Mineral Wells Area News

By DAVID MAY

Special to Mineral Wells Area News

WEATHERFORD – Brayden Walters scored four times while Gordon’s defense tried matching its offense in points scored on their way to another dominating performance, lifting the Longhorns to a 54-8 win Saturday over the Jonesboro Eagles and sending them to the Class 1A-D1 championship game.

The Horns’ defense scored three touchdowns and recovered a fumble leading to another score while almost shutting out an Eagles team that was averaging 61.5 points per game entering the semifinals contest at Weatherford’s Kangaroo Stadium.

The game ended at halftime via sixman football’s 45-point mercy rule. Gordon (14-0) has played into the fourth quarter just once this season.

The win sets up a title game Dec. 13 at AT&T Stadium between Gordon and two-time defending champions the Westbrook Wildcats (13-1). Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. The Horns will try to win their first state title since 1999. Westbrook advanced with Friday’s 32-16 win over Happy.

Head Coach Mike Reed, a Longhorns alum and former player, will be seeking his third sixman championship in six tries – two at Rule and three consecutive trips leading Throckmorton resulting in back-to-back wins.

He has had Gordon in the post-season in each of his six seasons since returning home. After losing in the quarterfinals last season, his young team has now blasted its way into the finale.

“The kids have set goals and have been so determined each week,” Reed said afterward. “Coming into practice this week I wasn’t sure. We were a little relaxed Monday and Tuesday but as each day kind of got going … you could just see they were turning that dial a little bit closer into the focus and attention to where we want them to be.”

In the last two weeks the Horns have outscored Abbott and Jonesboro by a combined 118-24, remarkable for sixman football this late in the season and against two traditionally strong sixman programs.

“Jonesboro is a phenomenal, traditional powerhouse and so well coached, and to be able to come out and play the way we did is really a tribute to our community and our administration who support us and give us all the things we need to be successful,” Reed said.

He said the players will need to keep their intensity up over the next 10 days leading up to the title game.

“They know what has to be done,” Reed said. “They come in, we keep things fun, but we also have that intent to get the job done, and have fun and enjoy it. This is enjoyable. Each week you don’t want to just work, work, work and not enjoy it. We try to find a good balance of both.”

Reed joked when asked about his defense scoring three times on Saturday.

“I threatened my defensive coordinator last week, saying that wasn’t good enough holding their running back to 15 yards total offense,” Reed said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. “He really challenged the defense this week. We really challenged the group this week because of how physical they (Jonesboro) were and to take care of their miscues.”

Out of character for the Horns on Saturday were some false start penalties early – not that they impacted the offense’s performance. But the calls did have the Gordon coaching staff perplexed early along the sideline.

“It is no different when you get different (officiating) crews each week,” Reed said. “Your intensity is up, your eagerness to get off the football. Our false starts came from just literally our snap count and intensity to get off the football. I actually celebrate those false starts because that shows the intensity to get off the ball. They are ready to go. This is a new stage for a lot of them.”

Sophomore quarterback Noah Kostiha accounted for three touchdowns Saturday, including touchdown passes of 51 and 54 yards to Walters.

“It’s unreal,” said Kostiha. “It is what we have been wanting to do for years on end. This is probably the one goal I had for high school.”

The Kostiha family knows about playing for state titles. Noah’s father and a cousin won state titles with Gordon in the 1990s.

Noah said as two-defending champs, Westbrook comes into the championship game with experience and confidence. But he believes Gordon is also high on confidence based on their performance all year.

“I feel like we have just been together all of our lives,” he said when asked what makes this team special. “Football, baseball and basketball. It just creates a bond.”

Senior Whit Fuller had a fumble recovery that led to a touchdown and threw a 5-yard rollout pass for a score to Walters crossing across the goal line late in the first. He said being a senior makes going to the state final very special.

“I am pretty excited,” he said, crediting the coaches for getting the team to this point. He said he expects a battle in Arlington against the Wildcats.

“It is going to be pretty tough,” he said. “It will be a four-quarter game. I think we will stay pretty fired up.”

Gordon took the opening kick and drove the ball to inside the 5. But Jonesboro’s defense rose up with a goal-line stop on fourth-and-two to take over. The Eagles mounted their own drive on their first possession, advancing to Gordon’s 29 before the drive stalled on an incomplete pass.

On the next play, Kostiha connected with Walters on a 51-yard pass for the game’s first score. The point-after attempt was wide left, making it 6-0.

Things then began to unravel for the Eagles. On second down from their 23, a fumbled snap was pounced on and recovered by Fuller, setting Gordon up at the Eagles’ 19. Stryker Reed flipped a short pass to Riley Reed, who raced in to the end zone for a 14-0 lead with 4:28 left in the opening quarter.

It was just getting started. The Longhorns defense scored two touchdowns in exactly one minute of game clock to blow the game open. Jonesboro once again put the ball on the ground. The ball took a big hop into the arms of Gordon’s Kaden Crowe who returned it half the length of the field to make it 22-0 with 2:52 showing on the opening quarter’s clock.

The defense quickly struck again as Walters picked off a pass and returned it for his second touchdown to give the Horns a 30-0 advantage with 1:51 remaining in the first. The Longhorns were now in firm control.

Asher Salinas recovered Gordon’s onside kickoff at the Eagles’ 32. Working their way to the 5 yard line, Fuller trolled to his right, finding Walters crossing along the goal line and hitting him for the score to put Gordon on top 38-0 as the game moved into the second quarter.

Jonesboro’s next possession ended in another turnover as Stryker Reed picked off a pass. Gordon faced second and 23 from its own 10 before Reed’s 12-yard run and a pass to Riley Reed left Gordon with fourth-and-three from its 31. A false start penalty pushed the Horns back 5 yards. That led to Kostiha’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Walters to make it 46-0 midway through the second.

Jonesboro returned the ensuing kickoff to Gordon’s 19, but Fuller’s 13-yard tackle for a loss pushed the Eagles back to the 32. The Horns defense then stopped Jonesboro on fourth down to regain possession and keep the Eagles scoreless.

With the ball on second down from its 24, Kostiha momentarily mishandled the pistol snap but recovered and pitched to Riley Reed, who raced 56 yards to the end zone for a 54-0 lead.

Jonesboro connected on a 35-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nathan Forrest to receiver DeMarcus Acoff to avoid the shutout.

Gordon senior running back Jack Stallings ran the ball twice before Kostiha’s victory kneel down to send the Horns into celebration mode with a 54-8 win and a date to face the two-time defending champions.

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