Saturday, December 8, 2007

For 24 minutes, the Boyd High School football team gave the state's No. 1 team all it could handle and then some. Then along came the final 24 minutes that the Yellowjackets might rather forget.

Boyd tweaked its defense and it worked for the first half as it jumped out to a nine-point lead, the largest deficit Cisco had faced all year. The Loboes, however, did some tweaking of their own at halftime and it worked, as they scored the first 26 points of the second half to run away with a 46-23 win in a Class 2A state quarterfinal game Saturday in Graham.

The Yellowjackets manufactured a nine-play, 67-yard scoring drive that included a pair of 13-yard pass completions from quarterback Chris Demases to Eric Warner and Jeremy Sessums. The final catch was a 14-yard touchdown strike from Demases to Hilton Maynor that put Boyd ahead 17-8 with 2:18 left in the half.

That's where the game took a turn for the worst for Wise County fans. Cisco, which struggled to move the ball throughout the first half, scored just over a minute later. A questionable facemask call put the Loboes in BHS territory and they scored in just three plays on a 2-yard run by Elton Garrett. The conversion by Robert Medina trimmed Boyd's lead to one at halftime, 17-16.

The Loboes rolled the rest of the way as they did 12 other times this season. In fact, they scored 32 unanswered points to spoil Boyd's upset bid in front of an overflow crowd of more than 4,000.

"Giving up that touchdown at the end of the second quarter with a minute left was a back-breaker. We had them pretty well contained, and then they go down and get that quick score and it gave them the momentum," said BHS coach J.G. Cartwright. "We played great in the first half and they made the plays in the second half. That is a very good football team and our guys did not back down. I don't want to take anything away from the other teams that are left, but it will take one heckuva team to beat Cisco."

The Loboes, who are now 14-0 and have won 28 of their last 29 games, will advance to next week's state semifinals where they will face Canadian, a 21-18 winner over Idalou. Boyd, which has won 11 of its last 14 playoff games, is finished for the season at 9-5.

The Boyd offense found the end zone first after trading punts on both team's first possessions. A 30-yard punt return by Tim Fleming gave BHS the ball at the Cisco 46-yard line.

Demases completed passes of 25, 11 and 7 yards to Dillon Ponder, Colton Lyon and Warner to get into the red zone. The senior signal caller capped off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Eric Warner. Curtis Hamilton, who was good on all kicks, put his team up 7-0 with 2:04 left in the quarter.

Cisco had an answer with an eight-play, 38-yard drive that went into the second period. The Loboes got on the scoreboard with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Josh Bridges to Klay Strickland. Garrett ran in the two-point conversion to give his team an 8-7 lead with 10:21 to play in the half.

Boyd flirted with the end zone on its next possession but the drive stalled with 30 yards of penalties. Hamilton did not disappoint as he was good on a 24-yard field goal to put Boyd back in front 10-8 with eight minutes left in the half.

The Yellowjacket defense continued to impress with crucial tackles by Adam Lambert, Brandon Ware, Brandon Alexander, Demases, Fleming and Lyon. The group gave Cisco some new looks after losing to the Loboes 55-21 earlier in the year.

"We changed some things up from the last time we played them," Cartwright said. "We had to because the last time we played we never stopped them. We did some things to give them some different looks."

The Loboes were forced to punt on their next series, and Boyd took advantage of the extra opportunity. Maynor capped off a 67-yard drive with a 17-yard TD pass from Demases. The late scoring strike put Boyd up 17-8 with 2:04 left in the half, increasing Boyd's lead to nine with 2:18 to play before the break.

Cisco responded with the late scoring drive that changed the momentum of the game.

Medina put Cisco up for good with a 25-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the second half. The conversion failed as it did three other times, and the Loboes led 22-17 early in the third quarter.

Boyd moved into Cisco territory on its next possession but Demases was intercepted by Jory Hernandez for the first turnover of the game.

"Defensively we were so much more physical in the second half," said CHS coach Brent West. "We tackled with a vengeance, and I think that wore on the Boyd players. They came out in the first half with some different defensive fronts, and it took time for our offensive line to adjust. They are a good team, and it's tough to beat a good one twice in one season."

The Loboes added two touchdowns before Boyd answered. A 9-yard run by Bridges and a 4-yard run by Garrett with 10:58 left in the game made it 40-17.

The Yellowjackets snapped the scoring run with a 65-yard drive that ended on a 15-yard TD pass from Demases to Fleming. The conversion failed and BHS trailed 40-23.