By JESSIE HORTON
December 11, 2021
The No. 2 Stephenville Yellow Jackets faced a tough battle against the WF Hirschi Huskies (12-3), but the Jackets were able to remain undefeated, ending the Hirschi run for the title, 38-35, Friday night. The game was a slug fest between the two teams, with seven lead changes, hits so hard helmets were coming off and more than 700 total yards of offense between the teams.
Junior Ryder Lambert was 14 of 26 for 221 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a rushing touchdown. His favorite targets were seniors Reece Elston, who got 113 yards on 8 catches, and Coy Eakin, who had 94 yards on 4 catches with 2 touchdowns. The Yellow Jackets accounted for 545 total yards of offense, which included an 86-yard kickoff return by Eakin. On the ground, the Jackets had 197 yards, with junior Julian Iribarren clocking 11 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore Tate Maruska getting 11 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown. Senior Corbin Poston hit the field goal to give the Jackets the edge over the Huskies as well as 5 PATs.
The Jackets got the ball first and scored on their opening drive. Starting on their own 34 yard line, Stephenville took less than two minutes to move the ball down the field and score on a 39-yard pass from Lambert to Eakin. Not to be outdone, Hirschi started on their own 37 and was able to score in less than five minutes. Hirschi intercepted the ball with four minutes left in the first quarter, but Stephenville forced the punt after a big stand by the defense and a sack by Bradley Beaty.
With the score tied at 21 and less than 5 minutes to go in the half, the Yellow Jackets got the ball on their own 49 yard line and Poston is able to hit a long field goal to give Stephenville the advantage, 24-21. And those 3 points would be what mattered in the end.
Coming out of the half, Hirschi took the ball right down the field, scoring on their first possession and it took Stephenville the entire quarter to answer. Which they did with a rushing touchdown by Iribarren with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
Hirschi completed a 16-yard pass to retake the lead and score the first points of the fourth quarter, 35-31 with 11 minutes left in the game. However, after getting the ball on their own 29 yard line, the Jackets took two minutes to move the ball into the red zone and score on a pass from Lambert to Eakin. Following the PAT by Poston, the Stephenville lead was 37-35.
Over the last nine minutes, both teams’ defenses battled it out and both faced a slew of penalties. With less than 5 minutes left in the game, Stephenville was within field goal range and opted to go for it on fourth down only to miss the first down and turn the ball over on downs.
Hirschi got the ball on the Jackets’ 44 yard line with 3 minutes left in the game. The Stephenville defense was able to stop the Huskies. With less than a minute left, the Huskies attempted a pass on the 1 yard line, but it was dropped and the Jackets took over on downs, kneeling out the clock.
The Yellow Jackets are 4A-D1 State Semifinal Champions, undefeated and 15-0. They move on to the State Championship game Friday morning at 11 a.m. in AT&T Stadium in Arlington. They will face the No. 1 Austin LBJ Jaguars, who are also undefeated and 15-0. The Jaguars beat the Tyler Chapel Hill Cougars 38-35 to advance to the state game.
LBJ has left-handed quarterback, Oscar Gordon III, who is as good rushing as he is passing. The Jackets defense will have to be watching close for the option on every play. And Gordon has dozens of weapons like running back Sedrick Alexander and wide receiver Trent Leary. Both young men play both sides of the ball at times and are known to be extremely athletic. The Stephenville defense will have their hands full with this team as they have to stop both the run and the pass. The Jaguars score an average of 49.5 points per game, according to TexasFootball.com, but according to the same graphic, Stephenville only allows an average of 14.5 points per game.
The Jaguars are returning to the state championship game after losing the match in 2020 and are hoping to get the title for the first time in their school’s history. While Stephenville is coming into the state game for the sixth time, their last title was in 2012, with a different set of young men and a different set of coaches.
This will be a game you don’t want to miss! Tickets are $15 each and are available online at seatgeek.com and can be purchase with code 4ADIN for Stephenville fans. The code give you a discount on your tickets. Clear bag policy at the gate and parking will be $20 onsite, credit or debit cards only.
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