In a showcase of two of the Alamo City’s finest, the Cibolo Steele Knights advanced to the Class 6A State Semifinal after defeating the Churchill Chargers (11-3) 38-7 in the Alamodome Saturday night.
In their seventh straight appearance in the state quarterfinal, the Knights advanced as they try to recapture state glory for the first time since they last won in 2011 behind a stellar all-around team display.
A Knights’ score on the opening drive looked imminent as running back Brenden Brady took the first play of game for a 17-yard run up to midfield. It would be to no avail, however, as the next set of downs were all for loss as the early momentum went the way of Churchill.
The Charger offense, led by senior quarterback Jordon Billups, was not able to capitalize and produced a three and out of their own. That signaled Brenden Brady time.
On their next two drives, Steele’s junior running back produced back-to-back touchdown runs of 16 and four yards. The latter of the two scores came on a five-play drive of 58 yards, where Brady received four of five carries.
“We ran the ball extremely well today,” Steele QB Xavier Martin said. “I feel like everything we did, we did phenomenal.”
Brady was not to be outdone however. After another Churchill punt, Martin connected with Onyx Smith for a 53-yard pass to put the Knights up 21-0 lead heading to halftime.
Attempting to mount their comeback, the Chargers received the ball to start the 2nd half.
After two false start penalties, Churchill faced 4th and short to keep the drive alive. The Knights’ defense was up to the task, they caused a turnover on downs to set up a Matthew O’Brien field goal to extend the lead to 24-0.
The Steele defense was outstanding all evening allowing seven points, The defensive stand was highlighted by a JayVeon Cardwell interception and an Ameer Farmer forced fumble, where Jacy Ivory recovered the ball and took it in to the endzone for a 22-yard score.
This all came after another toss and catch from Martin and Smith, as Steele extended their lead to 38-0, the pairs second of the day.
The Chargers answered back with a score of their own on a dump pass from Billups to Chargers RB Diego Vela, who scampered in for a 35-yard score. Trailing 38-7, the Chargers kicker, Cole Trevor-Wilson, took the ensuing kickoff straight at a Steele return man and Churchill recovered. However, the Steele defense caused yet another short 4th down opportunity and caused the turnover on downs to end the contest.
“The defense has done what they’ve done all year for us. They continued to fight and stop the run and we did a great job.” Coach Scott Lehnhoff said.
The Knights improved to 13-1 on the year and will now face Katy Cinco Ranch (11-3) is the Class 6A Division II State Semifinal next week inside the Alamodome, with Steele trying to avenge the loss at this same stage for the past four seasons.
“We’ve been wanting this, going to the fifth round next weekend,” Martin said. “We are really excited for this next game.”
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