back Skye Green chipped in 65 yards. Banyard also caught two passes for 24 yards — both team highs.

"The kids have grown up so much since the start of the year," Sweetwater coach Kent Jackson said of his sophomores. "They made a bunch of mistakes tonight, but they also made a lot of big plays."

Sweetwater now will play the winner of today’s Breckenridge-Glen Rose game next week.

Though Lubbock Cooper (9-3) totaled 226 yards of offense, the Pirates threw for only 54 yards and turned the ball over three times and gained only five first downs in the first half.

Cory Cleveland ran for 61 yards and one touchdown, and Josh Barnett had 53 yards on the ground in the loss for the Pirates. Jakob Cunningham added an 18-yard touchdown reception.

Lubbock Cooper coach John Windham was unavailable for comment.

After forcing the Pirates to punt on their first possession, Banyard capped a 13-play, 80-drive with a 7-yard run with 3:43 left in the first quarter for the game’s first points.

On the first play of Lubbock Cooper’s next drive, Sweetwater sophomore Justin Adames picked up a Howell Finch fumble and ran 22 yards to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

"Tonight we were fortunate to score and then turn around and score again," Jackson said. "I really think that was the difference in this game compared to the last time we played them."

The Pirates scored their first points of the game with 3:39 remaining in the first half when Lubbock Cooper quarterback Trey Wood slipped away from Sweetwater’s Garrett Clayton to find Cunningham in the right side of the end zone.

Cunningham’s 18-yard score made the score 14-7, but Banyard scored on a 20-yard run on the Mustangs’ next series to extend the lead to 21-7, which was the score at the half.

After Adames intercepted Wood on Lubbock Cooper’s first drive of the second half, Sweetwater’s Justin Clowers ran for a 48-yard touchdown to give the Mustangs a 28-7 advantage midway through the third.

Though Cleveland scored late in the fourth for the Pirates, Banyard added his third score of the night on a 2-yard run with 1:36 left in the game.

"I just have to give my offensive line 100 percent of the credit for what I did tonight," Banyard said. "Without them, it would just be me out there against 11 other players. I can’t do what I do without them."

[wildstangs]

Snyder 41, Muleshoe 12
By Troy Shockley / Reporter-News Staff Writer
November 19, 2004

With a running back like Dee Walker, who needs to throw?

The senior piled up 186 yards on 21 carries Friday night, powering Snyder High School past Muleshoe 41-12 in the Class 3A Division II Area Championship at Lubbock’s Lowrey Field.

"Despite the score, Muleshoe was sure hitting hard," Walker said. "At first we were getting some really big holes but they started to close those up later. But we just kept pounding the ball."

As a team, the Tigers finished with 331 yards on the ground while quarterback Matt Reigh went 3-of-6 for 78 yards.

"We’ll be celebrating now and there’ll be smiles on our faces tonight, but there were mistakes," Walker said. "Tomorrow in film there will be some scoldings.

"But this feels really good. It’s obvious they had my number picked, but as a team we used that to our advantage, and now we’re moving on."

[wildstangs]

Bulldogs advances
Wylie wins dogfight over Canyon in Regional Championship

By Troy Shockley / Reporter-News Staff Writer
November 19, 2004

LUBBOCK — They may have come to town as the underdogs, but they left as the top dog.

With a dominating defensive showing and a huge game by senior tailback Michael Kiger, the Wylie Bulldogs rolled to a 35-20 Regional Championship win over ninth-ranked Canyon on Friday at Lubbock’s Lowrey Field.

Kiger — who finished with a season-high 240 yards and three touchdowns — was helped by both great blocking and play calling.

"Like I always say, I’m not anything without the linemen," Kiger said. "They played great tonight, and my performance is just a reflection of their play."

After playing through a scoreless first half, Wylie (9-3) got on the board in the second when, after a huge block by
Tyler Crump, Kiger skated into the end zone from 12 yards out, givng Wylie a big 7-0 lead.

But as big as the first score was, the second was even bigger.

The drive began after an interception by Chris Collum killed a Canyon drive at the six. Three plays later, the crowd was treated to the play of the game.

Quarterback Case Keenum took the snap and handed it off to Kiger, who shielded the ball while Keenum faked a handoff to Chad Copeland. Then, with Copeland running up the middle and Keenum rolling to the right, Kiger took off to the left with a pair of blockers leading the way.

It seemed as if Kiger had run out of room at the 30, but he was able to use his blockers to cut back inside. He again looked to be stopped at the 15, but spun out of a tackle and found the end zone after an 83-yard romp.

"It’s designed for me to hold onto the ball and hide behind one of my linemen," he said. "But then he moved, and one of the defenders saw me and was about to smoke me, but he fell, and I just rolled out left and saw nothing but green."

That green, though, would have run out if not for the blocking of Tyler Crump and John Hoyng.

"That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen those guys run," Kiger said with a laugh. "They were sprinting all the way down there, and their blocks let me cut back and get in."

As explosive as the offense was, the defense was just as impressive.

Canyon quarterback Matt Lovorn had thrown for more than 2,700 yards this season and had been picked off just seven times through eleven games.

He finished the night with 196 yards - just 49 of them coming in the first half - and five interceptions. Wylie also recovered Canyon’s lone fumble which came on a botched hook-and-ladder play.

They also played most of the game without defensive leader John Sugay, who got knocked out of the game with 3:26 left in the first quarter.

According to an on-field surgeon, Sugay suffered a "Theisman break," snapping both the tibula and fibia.

"Sugay plays his heart out, and we just wanted to play hard for him," said Chris Collum, who pulled in a game-high two picks.

Kiger, who also plays in the secondary, said even out of the game Sugay was an inspiration.

"That fired us up," he said. "When he left he had his finger up in the air, and we knew he was thinking about us and the game, even with his leg broken. We won this one for Sugay and all these great fans."

While the Bulldogs led throughout, the Eagles (11-1) never went away.

Canyon came out of the locker room in the second half and put together an impressive drive, capped with a 30-yard pass from Lovorn to Clayton Young with just 1:28 gone.

Wylie answered right back, however, when Keenum ended the ensuing drive with a 1-yard dive over the top less than four minutes later.

Wylie added another seven when Keenum connected with Josh Poorman in the back corner of the end zone less than a minute into the fourth quarter.

Canyon managed to answer that score with another drive eating up less than two minutes, putting the score at 28-13, but it was as close as the Eagles would come.

The win propells Wylie into the quarterfinals where it will face the other regional winner Friday night, Decatur.

The two teams met once before this season, with Decatur handing Wylie an embarrasing 44-7 decision at Bulldog Stadium.

"We’ll have a good game plan and we’ll just go out there and play," Kiger said. "They might think we’re the underdogs, but that’s alright. We’ll just go out there and play like we’re able to play."

Contact sports writer Troy Shockley at shockleyt@reporternews.com or 676-6773.

Wylie 0 14 7 14 - 35
Canyon 0 0 6 14 - 20

Scoring summary

Second quarter

W - Michael Kiger 12 run (Tyler Driskell kick), 11:47
W - Kiger 83 run (Driskell kick), 2:38

Third quarter

C - Clayton Young 30 pass from Matt Lovorn (kick failed), 10:32
W - Case Keenum 1 run (Driskell kick), 7:06

Fourth quarter

W - Josh Poorman 24 pass from Keenum (Driskell kick), 11:03
C - Khris Raef 11 run (Jimmy Hopper kick), 9:23
W - Kiger 3 run (Driskell kick), 1:25
C - Jake Romero 3 run (Hopper kick), :00

Wylie Canyon

First downs 26 19
Rushes-yards 47-299 22-96
Passing yards 195 196
Comp-Att.-Int 15-26-2 18-29-5
Punts-avg. 1-23 2-33
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-15 1-15

Individual Stats

Rushing - Wylie: Michael Kiger 33-240, Case Keenum 5-13, John Sugay 1-minus 1, Gary Edwards 1-minus 1, Jared Scott 2-16, Chad Copeland 5-32. Canyon: Matt Lovorn 11-43, Jake 9-31, Brady Bressier 1-11, Khris Raef 1-11.

Passing - Wylie: Keenum 15-26-195-1. Canyon: Matt Lovorn 18-29-196-5.

Receiving - Wylie: Josh Poorman 4-42, Josh Archer 2-20, Michael Kiger 5-81, Trent Morris 1-17, Gary Edwards 1-11, Chris Collum 1-10, Jared Scott 1-14. Canyon: Brady Bressier 2-7, Jared Peddy 5-48, Geoff Phemister 5-37, Kyle Lovorn 4-69, Clayton Young 2-35.

[jmcgee]

Those Sophomores are talented if they dont go to state this year they still have 2 more years left. Keep your eye on them.

[Ranger Mom]

Who will Snyder play?

[jmcgee]

I think Iowa Park

[wildstangs]

Snyder will get the winner of Iowa Park and Bridgeport. I would love to see a double header next week at Shotwell Stadium.

Sweetwater VS. Breckenridge
Snyder VS. Iowa Park

Dont know where these games would be played, but Shotwell seems like a logical choice.

[Da Mules]

I think a Mustang-Tiger rematch is in the making. IF so, where would you play that one? Roby? :D

[wildstangs]

Originally posted by Da Mules
I think a Mustang-Tiger rematch is in the making. IF so, where would you play that one? Roby? :D

Lol...Roby has the facilities to host 10,000+ fans. I figure a rematch between the two would be at San Angelo.

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by wildstangs
Snyder will get the winner of Iowa Park and Bridgeport. I would love to see a double header next week at Shotwell Stadium.

Sweetwater VS. Breckenridge
Snyder VS. Iowa Park

Dont know where thse games would be played, but Shotwell seems like a logical choice.

That would be awesome....I would probably make BOTH of those!!

[TheDOCTORdre]

Originally posted by wildstangs
Snyder will get the winner of Iowa Park and Bridgeport. I would love to see a double header next week at Shotwell Stadium.

Sweetwater VS. Breckenridge
Snyder VS. Iowa Park

Dont know where thse games would be played, but Shotwell seems like a logical choice.
Oh please let their be a double hearder at Shotwell that would help make up for the football that I have missed this season

[Buffalo]

Snyder will play Friday @ 7:30 @ Shotwell. Not sure where Sweetwater will play. Would like to see both schools play each other both would be playing in December.

[jmcgee]

I think if Sweetwater and Snyder met up again they would flip for home. If not it would be at Shotwell

[jmcgee]

Do we really have 19 Sophomores on Varsity

[Buffalo]

They will not be a home & home and it would take a flip to be a shotwell. What about Midland and SBC or Lowrey> BIG SPRING is the logical choice

[jmcgee]

yeah i agree going west would be fair for both teams
big spring would be good