Foster is the next unstoppable force that Temple will try to derail in the semifinal of the 5A Division One bracket at 2 PM, Saturday Dec. 10 at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos, Texas.
Foster has won 14 games in a row without losing a game this season and they may be playing their best football at the right time. They have yet to score fewer than 50 points in four playoff games. They won region four by blowing out Dripping Springs (12-2) 51-28. They were carried by three offensive players to the max. Quarterback Alex Ramart threw for 306 passing yards, running back Quinton Oliver ran for 200 yards and wide receiver Ceedee Lamb went for 226 receiving yards.
Foster’s most impressive win may have been their 55-0 shutout of Winn, who was 10-2 coming in to the game. The scoring was evenly distributed as they ran for four rushing touchdowns and passed for four touchdowns while their defense kept the Mavericks out of the end zone. They also had a 55-27 blowout win over the Alamo Heights Mules (10-2) of San Antonio. Ramart had 314 passing yards and four touchdown passes in the game. The Falcons started the playoffs with a 72-12 rout of Brackenridge.
The trio of Ramart, Oliver and Lamb may be the best triplet of a quarterback, running back and wide receiver in the state. Ramart has 3,183 passing yards on the season while Oliver has 1,247 rushing yards and Lamb has 1,911 receiving yards. The three stars are also touchdown machines as Ramart has 44 passing touchdowns with six interceptions, Oliver has 16 rushing touchdowns and Lamb has 32 touchdown catches along with three punt returns for touchdowns. The Falcons also have a defense that thrives on interceptions as they have 15 interceptions as a team.
Foster’s banner season has been highlighted by winning District 27 and five quality wins over Katy Taylor, A&M Consolidated, Terry, Victoria East and Angleton. What’s even more impressive is that they dominated those five teams by outscoring them 205-121, a point differential of 84 points.
Temple’s defense is about the flashy plays and creating turnovers and that’s exactly how they upset the Manvel Mavericks (13-1). They intercepted Manvel’s quarterback Kason Martin twice and they also sacked him three times. Temple’s unlikely run through the bracket also includes a blow out win over Port Arthur Memorial 39-7; a game in which they had three rushing touchdowns including one by Jemiyah Franklin who also had a kick return for a touchdown. They have a great playoff win over Pflugerville Connally (9-3) 17-14 and a first round win over Corsicana (6-5) 34-10.
Temple’s defense has done it all this year. Their best all-around defensive player is Rogers Lee Franklin who has 141 tackles, five sacks and 15 passes defended. Four other players have at least seven sacks including Robert Jackson and Ta’quon Graham with 10 sacks and A.J. Gulley and Lamonte Williams with seven sacks. They have 51 sacks and eight interceptions as a team.
Temple’s most recent loss this season came against a title contender in College Station 17-16, which was a district game. College Station won District 18 and Temple finished second. They lost to another great team in Cedar Ridge 28-14 and a quality team in Midway 26-20. They have three quality wins over Belton 28-20, Round Rock 39-25 and A&M Consolidated 34-22.
Temple upset a dominant Manvel team that seemed destined for the championship game and Foster is showing a similar kind of dominance. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Temple pull another upset, but Foster should still be a slight favorite.
The winner will play the winner of Ryan and Highland Park for the championship.
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