Brock, Gordon and Springtown roll in area round games
Nov. 17—Under the Thursday night lights, the Brock Eagles, Gordon Longhorns and Springtown Porcupines each punched their respective tickets to the regional semifinals with emphatic wins over the opposition in the area round.
The No. 4 Brock Eagles of Class 3A faced off against the Muleshoe Mules in the second round of the postseason and recorded a 76-13 blowout win. The Eagles were dominant on both offense and defense in their 63-point victory. Junior quarterback Brody Woods starred on offense with five total touchdowns — three passing and two rushing. He amassed 44 yards on the ground off three carries while completing eight of his 11 passing attempts for 156 yards.
Brock shined defensively as well by forcing four turnovers, highlighted by two interceptions from junior linebacker Jesse Rusinek. Seniors Cale Bramblett and Hyatt Dunaway each had a pick-six in the contest, Bramblett a 52-yard return and Dunaway with a 36-yard return.
Colt Matlock also shined for the Eagles with an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to go with two receptions for 75 yards and a score.
The Eagles (9-3, 6-0) will take on the winner of Clyde-Shallowater in the regional semifinals with matchup details to be announced.
Meanwhile, the No. 11 Springtown Porcupines of Class 4A moved on to the regional semifinals with an emphatic win of its own in Midland. The Porcupines squared off against the Riverside Rangers of El Paso and walked away with a 64-21 victory. Up next, Springtown (9-3, 3-1) will play against the winner of Brownwood-Randall in the regional semifinals with matchup details to be announced.
Also in action were the top-ranked Gordon Longhorns of Class 1A. Following their 64-14 win over Saint Jo in the bi-district round, the Longhorns followed up with another big win. This time, Gordon took down the Milford Bulldogs by a final score of 84-33 at Dublin High School.
The Longhorns overcame an early 12-8 deficit within the first quarter of play, courtesy of a 29-yard pass from sophomore Stryker Reed to Juan Cabrera followed by a 12-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Kaden Crowe. At the end of the first quarter, Gordon held a 24-12 lead.
Milford challenged Gordon in the second quarter, pulling to within single digits twice, but the Longhorns' quick-strike offense did not let up as Riley Reed and Stryker Reed each scored on 45-yard touchdown runs in the first half of the quarter. Then, Riley Reed found paydirt from a yard out to put Gordon ahead 41-26 at the half.
The second half was dominated by the Longhorns, who outscored Milford 36-8. Cabrera ended the game via mercy rule with his 20-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore quarterback Noah Kostiha completed four of his five pass attempts for 53 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown toss to Riley Reed, who had a monster game consisting of five total touchdowns. The electric sophomore carried the ball eight times for 138 yards while Stryker Reed shined with 127 yards on seven carries and two scores. He also completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to Cabrera, who caught two passes for 29 yards.
The win advanced Gordon (11-0, 5-0) to the state quarterfinals for the third year in a row where it will compete against the winner of Abbott and Union Hill.
