It looked like the Bulldogs were going to continue their demolition of the 4A Division I playoffs, then the second half took place and the demolition was indefinitely postponed. Carthage took advantage of four second half turnovers and won 31-17 to capture the state title. This was Wylie’s first state title appearance since 2009 and they were looking to win their second title, their first coming twelve years ago in 2004.
“Way too many turnovers, whether it was our doing, their doing, tipped passes, you can continue to give a team that many chances.”said Abilene Wylie head coach Hugh Sandifer, about the second half and his team’s overall performance.
Of the four-second half interceptions, three of them were tipped passes that fell into the hands of Carthage (14-2) defenders. If those passes fall to the turf at AT&T Stadium, the outcome could possibly be different.
“We just left our defense out on the field for way to long,” Sandifer said. “We got worn down some, and had to use some guys both sides of the ball and we had some fatigue and it shows when you are behind.”
The Bulldog defense did a good job in the first half of containing the Carthage running attack limiting Keaontay Ingram for 56 yards and a touchdown. What changed in the second half was the defense was on the field more and coach Sandifer said “They just had more attempts at it in the second half, nothing we really changed from our end.”
Gatlin Martin got the Bulldogs out to a soaring start, scoring both first quarter touchdowns that gave his team a 14-0 lead with 5:55 left in the first on receptions of 32 and 5 yards from Zach Smith.
“What a great first half of football, from both teams, ” Sandifer said. “We made some big plays, and that’s the start you can’t even dream of.” After the 14-point onslaught in the first quarter, Wylie was outscored 31-3 throughout the rest of the game.”
“You need to stay mentality tough, you don’t really like what’s going on with the momentum shifts we had but you have to worry about yourself,” said Wylie senior offensive and defensive lineman Kade Parmelly on the turnovers and how to handle the game shifting.
Wylie was limited to a eight game schedule, four non-district games and four district games. They set their goal out to control how many games they played the maximum amount of games they could.
“I wanted to play as many as I could be as a senior,” Parmelly said. “It was a great atmosphere to play in front of the fans (24,139) and at AT&T Stadium. Something I’ll never forget.”
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