Best 3A football game youve ever watched

[Ktown2004]

Kennedale vs. Sweetwater this one was a great one. 57 seconds left on the opposing 41 and they took it in to score. Very high scoring game. Play of the game: With about 15- 20 seconds left Kennedale threw a 8 yard stop and the WR caught it and pitched it back to the tailback and he took it to the 3 and the next play the scored.

[toby070]

This year Wimberley vs Yoakum was the best I saw...10-7 game, very nerve wracking. Best ever maybe Wimberley at Austin Anderson last season, the only OT game I've ever seen. Back when Medina Valley and Floresville were both 3A, I think the last year before Floresville moved up, was pretty awesome too...those two teams hated each other, and that was an incredible game.

[Old Cardinal]

The worst game in 3A for me had to be to be Bridge City vs Cleveland last year(1999 season). Bridge City started a host of Sophmores in the second round of the playoffs...The BC Coach kept getting procedure calls because he could not make up his mind what play he wanted to call! Finally Bridge City's QB gave such a fake that the referees blew the play dead as a fleet back ran down the field untouched for a touchdown. This referee error cost the BC team the ballgame! It was probably the worst Coached and worst refereed game in 3A history.

[bohemian]

The 2000 state final was the greatest game I have ever watched. Seeing LaGrange march for 95 yards to take the lead and then force Forney to fumble at their 15 with little over a minute was awesome. This year's state final was just as good, however LaGrange came up short this time around. However that was one of the greatest defensive game that I have ever watched.

[VWG]

Graham and Vernon last year in 2001.
Both teams came to Vernon with undefeated records in district. It was for all the marbles in dist. 6-3A.
Sold out, capacity crowd, standing room only.
Both teams played great. See saw battle and Graham came back and tied it up with a late pass play for a TD with about 40 seconds left in the game.
Graham won in the first OT. 27-21 final.
Excellent game.

[vet93]

Ballinger/Littlefield 1983. Littlefield was ranked in the top 5 and had a great running back named Steve Greene. They took a 10-0 halftime lead. Ballinger came back to take a 11-10 4th quarter lead on a 42 yard field goal. Littlefield promptly marched the entire length of the field and took the lead 16-11 with less than three minutes to play (their 2 pt extra point attempt was broken up in the end zone). Ballinger came back using a no huddle, two minute offense and scored with 30 seconds to play. The final was Ballinger 18 Littlefield 16.

[Gobbla2001]

1997: Cuero/Llano 2nd round of playoffs, I think the final was 13-7 Cuero, Llano was inside the five 4 separate times that game...

1998: Cuero/Sealy, Regular season game, 0-0 at halftime, Sealy 10 Cuero 3...

1998: Cuero/Needville, first round, Cuero 9 Needville 7... Needville took the lead 7-0 late in 4th on a wet field in Rosenburg, Cuero blocked a punt and recovered it for a TD, missed PAT and it was 7-6, finally got a field goal in there...

1998: 3A Division 1 Semi-finals, Giddings up 10-0 at half and at begenning of 4th quarter, Cuero 13, Giddings 10...

1998: 5A Division 1 State Championship, Converse Judson/Duncanville, CJ had it all the way but on a Duncanville kick-off they let the ball go and never touched it, Duncanville picks it up and they come back for the win, forget the score, we were on Duncanville's side, they had great fans...

1998: 3A Division 1 State Championship, Cuero/Aledo, 0-0 at halftime, Aledo leads 7-0 in fourth, Cuero responds, 7-7, Aledo gets another one 14-7, Cuero is near Aledo's 20 with seconds remaining, Aledo stops us, they win it...

1999: Cuero/Luling, district game, it had been almost 10 years since someone had scored over 35 points on us, final Luling 48 Cuero 33, it hurt but it was awesome...

1999: Cuero/Sweeny first round, Sweeny 14-0 at half, defensive ball game, both scores result of turnovers that put Sweeny close to the endzone, different story in 2nd half, reverse the situation, Cuero gets a turnover and scores, 14-7 S. Sweeny goes for field goal to make it 17-7 and put the game out of reach, it wasn't any good, Cuero gets another turnover and scores, goes into OT, Cuero wins toss and plays defense, first play fumble, Cuero gets ball at 30... We jump offsides, 35, untouched into Endzone, Cuero 20 Sweeny 14...

2000: Cuero/Sealy, Cuero has never beaten Sealy... Sealy up 14-0 with five minutes left in ball game, Cuero scores, 14-7, gives ball back, gets ball back, Cuero scores on 4th and 10, 14-14, OT, Cuero wins toss, plays defense, Sealy capitalizes, Sealy 21, Cuero 14, Cuero's drive, score on 4th down pass, go for field goal to tie at 21, field goal is blocked, flies into the endzone, Sealy players touches it before it hits ground, Cuero recovers in endzone, after 1 minute discussion by refs they rule it a two point conversion, Cuero wins...

2000: Cuero/Gonzales... District... After losing All-State candidate at QB Andrew Heard the week before, we had to face Gonzales on a wet field in Cuero with two inexperienced QB's (remember, La Grange won state in '00, Gonzales beat La Grange 13-10 in '00, it was a very defensive battle, Cuero 14-7...

2000: Cuero at Luling... District... It didn't stop raining from when we left Cuero until about 30 minutes after the game, the field was cra[, the endzones had motes, Cuero 10 Luling 0...

[sinton66]

I don't know about the BEST game, but the toughest one I ever saw was Sinton versus Missouri City Dulles back in 1963. Game ended in a 3-3 tie with Sinton advancing by one penetration. Stretchers carried people off both sides all night. In 1964, they met again with Dulles winning 6-3 in same sort of game. Plain old fashioned butt-kickers!

[Old Cardinal]

The strangest game might well be in 1956 when Grand Praire slipped by Bub Phillips and Chief H. W. Wilson's Nederland team. It was a driving rain and G.P. never advanced past the 50 yard line-in fact they kept punting on FIRST DOWN-playing for a fumble in the Bulldog's terrtory. They finally got their chance when the rain slowed abruptly to a drizzle and a winning field goal won it for them 3-0.........The next year Nederland came back under Coach McKinsey and won the State Championship.

[toby070]

gobbla, don't know how old you are, but another game very high on my list was Medina Valley vs Hitchcock, around 1989, you might remember it because it was played in Cuero. Medina Valley scored at the end of the game, went for the tie b/c would have won on penetrations, missed the extra point...it was a great game (bad ending)

[sinton66]

Toby: Another similar game, Sinton vs Hitchcock. Coach Gary Davenport gave up intentional touchdown late in 4th quarter just so Sinton could get the ball once more. Sinton's Wing T drove length of field with no time-outs in minute and a half, scored, kicked extra point to tie 19-19, won by one penetration(reg.semi in 1991).

[Old Green]

Another good game was 1974 Bi-District playoff between Brazosport - Cuero. Brazosport was leading in the fourth 13-7 and had possession on about their 30 yard line when they did a trick play. The running back broke into the open with not one single Gobbler around for 25 yards. He's running down the field and starts show boating and taunting the Cuero fans. He fumbles at about the 15 yard line and the ball bounces back about 8 yards into the hands of Gobbler Charlie Mitchell who recovers at about the 20.
The Gobblers march about 80 yards for the tieing touchdown by David Scott and Joe Campbell kicks the Extra point for the 14-13 win. Cuero went on to win its second straight state Championship.
Coach really tore that guy up.
I ran into the quarterback of that team for Brazosport and At Class reunions he said they still give hell.

[Jacket2000]

1998, 4A Division 1 Quarterfinals, Grapevine vs Greenville. Grapevine, obviously outmanned(It looked like G'vine's players were standing still compared to the speed G'ville had) and seemingly out of the game trailed 28-0 at the half, 31-0 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd. They finally score at the end of the 3rd to make it 31-7, then rattle off 24 unanswered points to tie it 31-31 and force overtime. Three overtime periods later, Grapevine kicked a wobbly 27 yard field goal to win 34-31.
J2K

[evebulldog01]

I know this may seem a little biased but I would like to think that this years compotion between Everman and Forney was a pretty good game. However even with as good as this game was I would have to rank the game between Everman and Sinton better. A lot of everman fans me included felt that Sinton would have beat Forney and that sinton was a heck of a lot better team then forney. Forney fans forget that we didn't complete a pass against them because we only threw twice. If it wasn't for our passing game we would not have been able to have beat Sinton. However if I had to choose the best game I of this year I would ahve to choose Everman vs. Waxahachie. That game more than any other sent a message to me personaly that this team was special because we proved we could win the close games if we had to.

[kaorder1999]

But don't forget that the reason Everman only thrw twice against Forney was because Everman knew how talented Forney's secondary was. One of the best in the state!!

[toby070]

sinton66, sounds like a good game. Davenport is a heck of a coach...is he in a no-win situatin at Port Lovaca, or can he turn them around? I saw them in Wimberley 2 years ago, and they had pretty good size, but Wimberley killed them.

[sinton66]

Evebulldog, we appreciate your comments. We thought we were better than most gave us credit for too. Look for Sinton to be that good again this year, maybe even better if they can stop the crucial turnovers. Since you guys stayed in class, maybe we'll meet again. If we do, that will mean great things have happened for both schools. Best of luck to you.

[sinton66]

Toby, Davenport has a way of instilling good things in kids. His teams always seem to have great discipline and class. He left Sinton and took a pay cut to go to 5A Corpus Christi Carroll. Took them several rounds into the playoffs both years he was there. Went to Aransas Pass (in Sinton's district) and within 3 years had them in the semi-finals. He can definitely make a difference at Port Lavaca.
Look for them to go high in the playoffs within 3 years. Believe he is one of two best Wing-T coaches in the state. Other one was at Sealy and went to Odessa Permian. Another good Wing-T coach is Chris Sosa at Mathis, he was OC for Davenport at Sinton, and played under Davenport at Alice.

[toby070]

I think he calls it a slot-T, not a wing-T, but if I understand correctly, they're pretty close, basically the same look...if so, add Bruce Bush (San Marcos) to that list. I'm guessing you've seen some of his Gregory Portland teams. That is a really fun offense to watch...they just grind it out, deception is the key.

My brother used to live in Aransas Pass, and he loved watching Davenport's teams.

[evebulldog01]

Actually I can assure you that we weren't afraid to throw against Forney but that wasn't part of our game plan. We wanted to keep the ball out of DaBryan's hands and what better way to do that then to run the ball. We didn't want to throw the ball because we knew it would stop the clock with each incompletion. We wanted a win we didn't care whether we threw ball a lot. We did what we had to do to win it was because of this fact that we wanted to win that we threw the ball aginst sinton because they had shut down alot of our running game so we had to pass the ball so we could loosen up their defense enough to run the ball. For the most part the Sinton kids shutdown our stable of running backs and contained our key back about as well we contained DaBryan.

[sinton66]

Bruce Bush was head coach at Alice and Davenport was his OC and Sosa played for them, so yes, I am familiar with Bush. Didn't mean to slight him, he's a terrific coach also. I still think the class of Wing-T is T.J. Mills and Davenport. I say this because of what they do after taking over new programs. Bush did pretty well at GP, but never managed to compete with Phil Daniher at Calallen. Daniher's Wing-T is pretty decent too, but he always has a wealth of talent to work with. T.J. and Gary have a way of getting the best out of even ordinary kids. Gary went 5-5 his first year at Sinton, and took them to the semi-finals against Crockett the next year(Should have won, but that's another great game story). At Aransas Pass, he led them to the semis after many years as a cellar dwellar. T.J. took over at Sealy and led them to four straight titles. I'm really impressed by their accomplishments. I never met Mills, but consider Davenport a friend.

[toby070]

didn't think you were slighting him, just thought I'd add him to the list http://bbs.3adownlow.com/ubb/smile.gif

Folks here in SM think he's a miracle worker. Before he came, our last playoff berth was in the 60's, I think. A lot of it was timing, since we moved to 4A, but he did get us to the playoffs our last year in 5A.

Mills is obviously a good coach, but I've expected a breakout year @ Permian, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.

[sinton66]

Toby:The Wing-T/Slot-T is a difficult offense to teach. Everything is timing and precise blocking at the line and downfield. Usually takes some time to learn. Permian should be up soon, after all, that's where this offense started (or so I'm told). Biggest obstacle is getting the team to believe in themselves and the coach. If anybody can do it, it's Mills, I'm convinced of that.

[oldbuff78]

GIDDINGS AND NEWTON 2001
CYPRESS CREEK AND CY FAIR IN 1990

[cl8114]

Gatesville 14 Abilene Wylie 10 2000 D1 State Championship. Gatesville scored with 1:15 in the forth and then picked a pass off at the goaline to secure the victory with :20 on the clock. Gatesville was down and then hit a 60 yd pass on 3rd down which got them to the 8 and then scored two plays later on a qb keeper for the go ahead touchdown. It was a very exciting back and forth game.

[Jacket2000]

Originally posted by evebulldog01:
Actually I can assure you that we weren't afraid to throw against Forney but that wasn't part of our game plan. We wanted to keep the ball out of DaBryan's hands and what better way to do that then to run the ball. We didn't want to throw the ball because we knew it would stop the clock with each incompletion. We wanted a win we didn't care whether we threw ball a lot. We did what we had to do to win it was because of this fact that we wanted to win that we threw the ball aginst sinton because they had shut down alot of our running game so we had to pass the ball so we could loosen up their defense enough to run the ball. For the most part the Sinton kids shutdown our stable of running backs and contained our key back about as well we contained DaBryan.
With the wind at that game, it was damn near impossible to throw unless the wind was at your back. I still remember Forney's kickoffs going through the uprights. Only time Ive ever seen that. It was a great game.
J2K

[ethsfbnut]

`95 State Championship game. Commerce vs Sealy. Although the Tigers (Commerce) lost, this game was a classic. It had everything... fumbles returned for td`s, big plays on off and def, blocked punts, come-backs and the infamous 2-pt conversion at end of game for the out right win. BTW have never heard a soul from Commerce doubt Lineweaver`s decision to go for two.

Matter of fact all three State Championship games with Sealy were pretty good games. Glad we finally won one in `99.

[sinton66]

Best and most heart-breaking was Sinton vs Crockett in semi-final 1991 (I think). Crockett won 14-13 after Sinton missed chip shot field goal from about the seven with seconds to go. Kicker was also star rb, was a senior, and I heard the game was on his birthday. Vernon coach scouted the game and told Davenport he had mixed feelings about the outcome. Hated to see us lose like that, but was happy because he knew they could beat Crockett, wasn't sure they could beat Sinton.

[This message has been edited by sinton66 (edited February 22, 2002).]

[lovedaddy06]

The 2001 Playoff Newton VS Giddings....4th down and six and Giddings calls a halfback pass that didn't work earlier in the game to clinch it. Fantastic game.

[pirateman98]

The score to that game was actually was 15 - 14 . I remember that game clearly. I was about 11 years old and it was really cold. We played in UT stadium in Austin. Also, that was Eric's birthday that day.

[sinton66]

You're probably right, I knew it was a one pointer. Never felt so sorry for a kid in my life as I did for Eric that night. He was a super player, we sure couldn't have gotten there without him. Wonder what he's up to now?

[SintonFan]

Hey guys, that was a great game. I remember yelling because I thought that field goal was good. I kept on yelling until I realized our side was quiet. Man, was I embarrassed! Davenport did a great job bringing out the best in those kids.

[sinton66]

I remember watching those kids get better and better each game that year. The defense seemed to be "self-healing". Something would work against them, and then the next time it was tried, it got STUFFED! It's hard to imagine a team made the semis, and never threw a single pass all year long. I'd have a hard time believing that if I wasn't a witness.

[SintonFan_inAustin]

sinton-crockett game and sinton-hitchcock were the 2 best games I ever seen.Hitchcock game was a definite lost if they had just kneel down and ran the clock out, but Davenport pull out a miracle down 13-12 but letting them score.I was walking out of the staduim seats like many other people thinking the game was over when i saw them score i realized we had a chance still. Crockett Game was also good until the end. I thought he made it. then realized he had missed it.

[sinton66]

Watching the Hitchcock-Sinton game, I was stunned when Sinton's safety just stepped aside and let them score. I remember thinking "what the heck was that?". Took me awhile to realize that was the only way they could get the ball back. Davenport told me after the game if it hadn't worked he knew he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. Cost Hitchcock coach his job.

[SintonFan]

I knew that ppl would be talking about that game for a long time. Here it is more than 10 years later and I can remember that game better than almost any I've watched them play. A true once in a lifetime experience for the team and fans.

[SintonFan]

Another great game was the Sinton-Odem game in bidistrict the same year they played Crockett in the semis. Little Odem had a great team and they played lights out against neighboring rival Sinton. I believe the boys won that hard earned game by less than seven. I think it was also played in Beeville. Boy, that was a special season.

[sinton66]

Yes, it was played in Beeville and I believe the score was 10-7. It was the closest game Sinton played that year with the exception of Crockett.