Mineral Wells Area News

By DAVID MAY

Special to Mineral Wells Area News

BURLESON – It was the sixman playoff game many expected. The result likely was not.

The top-ranked Class 1A-D1 Gordon Longhorns dominated the No. 3 Abbott Panthers for a runaway 64-16 win Friday night to claim the Region III championship and move into the semifinals. 

Gordon will face the Jonesboro Eagles, which defeated the May Tigers, 86-39, on Saturday. The game is set for 5 p.m. next Saturday, Dec. 2, at Weatherford’s Kangaroo Stadium.

A rematch of last year’s quarterfinal game, narrowly won 32-24 by Abbott on its way to playing in the championship game, many sixman fans figured the two teams would meet in the third round again this year. Most of those fans were also expecting another tight contest between the two powerhouses. That didn’t happen.

The Longhorns (13-0) took early control of the game on offense while its defense gained the upper hand and locked down the Panthers’ attack, ending the game with two quick scores early in the third quarter. It was Abbott’s third loss in the last three seasons, held to its lowest points total since being shut out by Blum in November 2019.

“I have been doing this 25 years, so I got out of the prediction business a long time ago,” Gordon head coach Mike Reed said afterward. “Very easily we could have been on the other side of that. Abbott is a very well-coached football team and has very good talent, and that sometimes is just the ebb and flow and how a sixman games goes. Sometimes a team can capture lightning on that night and get things going.”

Reed said last year’s quarterfinals loss to Abbott was with a very young Longhorns team that won its first 12 games. Gordon still fields a team of mostly underclassmen.

“For us, this has been 365 days in the waiting. This has been one that we put a lot of time and focus in, and the coaching staff and the kids. There is a lot of time that got spent behind the scenes that built up to this. You don’t want to put the apple before the cart, but this is a step in the right direction for us.”

Reed said his team will now face the challenge of playing a December game, with the chance of then playing for a state championship. He said beating either Jonesboro will not be easy as they have plenty of playoff experience and success behind them.

“We still have another huge step to take,” Reed said.

On the other side of the bracket, Happy defeated Miami, 30-22, on Friday and will Westbrook after they defeated Borden County, 110-65, on Saturday.

Riley Reed had five of Gordon’s eight touchdowns Friday. He had rushing scores of 2 and 7 yards, touchdown receptions of 63 and 44 yards and a 70-yard kickoff return. Reed had 116 of Gordon’s 169 passing yards coming on three catches to go with 63 rushing yards on 12 carries.

Gordon ran for 190 yards to amass to 359 yards of total offense while limiting Abbott to 133 yards.

Stryker Reed had touchdown runs of 59 and 4 yards, and threw the 44-yard touchdown pass to Riley Reed that ended the game.

Whit Fuller was the passer for Riley Reed’s 63-yard touchdown reception. Quarterback Noah Kostiha hit Brayden Walters for a 13-yard touchdown to open the third quarter, coming shortly after Gordon recovered the onside kick to open the second half.

Juan Cabrera converted all seven of his two-point kick attempts after touchdowns (no attempt was needed on Gordon’s last score) and recorded a first-quarter safety.

Gordon took the opening kickoff and started at its own 23. The Horns needed six plays to score on Riley Reed’s 2-yard run through the middle of the line.

The 8-0 lead was short-lived. Abbott’s Mason Hejl took the ensuing kickoff to the house to tie it up at 8 apiece.

On second down from its 21, Stryker Reed took a pitch and started to his left before cutting back to his right and across the Burleson Stadium turf, weaving past defenders before racing down the far side of the field for his 59-yard touchdown run and a 16-8 Gordon lead.

Abbott misplayed the ensuing kickoff and started pinned back at its own 5. A tackle for a loss led to pressure on the Panthers’ quarterback, who faded into the end zone and lost the ball out of bounds for a safety.

Gordon took over again at Abbott’s 37. Riley Reed had a 15-yard run followed by an 8-yard pass reception. He then peeled off a 10-yard run, setting up Stryker Reed’s 4-yard touchdown run for a 26-8 first-quarter lead after the PAT.

The Panthers’ next possession resulted in an incomplete pass followed by a fumbled snap recovered by Fuller to give Gordon a short field at the 20. Kostiha hit Stryker Reed on a 13-yard pass. Riley Reed ran it in from 7 yards out and Gordon took a 34-8 lead into the second quarter.

The Longhorns seized full control of the game in the second. The defense forced Abbott to turn the ball over on downs. Riley Reed lost a fumble, but the Horns quickly got the ball back on a Maddox Stewart pick-off. That led to Fuller’s 63-yard scoring pass to Reed for a 42-8 lead.

Abbott scored on its next possession, a six-play, 60-yard drive to make it 42-16 late in the first half.

Riley Reed fielded the deep kickoff at the 10-yard line and raced downfield 70 yards for a score that sent Gordon to intermission leading 50-16.

The Horns kicked off to open the third quarter, bouncing a kick that was recovered by Asher Salinas. Kostiha’s 13-yard toss to Walters made it 58-16. 

A long run to the end zone for Abbott was nullified on a holding call. The Panthers ended up turning the ball over to Gordon, which ended the game on the first play from its own 36 with the Reed-to-Reed 44-yard touchdown pass for the final 64-16 score.