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| LONGVIEW - One state title down. Three more big trophies on the way?
The Gilmer Buckeyes completed a wire-to-wire run on Saturday, capturing the Class 3A Division I state championship with a 43-26 win over Abilene Wylie. It was Gilmer's second title of the decade - the Buckeyes also won it all in 2004 - but was just the first of five chances East Texas has to boast about its high school football prowess in 2009. Longview (14-1) in Class 4A Division I, Carthage (15-0) in Class 3A Division II and Daingerfield (14-1) in Class 2A Division II all battled their way into championship games on Saturday. Throw in Cayuga in Class A Division II, and exactly half of the title trophies handed out to champions this season could reside in East Texas when the dust settles.
The Lobos won a rematch against Denton Guyer on Saturday to guarantee the rematch Longview really wanted - another shot at Lake Travis for all the marbles. The Lobos and Lake Travis (15-0) met in the Division I championship game a year ago, with Lake Travis rolling to a 48-23 win. Saturday's championship game is set for 6 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco - site of last year's title match. Longview brutalized Denton Guyer on Saturday, rushing for 485 yards on 46 carries. Three Lobos topped the century mark for a Longview team that is averaging 367.3 yards on the ground in the past three games and 326.4 rushing yards per game in the post season. Lake Travis had little trouble with Pearland Dawson in its semifinal game on Saturday coasting to a 57-12 win. The Cavaliers followed a pattern they have used throughout the playoffs, passing for 245 yards and rushing for 259 in a balanced attacked that has averaged 211.8 passing yards and 177.2 rushing yards per game in five postseason contests.
Carthage and Graham (14-1) meet at 6 p.m. Saturday at SMU's Ford Stadium. Carthage rushed for 210 yards and got another solid night from junior quarterback Anthony Morgan (14-for-26, 184 yards, 3 TDs) in its win over La Grange on Saturday. The Bulldogs got a huge night from blue-chip tight end Trevor Murpy, who played both ays due to an injury long the defensive front and finished tie six catches for 76 yards and three touchdowns offensively to go along with four tackles for losses and 1.5 sacks on defense.
Daingerfield is back in the championship game for the second year in a row, using a 28-point second quarter to take control in a 35-10 win over Refugio on Saturday in Huntsville. The Tigers will meet Bushland (15-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls. Bushland, which took the top spot in the 2A poll early in the season after No. 1 ranked Daingerfield fell to Gilmer, was a 42-34 winner over Callisburg in the semifinals on Saturday.
Cayuga (13-1), with career 10,000-yard rusher Traylon Shead leading the way, coasted past Ganado (41-19) on Saturday to punch its ticket to the state championship game. The Wildcats will meet Albany (15-0) at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Mansfield. Shead, only the second player in state history to rush for more than 10,000 yards, stepped off 219 yards and scored four touchdowns against Ganado in the semifinals. Albany was a 28-14 winner over Stratford in the semifinals. |