Bearcats' historic run ends in Arlington
Dec. 3—ARLINGTON — An interception on Whitesboro's first offense play set the tone for a tough final game.
The Bearcats fell in the regional finals Thursday night to Brock 49-14 at Globe Life Field in Whitesboro's first-ever December game.
Whitesboro (9-5) had played the Eagles close for a half in their earlier meeting, but early miscues put the Bearcats in a big hole.
Brock (14-0) is headed to the state semifinals for the second time in three years.
Whitesboro coach Cody Fagan said despite the result, he couldn't be prouder of his team.
"They set some lofty goals, and they accomplished every one of them," Fagan said. "It hurts right now, but when you get time to sit back and reflect on it, I think we're all going to have some unbelievably fond memories of this season."
The Bearcats were unable to score until the end of the third quarter. Facing a 4th down and 1 from the Brock 5-yard line, junior Mac Harper faked a run, then passed to senior Jake Hermes in the end zone with 32 seconds left in the quarter.
The Bearcats got another score on their final possession as sophomore quarterback Clay Hermes led a 78-yard touchdown drive. He connected with his brother three times, including a 40-yard bomb on 4th down and 25. He finished the drive with a five-yard run with 8 seconds remaining.
Fagan said the Bearcats have a mindset to never give up.
"They start and end practice saying, 'We are Whitesboro, and we will fight to the end,'" Fagan said. "They don't just say it. They meant every word of it. They came out, and that's all you can really ask for at the end of the day is to not give up on the man next to you. They fought and gave it everything they had."
An interception and a blocked punt in the first quarter led to two of Brock's touchdowns, with both plays setting up the Eagles in the red zone. Going down big so quickly made it difficult for Whitesboro to get back in the game.
Fagan said he attributes the rough start to Brock being a great team, and he believes the Eagles will win the state championship.
"You got to give a lot of credit to them," Fagan said. "Would you like to get a few of those plays back and see if we can do a few things better? Absolutely. But, at the end of the day, when you play really good people, sometimes they force you to make mistakes like that."
Regardless of the result, the Bearcats made history. Whitesboro had never made it to the regional finals until this year. Fagan said this run sets up the Bearcats for more great things in the future.
"I think you got to thank these seniors for what they did for this program and put us so far ahead going into next year," Fagan said. "Gave every JV kid four extra weeks of work. Gave every underclassman that four extra weeks of work and gave them invaluable experience going into next year playing in huge games on the road in Region 1. You just gotta be extremely excited about the prospects with a lot of returning starters."
