In 3A Division II, Gunter and Canadian delivered the semifinal everyone expected. However, across from them, both Daingerfield and Tidehaven turned some heads last week to get to this stage.
Daingerfield hasn’t been to state in over 10 years, while for Tidehaven, it has been more than 40!
Here’s what to watch for in the 3A Division II state semifinals.
Canadian Wildcats (14-0) vs. Gunter Tigers (14-0) Friday 6 p.m. @ Abilene Christian
For the seventh time in the last eight years, these two teams will meet in the state semifinals. They’ll also likely play their closest game of the year.
So far, they have both been taking their opponents to the woodshed. Both had their smallest margin of victories all year last week in the regional final. And even then, Canadian beat Wall 31-12, while Gunter pulled away from Jacksboro 55-33.
Canadian hasn’t missed a beat in the first year of Andy Cavalier’s reign after the retirement of longtime coach Chris Koetting. It certainly helps Cavalier that his son Camren has had a great year leading the Wildcats at quarterback. He’s thrown for 3,705 yards, added another 1,407 on the ground, and scored 78 touchdowns. He has two 1,000-yard receivers to aim for as well in Luke Flowers and Preston Neumeier. Each have 20 touchdown receptions on the season.
The defense has also been strong, giving up just over 14 points per game. Last week, it had eight sacks against Wall. Abraham Moreno leads the Wildcats in the trenches with 16 sacks, while linebackers Will Davis and Max Dumbauld will be tasked with trying to slow down Gunter’s rushing attack. They each have 153 total tackles on the year.
Gunter has a dual threat quarterback of its own in Walker Overman. He has the speed to outrun many defenders, so the Wildcats will have to be weary of him. Against Jacksboro, he rushed for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
He also has experience having led the Tigers to last year’s 3A Division II state championship.
When he turns to the air, seniors Jace Martin and Cannon Lemberg, a SFA commit, should be among his top targets. Each caught touchdowns last week.
And even though the Tigers did allow 33 points last week, they have a knack for making big plays defensively. A pick-six by Benji Rodriguez right before halftime against Jacksboro helped swing that game in favor of the Tigers.
WATCH: Jacksboro hung with Gunter for a half, but the Tigers (especially their quarterbacks) eventually proved to be too explosive to handle!
With the win, they are off to their eighth straight semifinal!@gunter_football @WalkerOverman @PrestonTarpley @CoachFieszel #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/jgF6bEqtd4
— Adam Ogburn (@AdamOgburnTV) December 2, 2023
Last season, Gunter won this game after scoring a touchdown in the waning seconds. Don’t be surprised if this game goes down to the wire again this season.
Daingerfield Tigers (11-3) vs. Tidehaven Tigers (13-0) Thursday 7 p.m. @ New Caney
Daingerfield made a statement last week. Not only did it beat Newton, but it beat the Eagles by three touchdowns, 42-21.
Tidehaven, meanwhile, scored 20 unanswered points to shock last year’s 3A Division II runner-up Poth 34-28 in double overtime.
FINAL/2OT: Tidehaven 34, Poth 28
Jachen Duran called game. 1 yard run. Tidehaven is heading to the state semifinals for the first time since 1981. #txhsfb @dctf @advosports pic.twitter.com/0NpNP29wlD
— Sam Fowler (THE Fat Punter) (@FowlerSports14) December 2, 2023
Daingerfield will have the best player on the field on Thursday in safety/receiver Aeryn Hampton, a Texas commit. He had three catches for 83 yards last week. However, it’s far from a one-man show. The Tigers also have running backs Ashton Williams (1,184 rushing yards and eight touchdowns) and Braden Lewis (818 rushing yards) and receiver Kenny Mosley (1,071 yards and 11 touchdowns) at the disposal of quarterback Chase Johnson. Johnson has done a great job of protecting the football this year too, throwing for 33 touchdowns to just five interceptions.
Tidehaven will aim to slow down that dangerous Daingerfield attack with a defense that has given up just 69 points all season. Offensively, it will lean on Baylor commit Joseph Dodds. According to Sam Fowler of the Victoria Advocate, he rushed for 228 yards and three touchdowns last week against Poth.
Tidehaven’s defense has given up 49 of its 69 points the last two weeks, so the question will be whether they have what it takes to slow down Daingerfield’s multi-pronged attack. But with the fight this squad has plus a player with the talent of Dodds leading the offense, don’t count out Tidehaven earning its first state title game appearance since 1980.
