2012 Cleburne Football Section

1
Cleburne Football
2012
Special supplement to the Times-Review
A New Era
Jeff Merket takes over
Yellow Jacket program
2012 Cleburne Football Page 2 Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Cleburne Football 2012
is a publication of the
Cleburne Times-Review
Cleburne Football 2012
Publisher Kay Helms
Managing Editor Dale Gosser
Design/Layout AJ Crisp
Sports Editor AJ Crisp
Contributing Photographers David Beans
Cover Photo David Beans
Advertising Kay Helms, Mgr
Advertising executives Eric Faught
Sherri Jouet
Advertising executives Tammy Kay
Alyssa Dyer
Graphics/cover Ashley Garey, Mgr
Cleburne Times-Review
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2
Mark Jameson, CLTC
(817) 641-3306

400 N. Ridgeway Dr.
Cleburne
[email protected]
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By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
The Cleburne football program
hasnt experienced the taste of post-
season play in a decade, and under
the direction of a new head coach
and an experienced quarterback sur-
rounded by talented playmakers,
the Yellow Jackets look to end that
drought in 2012
New coach Jeff Merket has stat-
ed several times in the offseason,
during two-a-days and after scrim-
mages that a new era of Yellow
Jacket football is coming to the
feld this year, and while the attitude
within the program has changed, a
lot has to happen for the Jackets to
reach the heights theyre leaping for
First off, weve got to stay
healthy, Merket said Weve got
to completely buy into the program
and the systems that weve got We
have to become team players We
cant have individual players who
are just looking for individual stats
We tell them, Its all 11 of us or
none of us We cant have a weak
link anywhere on the feld Weve
got to have back-ups that can step
in, be ready to play and get the job
done Weve got to be good in spe-
cial teams and continually improve
offensively and defensively
In 2010, the Jackets suffered
through a tough 1-9 season in which
their lone win came against Joshua,
which fnished 0-10
But last year, Cleburne took a
step in the right direction as the
Jackets fnished with a 4-6 record
(3-4 in District 7-4A play) They
were in the playoff hunt going into
the fnal game of the season, but lost
to Arlington Seguin, 33-26
We were two or three plays
away from being in the playoffs,
said former head coach Phil Young
after the loss to Seguin Sometimes
good teams get left out and this is a
good team
The Jackets have turned the page
on previous hardships and are look-
ing to the 2012 season as a poten-
tially historic one
Itd be unbelievable to make the
playoffs, said quarterback Quade
Coward Thats what Ive been
striving for the whole time Ive been
here as the quarterback and its the
kind of mindset we have this year
is to be the frst team in 10 years to
fnally bring [the playoffs] back to
Cleburne
Not only have the Jackets not
played in a playoff game for 10
years, Cleburne hasnt won a play-
off game since 1998
Our goal in district is to make
the playoffs and our goal in play-
offs is to win games, Merket said
Were expressing those goals to
our players and thats what we talk
about every day
With so much newness surround-
ing the Cleburne football program,
including adapting to new coach-
es, learning new playbooks and
schemes, growing pains should be
expected, but Merket and his coach-
ing staff said they think the team is
right where they need to be heading
into the frst week of the season
I think were about where we
planned to be, Merket said We
knew going in we were going to take
it slowly and work the fundamentals
heavily, and thats what weve done
Now we can start putting in a few
wrinkles and twists, and get where
we want to be for a complete foot-
ball game
One of the bigger differences in
the Yellow Jackets style of play this
year compared to last will be the
tempo of the offense Cleburne will
look to keep the pace up and run a
no-huddle offense the majority of
the time
With an undersized offensive
line, Merket and new offensive co-
ordinator Sam Skidmore think that
tiring out the opponent will give the
Jackets offensive line the advan-
tage
Were a little bit undersized,
especially up front, so were going
to wear defenses down, Skidmore
said Well go fast and try to be
technically sound and take advan-
tage of what defenses give us
We just need to come together in
one group, said quarterbacks coach
Ky Kelm Weve been climbing
the past couple of years, weve been
climbing to get to the top of the hill,
but we just havent been able to get
over it But now were at the point,
with this senior class, I think we
can get over the edge and get in the
playoffs, but not just get to the play-
offs, but to make a little run in the
playoffs This community is looking
for greatness Its going to be a good
year
After realignment in February,
Cleburne made the move from 7-4A
to 8-4A and faces the likes of Burle-
son, Burleson Centennial, Crowley,
Everman, Joshua, Waco and Waco
University in district play
The Jackets open the season at 7
pm Thursday at Clark Stadium in
Fort Worth against Southwest High
School
2012 Cleburne Football Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Page 3
Jackets look to erase decade-long playoff drought
David Beans/Special to the CTR
Kibo Grant (22) will be one of many options that Coach Jeff Merket will use in his up-tempo offense. Merket said the Jackets have several playmak-
ers on offense.
3
New head coach
Jeff Merket expects
Cleburne to win
every time they
step on the feld.
By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
There will be plenty of new faces along
the sidelines of Cleburne Yellow Jacket
football this season The lead man of those
new faces is head coach Jeff Merket, who
enters his frst season as the Jackets head
coach
One of the appealing aspects of taking
the head coaching position at Cleburne
was because he said he likes challenges
and he wants to bring the football program
at Cleburne back to its rich history after a
decade-long absence from the playoffs
Merket was most recently offensive
coordinator at Brownwood High School
under head coach Bob Shipley since 2009
Merket also spent several years at Stephen-
ville under head coach Art Briles, now the
head coach at Baylor University
In 1988, Briles took over a football pro-
gram at Stephenville that had not made the
playoffs since 1952 In Briles second year,
he led Stephenville to the playoffs in 1990
and then every following year he was there,
including four state championships
With the years of knowledge hes gained
from successful coaching stand-outs like
Briles and Shipley, Merket looks to use
that experience of turning struggling pro-
grams into winners and help turn around
Cleburne
Jeff Merket is the best coach to direct
our football program at Cleburne High
School, Superintendent Dr Tim Miller
said in February He comes to us with
many years of experience as a head coach
and assistant coach
Merket has brought an up-tempo spread
offense to the Jackets, that features a com-
bination of different ideas and styles from
several different offenses The running
game will be similar to the old veer offense
and the passing game will contain a lot of
screens and vertical passes, Merket said
Despite being hired in February, Merket
and his Jackets are still in the process of
learning his systems and schemes The ex-
perience the offense gained in 7-on-7 com-
petition this summer at Fort Worth Nolan
Catholic High School was a great beneft
for the wide receivers and quarterbacks, as
they were given a crash-course into timing
and execution of routes
The work the team has put in during the
summer, two-a-days and two scrimmages
has the team right where Merket was hop-
ing they would be
Were pleased with the progress, Mer-
ket said I think were about where we
planned to be
One of the primary reasons Merket took
interest in this position was because he
wanted to build the Cleburne football pro-
gram back up, and he said the frst step of
that starts this year, and he explained how
in one simple word: win
Winning, he said And if we cant
win, we need to be competitive in every
football game We expect to win every
game we step on the feld every time we go
out We want to have a complete package
out on the feld If we get beat, we want to
get beat by a better team Thats what were
looking for right now
Obviously our ultimate goal is to win
a state championship, and we know there
are steps involved to get there Weve got
to take each week and each team one game
at a time and try to make ourself a better
football team for our district opener
In the three years Merket was on staff,
Brownwood was a regional fnalist twice
and made it to the state semifnals in 2010
His duties at Brownwood also included
coaching the quarterbacks and serving as
head golf coach
During his 25 years in coaching, Merket
spent four at Burnet as an assistant coach,
which included two appearances at the state
fnals Merket has also coached at Coppell,
Leander, Junction, Clyde and Ballinger,
where he began his career
Merket has a bachelors degree in physi-
cal education from Angelo State, and a
masters in education Tarleton State
Under new management
New Head Coach Jeff Merket was attracted to the Cleburne job because he respects the history of Cleburne football and wants to bring
the program back to its winning ways.
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Senior QB
Quade Coward
has a bright
future ahead of
him, but hes
not looking past
this season.
By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
Despite all of the focus
and attention and hype sur-
rounding senior quarterback
Quade Coward, all things
which could be a distraction
to any number of student ath-
letes, his focus remains on
one thing for the 2012 season
leading the Cleburne Yel-
low Jackets to the postseason
for the frst time in a decade
Getting to the playoffs
this year is what Ive been
striving for, Coward said
Its what weve been work-
ing on all summer
Working all summer is
something that Coward took
serious He attended several
football and quarterback-
specifc camps, including
ESPNs Elite 11 Camp at the
end of March
He performed well
there, said Cleburne quar-
terbacks coach Ky Kelm
That was good for him to
go to because he could see
what type of competition
hed be going against this
year week in and week out
He performed well I think in
my opinion, he was a top 15
player
Just seeing that he cant
take a week off will help him
this year, because he saw the
competition and the guys
that are getting recruited
who hes going against He
cant take one play off or
theyll be ahead of him
While Coward has plenty
of reason to be optimistic
about his own personal fu-
ture and what he may accom-
plish as an individual this
season, his primary focus is
leading the Yellow Jackets to
a successful and memorable
season in 2012
Id like to throw for at least
2,000 [yards] and try to get
close to 1,000 rushing, but
my main goal is to make
the playoffs, he said after
a 7-on-7 contest during the
summer
Coward put up totals of
1,600 passing yards, 400
rushing and 27 total touch-
downs as a junior last sea-
son, his frst as full-time
starter after splitting time
under center with Chaston
Cuffee, who enters his frst
season at the University of
Missouri, in 2010
The new offensive sys-
tem is awesome, Coward
said, referring to new coach
Jeff Merkets style of of-
fense You can get a team
like [Arlington Heights]
thats athletic and just run
them into the ground be-
cause were just going non-
stop, and keep going, play
after play, to the point where
theyre just gassed It turns
the best [opposing] players
into just average players
While Coward is adapt-
ing to a new head coach and
the new offense, there is one
constant on the feld that he
relies heavily on
[Coach Kelm] is more
than just a coach, Coward
said Hes almost like a
brother to me I dont know
how else to put it Hes just
a brother Hes always there
for me Well talk about what
happened after a play, what I
shouldve done, what I can
do to change it Hes a good
coach
Coach Merket and I
have actually really bonded
lately Were still getting
used to each other He knows
what hes doing and hes got
a great system I think hes a
great coach
As is the case at all levels
of football, from Pee Wee to
the NFL, the quarterback po-
sition is typically the leader
of the team, and that is some-
thing that Coward takes seri-
ous
Keeping my footwork
up and just maturing as a
player, Coward said regard-
ing areas hes improved on
since last season And com-
ing into a leadership role and
being the fgure that I need
to be out here on the feld in
front of my teammates I feel
that its not really always my
job to be the vocal leader, but
lead by example, and thats
what I try to do every time
I can
Everyone involved with
the Yellow Jacket football
program realizes that Cow-
ard is the key cog in the 2012
season, and his leadership is
something that both Merket
and Kelm said was impor-
tant
I expect him to be a lead-
er, to be a team captain and
to be a coach on the feld,
Merket said Hes probably
our most seasoned returner,
Great expectati ons
Senior quarterback Quade Coward looks to end his impressive high school career by leading the Jackets to the playoffs
for the first time in a decade.
See COWARD, Page 9
6
By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
Similar to how the Cleburne offense
has spent much of the summer getting
accustomed to a new coordinator, the
Yellow Jackets defense is adjusting to
a new way of life, also
The biggest thing this year is weve
got to eliminate big plays and create
turnovers, said new defense coordina-
tor Chris Lackey So as long as were
doing that, I think we have a good shot
to win a lot of ball games
The Jackets surrendered 286 points
per game last season, and while that is
a relatively high number, it was a huge
step in the right direction for a defense
that allowed 44 points per game in
2010, when the Jackets went 1-9
The defense returns six starters from
last years squad, but will miss defen-
sive back Chaston Cuffee, who received
a scholarship to play at the University
of Missouri
Kameron Pickett, Khalil Hall, James
Thornburg, Cannon Martyniuk and Bre-
zuan Miller will look to be some of the
players that the defensive coaches will
count on this season
Weve got a heck of an offense, so
as long as we make teams drive on us
and not give up big plays, and we can
create a couple of turnovers, were go-
ing to be a pretty good football team,
Lackey said I think theyre liking
the new system Were pushing them
and the kids are responding, so I think
theyre going to pick it up and do a
good job
Our inside linebacker, Brezuan
Miller is going to be a key to whats
going on Khalil Hall should be a lock-
down corner who can also come down
and make the tackle
Coach Ross Taylor looks to bring
his winning ways from the baseball dia-
mond as the defensive line coach, Jason
Payne will coach the outside lineback-
ers and Waylon White will command
the inside linebackers Lackey, who is
the defensive coordinator, will control
the secondary
As long as we improve each week
and cut the big plays and mental mis-
takes, well be alright, Lackey said
We may be a little undersized all
around, so weve got to have all 11 men
fying to the football
Lackey said hes interested in seeing
his defense in action on Thursday, add-
ing that even though Southwest might
be a little more athletic and bigger, he
still expects the Jackets to be aggres-
sive
I expect it to be a fun game, he
said Were going to get after them ear-
ly Were going to put forth our best ef-
fort We always talk about attitude and
effort, especially on defense, because a
lot of defense is effort I think were go-
ing to fare pretty well
Defense looks to improve on 2011 season
Two Yellow Jacket defenders combine for an impressive tackle during Cleburnes scrimmage against Arlington Heights
on Aug. 24. New defensive coordinator Chris Lackey said his unit is quickly improving.
7
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By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
The Oregon Ducks have be-
come synonymous with the no-
huddle, fast-paced, hurry-up of-
fense that has become more and
more relevant at all levels of foot-
ball
The Cleburne Yellow Jackets
are in the midst of transforming
into one of those teams, starting
in 2012 with the arrival of a new
head coach, new offensive coor-
dinator, and new offensive system
altogether
Were going to spread it out,
be fast-paced, do a lot of reading
and be up-tempo, said Cleburne
offensive coordinator Sam Skid-
more, who enters his first season
at Cleburne after moving from
Brownwood Id say its very
similar to what teams like Clem-
son and Oregon does A lot of our
run game is similar to Oregon Its
not exactly the same, but similar
The Yellow Jackets put up 275
points per game in 2011, with a
high of 48 points against district
opponent Crowley Cleburne only
scored single-digit points in two
of its 10 games last year, in games
two and three where the Jackets
scored six points both games
resulted in losses
If things go according to plan,
Jacket faithful should see the
scoreboard light up a few more
times this season, Skidmore said
Our goal every time is to
score on every drive, Skidmore
said Thats always going to be
our goal Ive learned that if you
expect great things, youre more
likely to get greatness If you ex-
pect average, youre going to get
bad results
Skidmore will be the running
game coordinator while new head
coach Jeff Merket will take re-
sponsibility over the passing game
and make most of the play calls
A lot of the offense is a com-
bination [of schemes], Skidmore
said We got some of the zone
read stuff from Denton Guyer
and put our own little twist on it
Weve thrown in some of Merkets
stuff when he was at Stephenville
with Art Briles Its a combination
and mesh of a lot of things
A lot of expectations are riding
on the shoulders of quarterback
Q u a d e
C o w -
ard, and
Skidmore
and quar-
t er backs
coach Ky
Kelm say that he is the ideal quar-
terback for the type of offense that
Cleburne will run this season
Hes got good footwork, hes
got good speed, hes got great arm
strength and hes very accurate,
Skidmore said Its just a matter
of taking time to learn the timing
of routes That takes work depend-
ing on the coverage youre going
against The 7-on-7 this summer
really helped His timing on when
to throw balls and anticipating on
when the receivers will come open
has gotten a lot better Hes come a
long ways
In this passing offense, we
expect Quade to be great, Kelm
said Hes a passer This spread
o f f e ns e
w a s
m a d e
for him
H e s
6 - f e e t ,
4 inches
tall, 200 pounds, hes a pocket
passer, but he can go out and run
This offense is perfect for him
With so much attention being
paid to Coward, opposing defen-
sive coordinators and defenses
will have their hands full due to the
number of playmakers the Jackets
have on offense, said Merket
Weve got a lot of playmak-
ers, he said Weve got five or
six guys who can do things with
the ball: Tucker Nolen, Al Bay-
lor, Khalil Hall, Kameron Pickett,
Dede Pollard, Kibo Grant, along
with Quade and Daniel Richard-
son, who has also looked great
playing quarterback
None of those guys will have
success at all if were not success-
ful up front, though Thats where
the success of our team lies and
they know it If were not good up
front, then were going to struggle
all year Coach Skidmores doing a
good job with those guys
Hall had 20 receptions for 228
yards and two touchdowns last
season, but should have a huge
season as Cowards primary target
Even though the players have
had to process a lot of new infor-
mation in just a short amount of
time with the integration of a new
playbook, new terminology and
new schemes, Skidmore is pleased
with the progress the Jackets have
shown
Theyre definitely starting to
pick it up, he said It takes time
We put the base [packages] in and
were going to add different things
during the weeks
Theyre picking things up
very nicely It reminds me a lot of
bringing this offense when I was
at Brownwood, where they were
used to one thing This group is
way ahead of where we were in
Brownwood
Though it was a small sample
size, during the live-action portion
of Cleburnes scrimmage against
Arlington Heights on Aug 24, the
Jackets fast-paced, no-huddle at-
tack appeared to wear down the
Heights defensive players after
only a few plays, and as Cleburne
continues to become increasingly
familiar with the new offense,
Kelm expects big things from the
Jackets offense this year
Once we get to district, well
be rolling, he said
Left: Jeff Merket said that wide receiver Khalil Hall will be one playmaker that the offense and quarterback Quade Coward will rely on to make big
plays this season. Right: Coward throws the ball during scrimmage play against Arlington Heights on Aug. 24.
Cleburne fans in store for non-stop excitement from Jacket offense
Our goal...is to score on every
drive.
Sam Skidmore
8
so he needs to step up and
fll that role, and so far hes
done that Were happy with
his progress He, just like
everybody else, is learning a
new system Hes still going
to make mistakes and were
going to correct them with
flm and practice
Hes the leader of this
team, Kelm said As he
goes, the team goes Hes a
perfect ft for this offense
When he became the true
starter last year, with the way
he performed, is when you
could see him become the
leader
Hes not the most vocal
leader He leads by his ac-
tions and what he does on the
feld, and if he needs to say
something, hell step up and
say something
Thursday, when the Jack-
ets open the season at Fort
Worth Southwest, is a day
that Coward said he has been
looking forward to for quite
some time, and he expects
the wait to be worth it
Were both 0-0, Coward
said Its a new start and we
just want to start it off with a
bang Were looking forward
to not just hitting somebody
new, but it actually count in
the standings I cant wait
Its what weve been work-
ing for all summer
We expect not good
things, but great things from
Quade, Kelm said
DATE OPPONENT TIME RESULT
Aug 30 at Southwest 7 pm ______
Sept 7 Weatherford 7:30 pm ______
Sept 14 Azle 7:30 pm ______
Sept 21 BYE WEEK
Sept 28 Waco High* 7:30 pm ______
Oct 5 at Joshua* 7:30 pm ______
Oct 12 at Burleson* 7:30 pm ______
Oct 19 Burleson Centennial* 7:30 pm ______
Oct 26 at Crowley* 7:30 pm ______
Nov 2 Everman* 7:30 pm ______
Nov 9 at Waco Univ* 7:30 pm ______
*8-4A contest
Quarterback Quade Coward, center, and quarterbacks coach Ky Kelm, right, have devel-
oped a strong relationship during their three years of work together. Kibo Grant, left, dis-
cusses a play with Coward and Kelm at the Jackets scrimmage against Arlington Heights.
COWARD
cont. from pg. 6
2012 Jackets Path
Quade Coward s 2011 stats
114 passes completed 222 passes attempted 51% completion rate
1,600 passing yards 15 touchdowns 9 interceptions
130 rushes 400 rushing yards 12 touchdowns
Jeff Merket, center, addresses the Cleburne Yellow Jackets in their first practice of the
2012 season at the midnight practice on Aug. 6 following the Lady Jackets traditional
midnight run for the volleyball teams.
9
10
2012 CLEBuRNE YELLOW JACKETS
Kameron Pickett Kibo Grant Khalil Hall Nick Solis Dee Dee Pollard Will Roden Chad Cochran
Al Baylor Tucker Nolen Jeremy Fuentes Quade Coward Ryan Tamaro Anthony Jagneaux
Nolan Reynolds Cannon Martyniuk Kendall Nettik Brezuan Miller Trenton Holmes Taylor Bird Jordan Ebbens
Daniel Richardson
Brent Burton Dustin Fish Greg Funderburk Joe Hough Chris Leshinski Jason Payne
11
James Thornburg Jordan Ebbens Ty Steele Eduardo Venegas Tyler Todd Hosbaldo Ruiz
2012 CLEBuRNE YELLOW JACKETS
Josh Hodges
Tanner Galvin Will House Ricky Langbata Murry Pritchard Hunter Hicks Tyler Rogers Eddie Cassio
Tory Endtricht Zach Cox Enrique Ayala Jeff Merket Ky Kelm Chris Lackey
Philip Permenter
Sam Skidmore
Ryan Stepp Taylor Ross Waylon White Marlon Winn
12
STAFF REPORTS
Following a 1-9 season in 2010,
the Jackets took a step in the right
direction last season with a 4-6 re-
cord Cleburne was eliminated from
postseason play in the fnal week
of the regular season The Jackets
played in District 7-4A last year,
but make the move to 8-4A in 2012
Heres a look back at last years
games
Game 1
Cleburne 33
Dallas Madison 6
With Cleburne 364 days re-
moved from 2010s humbling
62-9 defeat to Dallas Madison in
the home opener, the Yellow Jack-
ets put on a defensive clinic and
showed off a potent running attack
at Pleasant Grove Stadium as Cle-
burne defeated the Trojans, 33-6
Quade Coward fnished 10-for-
19 for 189 yards and three scores
Cooper Walls caught two of those
touchdown passes and fnished with
four receptions for 102 yards
Walls second touchdown re-
ception was a 56-yard strike from
Coward, but the receiver thrashed
and tore his way into the end zone
with two Madison defenders along
for the ride for the last 10 yards try-
ing to bring him down
The score put Cleburne up 13-0
in the frst half and the Trojans were
stunned
Cleburne amassed 190 yards on
the ground in 39 carries with senior
Patrick Morgan and junior Khalil
Hall accounting for 124 of those
yards
Hall had 74 yards on just fve
carries and twisted and tore through
the Trojans defense as a receiver as
well
Coward rushed for 59 yards and
a 9-yard touchdown
The story of the game was the
Yellow Jackets defense
After giving up fve scoring
plays of 70 yards or more last year,
Cleburne forced Madison to turn
the ball over on downs eight times
The Trojans were forced to go
to the air for their offense and they
werent effective there with quarter-
back Terry Ross completing just 13-
of-37 passes for 159 yards
Cleburne nearly doubled Madi-
sons offensive output with 405 to-
tal yards
The Jackets last won their sea-
son opener in 2009 against Fort
Worth South Hills
The effort was fantastic, Cle-
burne Head Coach Phil Young said
I think everybody in that stadium
felt we played hard We really em-
phasized playing physical and we
wanted to make our presence felt
Weve still got a ton of stuff to
work on, but those two goal-line
stands were huge for us
Madison put a scare into the
Cleburne crowd, scoring just 48
seconds into the third quarter with a
3-play drive that was capped off by
Justin Edwards 10-yard touchdown
plunge
That was about it for the Trojans
We did a good job of bending
but not breaking, Young said Our
defense was determined not to let
them in the end zone once they got
inside our 10
We got real stingy at that point
You dont get that result every time,
but it sure is nice when you do
Game 2
Frisco Centennial 24
Cleburne 6
The Cleburne Yellow Jackets
suffered their frst setback of the
2011 season on Friday night at Yel-
low Jacket Stadium after a 24-6 loss
to Frisco Centennial
A week removed from an im-
pressive 33-6 victory over Dallas
Madison on the road, the Cleburne
offense, which churned out more
than 400 yards in the win over the
Titans, managed only 200 in Friday
nights loss
Cleburnes Cooper Walls had
four catches for 104 yards and two
touchdowns against Madison He
was limited to just two catches for
15 yards on Friday night
The Jackets were limited to just
17 rushing yards a week after piling
up more than 200
Quarterback Quade Coward fn-
ished 16-of-25 through the air for
183 yards
Cleburne Head Coach Phil
Young remained positive after the
loss, citing the 1982 edition of the
Jackets who went 13-2 and also lost
their second game of the season to
sit at 1-1
I told our boys after the game
David Beans/Special to the Times-Review
Cleburnes Khalil Hall (3) breaks free on a play during the Yellow Jackets 24-6 loss to Frisco Centennial in 2011.
A look back: 2011 Jackets took a step forward
13
that the reason [Centennial] was cheer-
ing so loudly was because they know
they escaped, he said The mistakes we
made were correctable They fought their
guts out and Im not disappointed in one
thing they did
For the frst half, Cleburne looked like
the team in control The teams swapped
turnovers in the opening quarter but Cen-
tennial took the lead on an early feld
goal
The Titans defense immediately
keyed on Cleburnes rushing attack
which was so effective in its Zero Week
victory
Running backs Patrick Morgan and
the shifty Khalil Hall were stymied for
small gains, if any Coward fared simi-
larly on his attempts
Our offensive line is youthful,
Young said Weve got some protection
issues to fgure out, but we wont hang
our heads Were going to learn and fnd
a way to fx it
Cleburne took the lead, 6-3, at half-
time, after Coward capped off an 11-play,
73-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown
run
Centennials Austin Schotts changed
the game for the Titans by returning the
second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touch-
down to give Centennial the lead for
good
It was a momentum shifter, Young
said Theyre a very good football team,
theres no doubt about it
That hurt because it gave them all
the momentum in the second half
Schotts sealed the deal for the Titans
with his 24-yard tipped touchdown re-
ception late in the fourth quarter
Centennial fnished with 125 rush-
ing yards Quarterback Lamar Jordan
accounted for 83 of those while also
throwing for two scores and 127 yards
on 13-of-24 passing He was also picked
off twice
Young said his quarterback will con-
tinue to learn despite the tough loss
Hes a tough competitor, Young
said This is only his second true varsity
start Hes young and hes learning
Game 3
Waco University 19
Cleburne 6
WACO Waco University used
three second-half touchdowns from
Darious Burns as the Trojans overcome a
stagnant frst half to defeat Cleburne, 19-
6, at Waco ISD Stadium in a non-district
affair
After managing just 32 yards on 16
plays in the frst half, Burns helped lead
the charge for the Trojans in the fnal 24
minutes
The Jackets started the game in domi-
nating fashion, but failed to put points
on the board Cleburne took up almost
nine minutes of the frst quarter on an
18-play drive The Jackets converted two
fourth down plays, but failed to convert
a fourth-and-goal on the University 25
after Quade Coward was tackled in the
backfeld on consecutive plays
Four plays later, Connor Martyniuk
intercepted an Alvin Sanders pass and
returned it to the University 14-yard line
Facing another fourth-and-goal, this time
from the University 14-yard line, Cle-
burne again opted to go for the touch-
down
Cleburnes offense outgained the Tro-
jans offense, 47 yards to nine in the frst
quarter
The Jackets misfortune on fourth
down continued in the second quarter
After receiving the ball on the University
48, Cleburne advanced 15 yards before
Cowards incompletion on fourth-and-
nine gave the Trojans another chance to
break the 0-0 stalemate
Even when Cleburne was converting
big pass plays late in the second quarter,
the Jackets were hit with illegal blocking
and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties
after the completed throws
On third-and-12 from the Cleburne
49, Coward rolled out and hit Cooper
Walls in stride for a 26-yard completion
to help snap the Jackets out of their funk
On fourth-and-1 from the 14, Cleburne
sent Coward up the middle but the Tro-
jans came up with their fourth stop on
fourth down in the frst half
It was a stunning reversal of fortune
for the Jackets who came into the game
with nine fourth-down stops credited to
their defense In the frst half, the Trojans
gave Cleburne a taste of its own medi-
cine
The Jackets ran 39 plays to Univer-
sitys 16 plays in the frst half Cleburne
outgained the Trojans 163-32 in total
yardage
When Cleburne did fnally punt with
7:22 left in the third quarter, the Jackets
luck changed when University muffed
the return and Walls jumped on the loose
ball On the next play, Cleburnes luck
again took a turn for the worse when
Coward was picked off by Antwon Nich-
ols, who returned it to the Cleburne 39-
yard line
The Trojans were forced to punt for
the ffth time and Cleburne took over
at its own 17 On third-and-10, Coward
tossed another interception which the
Trojans returned to the Cleburne 37-yard
line
Universitys Darious Burns began
to pick up steam on the next drive He
rushed for 22 yards on three plays and
punched in the frst score of the game
from two yards out with 3:54 remain-
ing The ensuing extra-point attempt was
blocked and the Trojans were left with a
6-0 advantage
Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young
said his team has to get better at fnishing
off scoring opportunities
We need to be more selfsh in the red
zone, he said We played well tonight,
outgained them, but we couldnt fnish
very well inside the 20s
Were very young right now and we
need to keep improving on our running
game
Cleburne was aggressive from the
get-go
Weve got to get a better mentality
about striking people and not sitting back
on our heels, he said I give a lot of
credit to University Theyre a very good
football team and theyve gotten tremen-
dously better each week
The two teams they lost to are good,
playoff-type teams They could easily
have been sitting there at 3-0 coming into
tonights game
Game 4
Cleburne 41
Granbury 27
The Cleburne Yellow Jackets defeat-
ed the Granbury Pirates, 41-27, at Yellow
Jacket Stadium to kick off District 7-4A
play
Cleburne used Zach Halers 25-yard
interception return for a score to ice the
win The Jackets were buoyed by a stel-
lar offensive performance which netted
19 frst downs
Kameron Pickett started things off for
the Jackets by taking the opening kickoff
86 yards for the touchdown
The Jackets forced a fourth down situ-
ation for the Pirates, but the ensuing punt
was muffed which set the Pirates up at
the Cleburne 29-yard line
After several big runs from Justice
14
Love, Granbury quarterback Nick
Fotu found Conner Green on a sev-
en-yard slant route on second-and-
goal from the Cleburne 7 for the
tying score
On the ensuing kickoff, Pickett
struck again
With 7:08 left, he returned the
kick 81 yards into the end zone for
his second touchdown Cleburne
led, 14-7, without having its offense
take the feld
Cleburne Head Coach Phil
Young likened the returns to win-
ning the lottery
How often do you see that?
he asked Our kickoff return team
played excellent We did a good job
of sticking our cleats in the ground
of weathering Granburys second-
half charge
After Cleburnes defense forced
another three-and-out, the Jacket of-
fense went to work for the frst time
after a 10-yard punt on the Gran-
bury 48
The Jackets advanced to the Pi-
rates 5-yard line, and on third-and-
goal, Quade Coward found Cooper
Walls in the back of the end zone for
the score The ensuing extra point
attempt was blocked, and Cleburne
held a 20-7 lead
The Jackets had momentum in
the second quarter after driving to
the Granbury 18-yard line before
Andy Anderson lost Cleburnes sec-
ond fumble of the frst half
Granbury returned the favor on
second-and-10 with its second fum-
ble of the contest Cleburne recov-
ered on the Pirates 29
Coward capitalized for the Jack-
ets on frst-and-10 from the Gran-
bury 12 by running it in himself for
the score to put Cleburne up 27-7
The Pirates answered on their
next drive with big runs by Davis
and Love before Fotu fnished the
job with a 1-yard touchdown dive
The extra point was good and Gran-
bury trailed, 27-14
Cleburne converted a fourth-
and-13 late in the second quarter
which led to a Jackets 12-yard
touchdown reception by Connor
Martyniuk
Granbury scored on its opening
possession of the second half when
Love ran it in from 11 yards out to
cut the lead to 34-21, and the Pirates
threatened again after forcing the
Jackets to punt on their frst posses-
sion of the third quarter
A fumble and several big defen-
sive stops by Cleburne forced Gran-
bury into a fourth-and-goal situation
from the Jackets 22, where Fotus
heave fell incomplete
Coward fnished 11-of-18 for
122 yards and two scores Fotu fn-
ished 12-of-19 for 165 yards with a
touchdown and an interception
We really had a great frst half,
Young said We controlled the ball
and the clock in the second half We
held the charge and won the game
Andy Anderson is a positive-
yardage guy Also, when we get
inside the 10, we put Connor [Mar-
tyniuk] in because hes a very tall
kid and hes sure-handed Thats
what we want in goal-line situa-
tions
Game 5
Burleson 47
Cleburne 27
BURLESON The Burleson
Elks defeated the Cleburne Yellow
Jackets in the War of 174, 47-27, at
Burleson Stadium
The Elks moved to 3-2 and 1-1 in
District 7-4A play Cleburne moved
2-3 and 1-1 in district play
The story of the night was de-
fense, or the lack thereof Burle-
sons Ayinde Alaajiy and Barrett
Cain each ran for more than 100
yards as the Elks offense took cen-
ter stage in building a 47-13 lead
Physically, Cleburne Head
Coach Phil Young said They
whipped us Weve got to tackle bet-
ter and weve got to catch better We
had way too many incompletions
tonight which hit us in the hands
Cleburne quarterback Quade
Coward started 7-of-7 for 66 yards
and a touchdown
He went 9-of-29 the rest of the
way with two interceptions and to-
taled 171 yards
Burleson took the Jackets by sur-
prise earlier by recovering an onside
kick to start the game
Quarterback Cain broke off a
big 32-yard run and Addison Parish
plunged into the end zone from a
yard out Cain added the two-point
conversion and the Elks had an 8-0
lead after 1:30 of play
After Cleburne went three-and-
out on its opening drive, the Elks
went 69 yards in 12 plays and
capped off another scoring drive
when Cain ran into the end zone
untouched from four yards out The
big play on the drive came on third-
and-six at the Cleburne 44-yard line
when Cain pitched a shovel pass to
running back Alaajiy for a 24-yard
gain and a critical frst down
The Jackets responded with a
scoring drive of their own Cooper
Walls capped it off with 11:47 left
in the second quarter with a diffcult
21-yard touchdown reception from
Coward Walls hauled the pass in
near the back of the end zone but
managed to keep his feet inbounds
Burleson looked to be on its way
to another score behind big runs
from Cain and Alaajiy, but Cle-
burnes Andy Anderson picked off
Cain on frst-and-10 from the Jacket
38 and returned it into Burleson ter-
ritory
Anderson fnished the drive off
with a physical 14-yard touchdown
run and carried several Elk defend-
ers into the end zone The two-point
conversion attempt failed and Cle-
burne trailed, 15-13
Burleson responded with some
trickery After several long runs
from Alaajiy, who Cleburne strug-
gled to contain in the frst half, the
Elks faced fourth and four from the
Cleburne 25 Holder Trevor Goff
fred a 22-yard touchdown pass to
wide-open Danny Bishop to extend
the Elks lead The extra-point at-
tempt failed and Burleson led, 21-
13
Cleburne looked to be moving
towards a potential tying score but
Coward, who threw for more than
100 yards in the frst half, had a sec-
ond-and-15 throw tipped and picked
off by Burlesons Jeremy Rich The
turnover didnt hurt the Jackets as
Burleson was forced to punt after a
three-and-out
Coward tossed his second inter-
ception of the half on third-and-15
Cleburnes Kameron Pickett (1) returned two kickoffs for touchdowns during the Yellow Jackets 41-27 win over Granbury in 2011.
15
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to Kerry Fellers which gave the Elks an op-
portunity to score before halftime Cain con-
verted a third-and-15 with a 17-yard run and
converted a 32-yard pass to Landen Freelen to
set up frst-and-goal from the seven with 38
seconds left Alaajiy plunged it in from fve
yards out to make it 27-13 after a blocked ex-
tra point attempt
Burleson rushed for 159 yards in the frst
half
The Elks used all of 52 seconds and three
plays to score on their frst possession of the
second half Cain found Skyler McMurray
wide open for a 14-yard touchdown pass
Game 6
Mansfeld Summit 33
Cleburne 14
Mansfeld Summit rolled to a 33-14 victo-
ry over Cleburne at Yellow Jacket Stadium to
improve to 5-1 and 3-0 in District 7-4A play
Cleburne fell to 2-4 and 1-2 in district play
with its fourth loss in fve games
Cleburne took an early 7-6 lead in the frst
quarter after Connor Martyniuk made a diving
interception in the end zone which had been
tipped by Kameron Pickett
On fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard-line
on the ensuing drive, Summit was called for
a roughing the kicker penalty which gave Cle-
burne an additional chance to score Quade
Coward punched it in from two yards out to
give the Jackets the early advantage
Summit responded in the second quar-
ter with 20 unanswered points Ryan Cuevas
went 11-of-13 for 153 yards and rushed nine
times for 82 yards and two scores to pace the
Jaguars
After scoring to take a 12-7 lead, Martyni-
uk was hammered on the return and fumbled
the ball which set up another Summit touch-
down
The Jaguars added another score with 2:26
left in the frst half when Cuevas rumbled in
from two yards out
Summit totaled 284 yards of offense in the
frst half Cleburne managed 101 yards
Coward fnished 11-of-18 for 170 yards
Each team added a score in the fourth quar-
ter with Marcus Jamison running in from 29
yards out for Summit and Cleburnes Patrick
Morgan scoring in the waning minutes from
six yards out
Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young said his
team hung right with the districts top team for
three and a half quarters
It was those last six minutes of the sec-
ond quarter where the food gates came open,
Young said I think they went off for three
scores then
Summits 20-point outburst as the frst half
wound down ended up being the difference
As Cleburne mounted a late drive in hopes
of making it a 26-14 contest, the Jaguars
squashed any hopes of a Jacket comeback by
stopping Cleburne on fourth-and-goal at the
2-yard line
Summits defense swarmed the Jackets all
night long with lineman Bryson Henderson
constantly frustrating Cleburnes much small-
er offensive line
Several times during key drives, Coward
was dropped for big losses in the backfeld by
Henderson and his teammates
We fought hard against a team thats re-
ally good, Young said We were right there
matching them point for point If we could
take the last six minutes of the second quarter
and redo it, were tied or winning
Young said the bigger the game, the more
amplifed the smallest of mistakes
I told them after the game even little mis-
takes get magnifed and exposed against really
good team, he said Against teams which
arent as good, they dont hurt you as bad, but
they hurt you a lot against better competition
Our boys fought hard the whole game and
Im really proud of them
Game 7
Cleburne 48
Crowley 34
The Cleburne Yellow Jackets played like
their postseason lives depended on it at Yel-
low Jacket Stadium with a 48-34 win over
Crowley
The win moved Cleburne to 3-4 and 2-2
in District 7-4A play and dropped Crowley to
2-5 and 1-3
Cleburne had to withstand a furious come-
back attempt from the Eagles in the second
half Crowley was led by a stellar effort from
running back Larry Cheeks who amassed 314
rushing yards on 34 carries and three touch-
downs
The Yellow Jacket defense had two inter-
ceptions late to seal the win Dustyn Ward and
Vincent Maes picked off Crowley quarterback
Matt Marner to end any hopes of an Eagles
miracle comeback
They had all the momentum in the second
half, Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young said
Our defense kind of sat back and they took
it at us I told the assistant coaches that we
needed to play like we were still in the lead
We did that and our kids played great
down the stretch and we rallied the troops
The two teams entered the night in a four-
way tie with Granbury and Seguin for third
place The Pirates and Cougars battled at
Granbury High School The winners would
have the momentary upper hand in the playoff
chase
After falling to Crowley last year, Cle-
burne jumped out to a 35-6 lead by scoring on
offense and defense
Connor Martyniuk caught a 60-yard touch-
down pass and returned a fumble 82 yards for
the score in the second quarter Khalil Hall
had a 14-yard touchdown run and a 56-yard
touchdown pass from Quade Coward to pace
Cleburnes 292 total yards in the frst 24 min-
utes
He deserves a game ball along with sever-
al other guys, Young said of Martyniuk Our
kids had big hearts tonight and a lot of them
rose to the occasion
Cheeks kept the Eagles in the game early
and fnished with 172 rushing yards on 19 car-
ries in the frst half
and three scores in the frst half and added a
four-yard touchdown run with 11:13 left in the
second quarter The Jackets fnal touchdown
of the frst half was made by a diving Cooper
Walls who hauled in a 22-yard touchdown
Crowley had a chance to score from the
9-yard line with three seconds remaining in
the second quarter, but the pass from Marner
was incomplete
The Eagles made things interesting in the
second half by scoring on their frst posses-
sion when Cheeks took it in from 28 yards
out to make it 41-20 The Eagles recovered an
onside kick and scored several minutes later
when Dalonzo Freeman rumbled in from 13
yards out to make it a two-score game at 41-
27
Young said the defensive touchdowns Cle-
burne scored in the frst half ended up being
a lot more important than the Jackets thought
they would be in the frst half
At the time, it was just fun to get them,
Young said But they ended up being the dif-
ference in the game
Crowley fnished with 423 rushing yards
on 56 carries Dalonzo Freeman had eight car-
ries for 53 yards and a touchdown The Eagles
racked up 25 frst downs, the most given up by
Cleburne all year
and four touchdowns He led the team in rush-
ing with 72 yards on 10 carries and a touch-
down
Hall caught three passes for 93 yards and
two scores He also rushed for 71 yards on
nine carries and a score Walls caught fve
passes for 36 yards and a touchdown
Game 8
Cleburne 40
Joshua 28
JOSHUA Cleburne rallied in the second
half to defeat Joshua, 40-28, after trailing the
winless Owls at halftime, 28-20
The Yellow Jackets fnished with 291 rush-
ing yards and 179 of those came in the sec-
ond half as the Cleburne defense held Joshua
scoreless over the fnal two periods
Cleburnes Quade Coward fnished with
191 rushing yards on 16 carries and three
16
touchdowns He completed 9-of-16 passes for
123 yards, a touchdown and an interception
Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young called it
one of the most fun wins of his tenure with
the Jackets
Our kids didnt stop believing, he said
Im so tired of people saying things like Its
just Joshua People who say that dont know
sports Joshua is a very good, well-coached
football team
They always play us twice as hard as any-
one else
The Joshua Owls certainly didnt play like
the losers of 25 straight games in the frst half
After struggling to get their running game
on track all season, the Owls took Cleburne by
surprise with 204 frst-half rushing yards and
led, 28-20, at the break
After Joshua fumbled the opening kickoff,
Cleburne recovered at the Owls 15 and scored
when Coward dove in from a yard out The
extra-point attempt failed, and that came back
to haunt the Yellow Jackets
The Owls fumbled the next kickoff but
managed to retain possession A few plays
later, Colin Radford broke free on a 51-yard
touchdown run The extra-point attempt put
the Owls up, 7-6
Cleburne answered with a four-yard touch-
down run by Khalil Hall to take a 13-7 lead,
but Joshua scored again when Garrett Hoff-
man ran it in from 35 yards out to give the
Owls a 14-13 advantage
Devon Scoggins increased Joshuas lead to
21-13 in the second quarter with a one-yard
touchdown run as the Owls offense contin-
ued to pick up frst downs Joshua moved the
chains 15 times compared to Cleburnes four
frst-downs
The Jackets seemed to regain momentum
when Coward scored on a 74-yard touchdown
run in which he shed numerous Joshua tack-
lers to bring Cleburne to within 21-20
Cleburne wouldve taken the lead on a 40-
yard touchdown pass from Coward to Cooper
Walls, but the play was nullifed by a holding
penalty
The Owls got the last laugh in the frst half
as their fnal drive was aided by two Cleburne
penalties in the red zone Hoffman found Mi-
chael Keeton for a six-yard touchdown pass
with three seconds left to give the Owls a 28-
20 advantage
Joshua Head Coach Jerry Bird said his
team gained confdence in the running game
in the loss
I was proud of them for overcoming ad-
versity earlier, Bird said in reference to the
two fumbles on the frst two kickoffs The
kids are starting to believe in what were do-
ing and theyre executing as a team
Theyre seeing that when we do that, we
can be very successful When we dont, its
very diffcult
Bird said the Owls relied on Hoffman to
make a lot of decisions as Joshua rolled to 272
yards of total offense in the frst half
Our running backs did a good job of get-
ting off the ball, he said They built conf-
dence and thats something they havent had
because of how weve run the ball all year
Young said Cleburne made up its mind to
stop Joshuas rushing attack in the second half
It wasnt much what we said at halftime,
but the adjustments we made in the second
half, Young said We knew they couldnt
stop us running the ball at them, so we just
decided to keep pounding them and grinding
them down
We had some big stops in the second half,
and our defense took over
Young said Joshua ran the ball much more
than they have before this season
We said we were going to stop the run in
the second half, Young said A lot of credit
goes to Coach Bird and those guys Joshua is
a good team
Game 9
Everman 35
Cleburne 34
With heavy playoff implications abound,
the Cleburne Yellow Jackets fell in heartbreak-
ing fashion to Everman, 35-34, in overtime at
Yellow Jacket Stadium
Devin Walkers one-yard touchdown run
and Daniel Cruzs extra point lifted the Bull-
dogs (5-3, 4-2) over Cleburne (4-5, 3-3) after
the Yellow Jackets scored on their frst at-
tempt
Cleburne scored on Quade Cowards
touchdown dive, but the extra point attempt
missed wide
Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young said the
Jackets cant afford to have those things hap-
pen if his team wants to continue making a
push for the playoffs
We have to make PATs, he said We
have to It doesnt ever fall on one person, but
we have to make those little plays I know our
kids are hurting real bad right now, but they
played their guts out
This isnt our death, right here We have
to come out and fght next week
Everman had a chance to win the contest
with 18 seconds remaining, but Cruzs 32-
yard feld goal attempt missed its mark
Andy Anderson brought Cleburne to within
28-26 on a 38-yard touchdown run on fourth-
and-one as the fourth quarter wound down,
and quarterback Quade Coward found Ger-
man Hernandez in the back of the end zone for
the tying two-point conversion
With the loss, the already-muddled District
7-4A playoff picture became even more con-
fusing
Summit defeated Seguin, 35-18, to remain
unbeaten in league play at 6-0 Everman is in
second place at 4-2 and Granbury is in third
at 4-2 after Fridays 46-27 win over Burleson
The Elks, who lost their second straight,
are at 3-3 and hold the tiebreaker over Cle-
burne for fourth place after beating the Yellow
Jackets earlier in the year
Seguin is 2-4 in district play and will take
on Cleburne at Wilemon Field on Friday to
close out the regular season Crowley remains
alive at 2-4 in district play with a 44-14 win
over Joshua Cleburne needs a win and a Bur-
leson loss to Crowley to clinch a playoff spot
The Jackets struck frst on a 10-play, 51-
yard scoring drive which was highlighted by
a 29-yard completion from Coward to Cooper
Walls Coward capped off the drive with a
one-yard touchdown run
Everman responded on the ensuing drive
with a 28-yard feld goal from Daniel Cruz
The Bulldogs penetrated to the Cleburne
5-yard line after a 44-yard run by Reggie Kin-
caid, but the Jackets defense held Everman to
a feld goal
Everman responded with a fve-yard touch-
down run from Lincoln Richards and a 24-
yard touchdown pass from Devynn Birdow to
Horace Richardson
On the frst score, Connor Martyniuk
blocked the extra point to make it a 9-7 game,
and the extra point on Evermans second score
was blocked, leaving the Bulldogs with a 15-7
lead The blocked kick was Martyniuks sev-
enth this season
Everman scored on its frst possession of
the second half when Reggie Kincaid plunged
in from a yard out to make it 21-7
Cleburne was driving and advanced to the
Everman 30 before an unsportsmanlike con-
duct penalty pushed the drive back
The Jackets were forced to punt, but Vince
Maes picked off Devynn Birdow just a few
plays later to set Cleburne up at the Everman
16
The Jackets had third-and-inches from the
Everman 6, but Anderson was dropped for a
three-yard loss On fourth and four, Cowards
pass fell incomplete
The Bulldogs faced third-and-6 from their
own 13 and Birdows attempt fell incomplete,
leaving Cleburne with another opportunity to
tie or take the lead On fourth-and-6, Martyni-
uk was at it again, this time blocking the punt
and setting the Jackets up at the Everman 11
On third-and-6 from the Everman 7, Cow-
ard found Martyniuk in the end zone, but the
extra point attempt missed wide, leaving Cle-
burne down, 21-20
Everman advanced to the Cleburne 25-
yard line and Richardson appeared to score on
a long run on third-and-8, but a holding call
nullifed the score Instead, the Bulldogs faced
third-and-18 where Birdow found a streaking
Quantence Walker for a 35-yard touchdown
The extra point made it 28-20
Game 10
Arlington Seguin 33
Cleburne 26
ARLINGTON In a battle for the play-
offs, Arlington Seguin defeated Cleburne,
33-26, at Wilemon Field on Friday night after
holding off a furious second-half comeback by
the Jackets
After rallying to tie the game at 26-26,
Seguin quarterback Austen Parker put the
Cougars ahead 33-26 on a 51-yard run The
Jackets fnal drive stalled out at their own
40-yard line after Cleburne failed to convert
a fourth-and-26
Cleburne Head Coach Phil Young said
when a district as tough as 7-4A has to choose
only four teams for the playoffs, sometimes
good teams get left out
We were two or three plays away from be-
ing in the playoffs, he said We beat Gran-
bury and theyre in and then we lost to second-
place team (Everman) by one point
Sometimes good teams get left out and
this is a good team
Seguin fnished with 341 rushing yards in-
cluding 92 by Parker and 110 by Will Martin
Cleburnes Andy Anderson fnshed with 104
yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns
Seguin used explosive offensive plays in
the frst half by Will Martin, quarterback Kel-
ton Moore and the speedy Jordan Hicks to take
a 12-0 lead in the second quarter
The Cougars powerful offense churned
out 236 yards while holding Cleburne to just
91 The Jackets punted four times in the frst
half Cleburne went for it twice on fourth
down and after the second failed opportunity,
Seguins Moore plunged into the end zone to
make it 6-0
Later in the half, Moore found Martin on
a 54-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-0
Seguin couldve led by more had it not fum-
bled inside the 20 early in the frst quarter The
Cougars started their opening drive on their
own 4-yard line before committing the red
zone turnover
Turnovers kept Cleburne in the game in the
frst half
Chaston Cuffee picked off Moore late
in the second quarter and returned it to the
Seguin 25 With 40 seconds left in the half,
Coward found Pete Black in the corner of the
end zone The extra point attempt was blocked,
which made the score 12-6 Neither team suc-
cessfully kicked an extra point in the frst half
In the second half, Seguin made its open-
ing possession count with a 14-play, 80-yard
scoring drive that was capped off when Mar-
tin plunged into the end zone Cleburne had a
costly personal foul penalty near midfeld after
an incomplete pass which kept the drive alive
The Jackets responded with a score on
their frst drive of the second half when Andy
Anderson plunged in for the score Seguin re-
sponded with more big plays
A 59-yard run by Kelton Warren set the
Cougars up at the Cleburne 1-yard line where
Warren ran it in on the next play Seguin then
completed a two-point conversion, the frst for
both teams to make it 26-12
Cleburne responded with some trickery
On a double-reverse pass, Coward found Con-
nor Martyniuk open for a 59-yard touchdown
pass to bring Cleburne to within 26-18 after a
failed two-point conversion attempt
Seguin was riddled by penalties on the fol-
lowing drive and ended up punting Seguins
punt went just seven yards, setting up Cle-
burne in Cougar territory
The Jackets used a steady dose of Ander-
son to pick up key frst downs, and he plunged
into the end zone with 8:03 left to make it 26-
24 On the two-point conversion try, Coward
found Walls for a two-yard completion to knot
the score at 26-26
On the ensuing drive, Seguin faced third-
and-2 from the Cleburne 49 Parker took it 51
yards on the quarterback option keeper play to
put the Cougars back on top The extra point
was good, making the score 33-26
Young said the Cleburne program has
turned the corner with both freshman teams
going 8-2 and the JV also going 8-2 this year
17
Cleburnes Connor Martyniuk (6) returned a fumble 82 yards for a touchdown against
Crowley in 2011.
By A.J. Crisp
[email protected]
The Clebune Yellow Jack-
ets will likely welcome a new
district with open arms in 2012
after struggling in District 7-4A
the past two seasons, going a
combined 4-10 in district play
Cleburne joins Burleson,
Burleson Centennial, Crowley,
Everman, Joshua, Waco and
Waco University to make up
District 8-4A
There are plenty of familiar
faces the Jackets clash with the
next two seasons Burleson,
Crowley, Everman and Joshua
have been district rivals for
several years
New to the party are Waco
High, Waco University and
Centennial, who is playing its
frst season of offcial UIL dis-
trict play
Looking at last years team
records, one might not think
too highly of District 8-4A
Waco High had the best record
in 2011 of all teams at 7-4
Cleburne went 4-6, Burle-
son went 6-5, Centennial was
6-3-1 playing an outlaw
schedule, Crowley was 3-7,
Everman was 6-4, Joshua went
0-10 for the second consecu-
tive season and Waco Univer-
sity was 3-7
Burleson returns only two
starters from last years bidis-
trict fnalist squad, and will fea-
ture a new head coach in Gary
McElroy The offense will rely
heavily on running back Ay-
inde Alaajiy, who had more
than 1,300 yards and 11 touch-
downs rushing last season
Centennial is playing its
frst offcial UIL district sched-
ule While the program is new,
the players on varsity are expe-
rienced after playing an out-
law schedule last year
Quarterback Tanner Hodg-
es, running back DeMarcus
Williams and tight end Curtis
Amos will lead the offense
Crowley returns 16 starters
from last years team includ-
ing 40 seniors, and the Eagles
should be one of the states
most experienced teams The
offense features nine returning
starters, all seniors, from last
years squad, including quar-
terback Matt Marner and run-
ning back Larry Cheeks
Crowley is looking to make
just its third playoff appearance
since 1971
Everman returns 11 starters
from last years playoff team
The Bulldogs feld a new start-
ing quarterback and running
back The defense lost three
players from last year who will
play for Division I colleges
Joshua is in the midst of
a 27-game losing streak and
many dont expect the Owls to
compete for a playoff spot
But junior quarterback Gar-
rett Hoffman earned experi-
ence as the starter last season,
and Coach Jerry Bird said he
has all of the tools to be the
best quarterback in the district
Linebackers Devon Scoggins
and KJ Evans will both be
stout defensively and both will
also see some time at running
back
Waco University returns
15 starters from last year, and
defensive tackle Ben Hughes
leads the way as one of the
states best interior lineman
at 6-feet, 3 inches and 305
pounds
The Waco High Lions bring
back 11 starters from a team
that was a bidistrict fnalist last
year Marty Herbst takes over
as the new head coach for the
Lions, and the biggest strength
of his team should be its speed
Lineman Andrew Billings, also
one of the states top lineman,
will be a two-way starter and
will be a force on both sides of
the line of scrimmage Adrian
Norwood had eight intercep-
tions last year
With a relatively level play-
ing feld, the playoff chase in
District 8-4A should be enter-
taining all season long as sev-
eral teams are equal in talent
Waco High is the common
vote to win the district, with
Everman and Waco University
expected to round out the top
three
The fourth spot, also the
fnal playoff berth, is open to
any number of teams, as Cen-
tennial, Cleburne, Crowley and
Burleson are all expected to
make a run at the playoffs
But with so much parity in
the district, any result shouldnt
come as a surprise The old
saying, Thats why they play
the game rings true in high
school as much as it does the
NFL or college
Playoff race in District 8-4A should be fun
2012 Varsity Yellow Jackets
18
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2012 Cleburne Football Page 6 Wednesday, August 29, 2012

2012 Cleburne Football Page 8 Wednesday, August 29, 2012

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