FB: Bulldogs claim semifinal berth, 31-0
Lovelady's Tre' Sherman (29) while Christopher Feaster (10) comes up
to help during Friday's Class 1A D-I Region III final in Lufkin Friday.
(Photo by John Krueger)
LUFKIN, Tx -- When the Garrison Bulldogs play football games this season there should be a special notification that goes out to all fans and opposing teams. It should state something like: "Despite the dominance, the names could be changed, but the results will likely be the same."
That has been the case all season long for the 'Dogs, because no matter who come into the game for this team, the squad never seems to miss a beat. Even when Garrison starting quarterback Dustin Strahan suffered a freak fall coming back out for the second half of Friday night's Class 1A D-I Region III championship game and didn't play in the second half, the results were the same. Despite his absence in the second half the Bulldogs continued to roll over the Lovelady Lions, as GHS steamrolled to a 31-0 victory here at Abe Martin Stadium.
The first half was all Garrison as the 'Dogs outgained the Lions 148-115 and took a 17-0 lead into the locker room at the break. Strahan then fell and sprained his ankle coming back out when coming down the ramp. But, not to worry, the same offensive line of senior Brian Wright, sophomore Josh Robison, junior Quin Gates, senior Kord Bradshaw and senior Tucker Stokes were still in place up front.
Sophomore Cameron Rodriguez moved from his wide receiver spot to quarterback and the result was the Bulldogs holding the football for 17:50 in the second half, compared to just 6:10 for Lovelady. Oh yeah, Rodriguez ran for 37 yards and a touchdown on nine carries, Nathan Burkhalter picked up 59 of his 101 yards and two scores on 17 carries and C.J. Henderson had 60 of his 83 yards on 12 attempts in the final 24 minutes as Garrison outscored Lovelady, 14-0.
The Bulldogs finished the game by outgaining Lovelady 315-148, including 167-33 in the second half. Garrison was so dominating offensively that it converted a staggering 9-of-12 (.750) of its third-down conversions.
As far Lovelady standout running back Tre' Sherman, he was held to a mere 25 yards rushing on 10 carries by the Bulldog 'D'.
The "Pound the Rock" mentality of the Bulldogs has been the same for the last two seasons and it has given Garrison a 25-2 record (.925 wining pct.) since the beginning of 2010. The 'Dogs have now equaled last season's semifinal berth. This time around the Bulldogs (12-1) will take on the Mason Punchers (13-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Waco's Floyd Case Stadium with a trip to the Class 1A D-I state championship game on the line.
The survivor of Garrison and Mason will square off against the winner of Friday's matchup between Stamford (12-2) and Mart (11-2), which will be played in Brownwood. The state championship game will be played at Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Thursday, Dec., 15, at 12-noon.
There wasn't anything flashy about Garrison regional final win over Lovelady, but then again this Bulldog team seems to be one which feeds on a team effort - both offensively and defensively.
"We're going to line up and formation you early and figure out where you're lined up and attack that," said Garrison head coach Craten Phillips after the win. "I don't think we need to 're-invent the wheel' every week. Our kids are comfortable and we've got a lot of returning starters. They know what they're doing.
"I think if you execute better than they do that's the best offense you can have. I don't think you're going to outsmart the opposing coach at this point in the game. They're all good. It's going to come down to your kids doing what they do best. And if they'll execute at a high level then that's the best chance for success."
There was a lot of success for the Bulldogs on this night. They scored touchdowns on two of their three possessions in the first half. On their first possession they failed to score as Lovelady halted a 9-play, 60-yard drive that took 4:11 off the first-quarter clock when Logan Clark was stopped just inches short of the goalline on a fourth-and-goal from the three.
Phillips had confidence in his offense to put the ball in the endzone and just as much, if not more, in his defense that it could stuff the Lions if they took over. Sure enough, on third down a high snap to Lovelady quarterback Garrett Denson rolled on the ground in the endzone and running back Ethan Reatliff wisely kicked the ball out of the back of the endzone for a Garrison safety.
"It was one of those things where Logan went in there hard (on fourth down) and maybe he had his shoulders low - maybe a little too low - and maybe should have kept his feet in there," Phillips reasoned later. "I thought the line did a good job and bowed their neck to get the three yards. I wasn't going to kick a field goal; I'm going to try to punch it in (the endzone) and if not we might get a safety, which it worked out that we did.
"But given the same opportunity again I'd go for it again because I believe in my offensive line, I believe in my backs and those guys are going to be awful disappointed if I decide to kick a field goal."
Those lineman and those backs didn't disappoint Phillips again. After that first failed stop, the Bulldogs would go on to score touchdowns their next four possessions. The only reason they didn't score on their fifth is probably because the game ended, as GHS had the ball on the Lovelady 8-yard line and elected to run out the clock on the final two plays instead of running up the score.
After the safety gave Garrison a 2-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the opening period, the 'Dogs fumbled their return of the free kick, but then got the ball back four plays later when the Lions' Justis Kelly fumbled and Henderson picked it up and returned it 24 yards to the LHS 32-yard line.
Garrison marched in from there, scoring on a 7-yard run by Burkhalter when he followed Bradshaw, Wright and Co. into the endzone. Jake Christian tacked on the 2-point conversion and Garrison bumped its lead to 10-0 with 7:45 left in the half.
The Bulldogs stopped Lovelady's next drive on downs and the GHS offense continued to 'pound the rock', marching 78 yards in 14 plays and taking 4:03 off the clock. On 3rd-and-goal from the one, Strahan (10 carries, 35 yards) scored on a quarterback sneak behind Bradshaw and Gates. Burkhalter added the point after with 16 seconds left in the half for a 17-0 lead.
Some teams might have been caught off-guard when their 3-year quarterback suddenly went down with an injury in a big playoff game, but not this team. The Bulldogs took the second-half kickoff and drove 56 yards in 10 plays with Rodriguez at the helm. In fact, none of the plays went for negative yards in the drive as Burkhalter scored his second TD of the night, this one from eight yards out. The extra point put GHS further in front, 24-0, with 6:40 left in the third.
The Lions picked up two first downs before being forced to punt. Once again the Bulldogs drained the clock on a drive that last 5:48 and went 63 yards in 12 plays, with Rodriguez going in from the two behind Bradshaw and Wright. The point after created a 31-0 score with 9:36 remaining in the game.
After picking up just one first down, the Bulldogs' defense stopped Lovelady on a 4th-and-one at the GHS 45. Taking over with 6:42 remaining, Garrison ran out the remaining time with a 47-yard drive that took 10 plays.
State Championship Schedule/Ticket Information
STATS AT A GLANCE
Lovelady Garrison
First Downs 9 24
Rushes-Net Yards 28-87 57-284
Passing Yards 61 31
Total Yards 148 315
Passes 5-10-0 4-5-0
Punts-Avg. 1-44 0-0
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 6-40 3-40
3rd Down Conv. 3/9 9/12
4th Down Conv. 0/3 2/3
SCORING BY QUARTERS
Lovelady 00 00 00 00 = 00
Garrison 02 15 07 07 = 31
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
Rushing
Lovelady: Ethan Reatliff 5-37; Tre' Sherman 10-25; Justis Kelly 2-16; Garrett Denson 10-14; Team 1-(-5). Garrison: Nathan Burkhalter 17-101 2TD; C.J. Henderson 12-83; Cameron Rodriguez 9-37 TD; Dustin Strahan 10-35 TD; Logan Clark 5-18; Jake Christian 3-12; Team 2-(-2).
Passing
Lovelady: Garrett Denson 5-8-0 61 yards. Garrison: Dustin Strahan 4-5-0 31 yards.
Receiving
Lovelady: Justis Kelly 3-30; Tre' Sherman 2-31. Garrison: Christopher Feaster 1-10; Nathan Burkhalter 1-10; Cameron Rodriguez 1-7; Hunter Key 1-4.
Records
Lovelady 11-2. Garrison 12-1.