Gafford, defense guide No. 1 Stephenville past No. 9 Brownwood in Battle for 377

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STEPHENVILLE – It was a rare night for the defending Class 4A Division I state champions.

For only the second time this season, No. 1-ranked Stephenville didn’t have to pull off a dramatic finish in the fourth quarter.

Instead, this was one was over after the third quarter, thanks to big stops by the defense on Brownwood’s first three possessions to start the second half, including two turnovers, that fueled a 42-21 victory at Tarleton Memorial Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets, who snapped a 14-14 tie by scoring on the opening possession of the second half, got touchdowns after Rowdy Markland’s pick and 48-yard return to the Lions’ 12-yard line, a Taylor Bennett fumble and a stop on fourth-and-1 at the Brownwood 46 to break open the game.

It all added up to Stephenville’s 22^nd consecutive victory.

And for once, Yellow Jackets coach Sterling Doty didn’t have to sweat out a wild fourth quarter ending.

“It really boiled down to the first time all season playing complimentary football, because we hadn’t done that,” Doty said about the offense and defensive feeding off each other. “The defense with the turnover, and then we were able to punch it in the box. That was huge.”

The Yellow Jackets punched it in the box three times after turnovers in the decisive third quarter. Their only other game that didn’t come down to the end this season was a 52-34 decision over Decatur in Week 3.

Ryan Gafford, a sophomore quarterback playing his fourth game since an injury to starter Ryder Lambert, threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns, including a 74-yarder to Tate Maruska, as Stephenville (6-0) beat No. 9 Brownwood (4-2) in the Battle for 377.

“Any brand of football, you’ve got to have a guy that can run your offense, and he does a great job with his reads and pushing the ball down to the field and getting it to our playmakers,” Doty said of Gafford.

The game was part of the Great American Rivalry Series, and Gafford was named the game’s MVP.

Maruska also ran 50 yards for a TD and finished with a game-high 122 yards on 18 carries. All his scores came in the first half to help his team keep pace with Brownwood.

But the wheels fell in the third quarter for the Lions.

“Against elite football teams, you cannot turn the ball over and let them take momentum,” Brownwood coach Sammy Burnett said. “If you do, you saw what happened. They’ll wind up blowing the game open.”

Lions keep it close in first half

The Lions jumped on the Yellow Jackets for an early 7-0 lead.

Hall threw a 32-yard pass to Jordan Leach, down the Stephenville 3-yard line on his team’s second possession of the game. One play later, Konlyn Anderson ran for the TD.

Maruska, held to 30 yards on six carries, finally broke a long run on his seventh attempt. It went for 50 yards, tying the game with 1:57 left in the first quarter.

He would come back to take a short screen pass from Gafford and turn it into a 74-yard TD reception to put the Yellow Jackets up 14-7 with 2:17 left in the half.

Brownwood answered with its own big play to help send the game into the locker room tied at 14.

Hall threw a 43-yard pass to Thad Hinds, to the Yellow Jackets’ 7-yard line. Three plays later, Hinds caught a 7-yard TD pass from Hall with only 27 seconds left on the clock.

A stingin’ swing

Stephenville took the kickoff to start the second half and drove 75 yards on 10 plays to break the tie.

Gafford threw his second TD pass of the night, a 24-yarder to Austin Kreutz, for the go-ahead points.

Then on Brownwood’s ensuing possession, Markland picked off a Hall pass and returned it 48 yards to the Lions’ 12-yard line.

It was a huge play, especially once the offense capitalized to make it a 14-point lead.

“The junior linebacker’s been building, getting better and better every game,” Doty said about Markland. “He did a good job of reading the quarterback’s eyes and kind of getting in the zone. He had a good little return down our sideline.”

Four plays later, Caden Anderson scored from a 1 yard out to put Stephenville up 28-14 with 5:58 to play in the third quarter.

Brownwood turned the ball over again on its next possession. This time, Bennett snagged a Hall fumble out of the air to give the Yellow Jackets the ball at their own 42.

Three plays after the turnover, Gafford threw a 55-yard TD pass to Tristian Gentry, who broke a tackle around the 35 and ran for the score.

“My receiver made a play and my O-line held them long enough for me throw,” Gafford said.

Just like that, the Yellow Jackets had a commanding 35-14 lead with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

Brownwood turned the ball over on downs at its own 46 on its next drive, and Gafford finished off the Lions with a 32-yard TD pass to Payton Poston on a fourth-and-8 play to start the fourth quarter.

“I really didn’t like his read there on third down,” Doty said of Gafford. “He didn’t see something that we wanted. So, we got on him pretty good, and, boy, just like our team, bounced back and made a great play.”

Brownwood got its final TD as Hall threw a 34-yard TD pass to Jason Jackson with 1:36 remaining.

Hall threw for 229 yards and two TDs, while running for a team-high 108 yards. But he also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

“We’ve proven that we can play with anybody when we play,” Burnett said. “In the second half, we didn’t do that. You can’t turn over the ball on offense like that, and you can’t give up big plays on and expect to be successful.”

Breaking it down

∎ Turning point: Stephenville scored on its first four possessions of the second half – the last three after Brownwood turned the ball over. The Yellow Jackets picked off a pass, recovered a fumble and forced a turnover on downs on the Lion’s first three possessions in the second half – and scored after all three to lead 42-14.

∎ Player of the game: Ryan Gafford, quarterback, Stephenville – For the second straight game, the sophomore had a big night passing after the opposition did a good job bottling up running back Tate Maruska. Gafford threw for 263 yards and three TDs. A week earlier, he threw for 321 and five TDs in a 43-42 win over Wichita Falls Rider. “It’s great, but it was a team effort,” Gafford said. “I owe it all to my team.”

∎ Key stat: Statistically speaking, the game was pretty much a draw. Stephenville had 429 total yards, and Brownwood had 403. The difference in the game? Brownwood turned the ball over three times. Stephenville didn’t turn the ball over at all.

∎ Coach Burnett said: “It’s like I told them, it’s a test for us to see where we are and where we need to be, in case we have an opportunity to play them down the road (in the playoffs). You evaluate the first half. We fought and fought and tied it up. Played a great half. Go look at the second half and see what you can do when you don’t stay focused and you don’t win plays. You’ve got to secure the football.”

∎ Coach Doty said: “Really, defensively, we played a great first half there with an explosive Brownwood offense. … Offensively, Brownwood was doing a great job of taking away our run, kind of making us one dimensional there and getting us out of our comfort zone. We settled in (the second half) … we did a good job of protecting the quarterback, (and) sophomore Ryan Gafford had another good night.”

∎ Impact: Stephenville, the No. 1 team in Class 4A DI, remained unbeaten going into district play. It’s the Yellow Jackets’ third straight win in the series with Brownwood and fifth in the past six meetings. The Lions still lead the series 48-34-1, which dates back to 1937.

∎ Up next: Stephenville has a bye before beginning District 5-4A DI play against Life Waxahachie (2-3) at Tarleton Memorial Stadium. Life Waxahachie lost to Waco Robinson 35-25 on Friday before its bye the first week of October. Brownwood plays Big Spring (4-2) in the District 2-4A DI opener at Gordon Wood Stadium. Seminole (5-1) beat the Steers 63-28 on Friday in Seminole.

NON-DISTRICT

No. 1 Stephenville 42, No. 9 Brownwood 21

FIRST QUARTER

BRO − Konlyn Anderson 3 run (Junior Martinez kick), 6:58

STE − Tate Maruska 50 run (Diego Chavarria kick), 1:57

SECOND QUARTER

STE − Maruska 74 pass from Ryan Gafford (Chavarria kick), 2:17

BRO − Thad Hinds 7 pass from Ike Hall (Martinez kick), 00:27

THIRD QUARTER

STE − Wyatt Kreutz 24 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 8:09

STE − Caden Anderson 1 run (Chavarria kick), 5:58

STE − Tristian Gentry 55 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 4:01

FOURTH QUARTER

STE − Payton Poston 32 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 11:51

BRO − Jason Jackson 34 pass from Hall (Martinez kick), 00:27

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Brownwood, Ike Hall 16-108 Konlyn Anderson 17-66. Stephenville, Tate Maruska 18-122, Caden Henderson 13-39, Ryan Gafford 5-24.

PASSING: Brownwood, Hall 15-26-2−229. Stephenville, Gafford 11-20-0−263.

RECEIVING: Brownwood, Jordan Leach 6-111, Thad Hinds 2-50, Jason Jackson 1-34, Brayden Daub 2-19, Morsello Hooker 2-7, Taylor Bessent 1-5, Anderson 1-3. Stephenville, Payton Poston 5-80, Maruska 1-74, Tristian Gentry 1-55, Wyatt Kreutz 4-54.

RECORDS: Brownwood 4-2; Stephenville 6-0.

More:Texas high school football: Week 6 statewide scores

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: No. 1 Stephenville fends off No. 9 Brownwood in football