OK, sorry for the delay in this, but I got home after midnight last night and after a 16-hour day, I shockingly didn't feel like writing anymore and opted for sleep.
We'll start with the Liberty Christian-Dallas Christian state championship in Temple.
I'll tell you what, that was my first state championship to cover in any sport at any level, but I can't imagine a more one-sided state championship than what I saw yesterday. The Warriors won 28-7, but it could have just as easily been 35-0. The Chargers didn't score until the final minutes and ran just 10 offensive plays in the second half up to the 2-minute mark of the game.
Of course I'm an objective reporter, but I have to admit, it was nice to see head coach Mark Bowles, who has to be one of the nicest coaches out there, get the proverbial monkey off his back with the win.
The Warriors had lost in the final the previous two seasons, as well as in 2001. While Bowles had two state titles heading into yesterday, they were more than 10 years ago in 1994 and 1996.
It was also nice to see the 15 seniors finally come out on top after two disappointing losses to close their sophomore and junior seasons. In particular, the never-short-on-words center/middle linebacker Jake Gannon, quarterback Andrew Loch, who missed last year's game with a torn ACL and Mr. Liberty Football Ben Habern, who's the most decorated football player to ever come out of Liberty after being selected for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and orally committing to Oklahoma.
With all the seniors though, it was a junior who carried the Warriors to their first state title in 11 years yesterday, and Reid Fitzgerald solidified his place on the Denton Record-Chronicle's All-Area team, in case his Metroplex-leading rushing totals weren't enough.
Fitzgerald, who's a diabetic and has to constantly monitor his blood sugar, rushed for a career-high 39 carries and 203 yards, but it could've been more if not for his condition, which caused him to miss a couple of drives to get his blood sugar back up. Sure, you have to credit his O-line, but a lot of what Fitzgerald does is after initial contact.
I'll be brutally honest, before covering Liberty this year, I had some pretty severe doubts about TAPPS football and the quality of play, but Fitzgerald would be a legit running back at any level, as well as many Liberty players. Heck, the Warriors played Celina closer than anyone had this year except for Robinson, and it was just a one-point difference.
The first two Liberty games I covered this year were the back-to-back losses to Celina and TCA-Addison, when Fitzgerald had big nights but also had costly fumbles. During this playoff run, I've seen a more solid running back who takes care of the ball and gets monster yards after being hit.
So, I think that's all I have to say about this game, congratulations again to Bowles and his team for as he put it "finally being the bride again, and not the bridesmaid".
As for Calvary, as first-year head coach Dhati Lewis plainly admitted, he and his staff were outcoached by Greenville Christian coach Larry Uland, who's been atop some big-time programs at the UIL 4A and 5A level during his long career.
That was my first-ever Six-Man game to cover, and it was definitely interesting. 1st-and-15 instead of 1st-and-10, 80-yard field, one point for an extra-point run, two for a kick. Four points for a field goal. General craziness all around. I wasn't even going to try to blog during the game because I was too concerned about keeping my stats accurately.
The Lions trailed by a score of 24-22 at the half before the Eagles rolled off 46 consecutive points to win by the 45-point mercy rule, 70-22 with six minutes still to go in the game after quarterback Lawson Flowers ran in for what was his ninth touchdown of the game (four rushing, four passing, one receiving). Somehow, Flowers didn't get MVP honors. That went to the kicker who also caught two touchdown passes. I guess the kicker is a big-time premium at the Six-Man level.
For a team that finished 3-7 last year, Lewis and his team should be nothing but happy about what it accomplished this season, and I'm sure they'll realize that after the initial disappointment of losing in the final wears off. And one would think that if Lewis could get this much out of his team in his first year ever of coaching football, you have to like the future of the program as long as he's heading it.
Another year of Denton-area football is officially in the books and there's one state championship to show for it, not too shabby. Ryan head coach Joey Florence was in Temple to check out the festivities as well. He told me a bunch of the Liberty players attend his camps in the summer, so he wanted to show his support. I guess Florence's recent success in state title games kind of rubbed off on the Warriors.
Congratulations to both Liberty and Calvary on fine seasons. Until next year...
