The Westbrook Wildcats came into the Six-Man 1A Division 1 State Championship looking for their third straight title. They were up against the undefeated Gordon Longhorns, who were looking to win the third state title in their school’s history.
The game started out looking like it would be a high-scoring shootout. Riley Reid from Gordon scored less than a minute into the game, and a successful two-point kick gave the Longhorns an 8-0 lead. Westbrook responded on their opening drive when Keegan Gilbreath scored on a 4th down run, and the game was tied 8-8 with just over 7:14 to go in the first quarter.
The back-and-forth continued as Gordon scored on a touchdown pass on their first play of the next drive, after the Westbrook kick-off went out-of-bounds and put Gordon in great field positions. Gordon went up, 16-8. On the Wildcats next drive, Grayson Jeffrey scored on a 36-yard touchdown run. The two-point kick was blocked, keeping the Longhorns ahead, 16-14.
This is when the game would change.
The Longhorns continued their quick strike offense, led by Riley and Stryker Reid. Stryker Reid scored on a 38-yard touchdown run to put Gordon up 24-14 with 4:03 to go in the first quarter. Then, after the Longhorn’s defense stopped Westbrook on downs, Riley Reid found the endzone again, and the Longhorns went up 18 points with 1:08 still to go in the first quarter. As the first quarter ended, the Longhorns once again stopped Westbrook on downs, and had the ball, first, and goal to start the second quarter.
Second Quarter – Riley Reid Takes Over
Gordon scored again to start the second quarter on a Walters touchdown run and took a 40-14 lead with 9:52 to go in the first half. The mercy rule looked like it could come into play. Six-Man has a 45-point mercy rule in which the game is over if a team is up 45 points or more at halftime, or anytime after halftime.
Less than two minutes after taking a 26-point lead, the Longhorns stopped Westbrook 1-yard short on 4th down and got the ball back to their offense. On the next play, Riley Reid broke free for a 74-yard touchdown run to put Gordon up, 48-14, with 7:16 still left in the first half. Then, a few plays later, Riley Reid intercepted Westbrook, and ran it back for a pick-six. With 5:19 to go in the second quarter, Gordon was up, 56-14.
Westbrook was able to get back on the scoreboard on their next drive with a long touchdown run by Larson. Their 2-point kick was no good, and the Longhorn lead was 56-20, with 3:04 to go in the half. Seven seconds later, Gordon scored on a 43-yard touchdown pass, putting them up 64-20, just one point away from the mercy rule.
To end the first half, Westbrook went on a long drive, getting into scoring position, but the clock ran out. Despite Gordon being ahead, 64-20, Westbrook actually out-gained Gordon, 322 to 289 in the first half. But costly mistakes, and the inability to convert on third and fourth down plagued their first half.
Second Half – Mercy Rule
On the opening drive of the second half, Westbrook controlled the ball and drove the field, but, once again, on fourth and goal, the Longhorns stopped Westbrook. Gordon started to drive down the field, looking for one more score to end the game. But, Parker Matlock made an impressive defensive play as he broke through the Longhorn’s offensive line and strip-sacked the Longhorns QB to give Westbrook back the ball. 
However, the Longhorns’ defense immediately responded by forcing a Westbrook fumble and got the ball back to their offense with 4:27 to go in the third quarter. A few plays later, Stryker Reid scored on a touchdown run, giving Gordon a 70-20 lead, which ended the game because of the mercy rule.
Final Score: Gordon 70 / Westbrook 20
The UIL named the Defesive MVP as Kaden Crowe and the Offensive MVP as Riley Reid.
Our Texas HS Football 1A D1 Championship Game MVP was: Riley Reid
