Whoever came up with the phrase that football is a game of inches wasn’t kidding. Facing fourth-and-one in overtime at the College Station three-yard line in the 5A Division I State Title Game, Katy Paetow quarterback CJ Dumas needed every inch of the spot the referees gave him on his quarterback sneak in order to secure the first down and keep the game alive.
Once the referees ruled that Dumas had indeed gotten the first down, Paetow running back Jacob Brown scored on a two-yard touchdown run the very next play, sealing Paetow’s first-ever state title in a thrilling 27-24 victory over the previously undefeated Cougars.
Faced with that fourth-and-one, Katy Paetow head coach B.J. Gotte said he wanted to give his team the opportunity to win the game right then and there.
“When we got in that situation, something that came to mind was that their defense was so good and we were kind of up and down offensively and their offense was so explosive,” Gotte said. “It was fourth and a yard and it’s like, ‘If we can’t get a yard, I don’t know.’ So we just went for it to try and keep the game in our hands.”
Dumas, meanwhile, said he had full confidence throughout the review process that he had picked up the first down.
“I knew that I got it,” Dumas said. “I just knew that I had to get that first down, so we could punch it in, and that’s what we did.”
Even as referees reviewed the spot of the ball after the play, College Station’s players paid little attention to what was being looked at on the jumbotron.
“We were hoping that it would turn around and go our way,” Kyle Walsh, a senior defensive back for College Station, said. “But at the same time, we were prepared to go back out there to try and make a stop. We weren’t going to rely on the refs to help us, and it just didn’t end the way we wanted.”
Even though the evening ended in heartbreak, College Station started the night in dream fashion as Traylen Suel took a wide receiver screen 80 yards to the house on the very first play from scrimmage.
Suel came up with big plays all night, finishing with 11 catches for 169 yards.
Then after a fourth down stop by each team’s defense, Paetow leveled things up on the first play of the second quarter as Bryan Del Cid found space on a fullback dive for a 7-yard rushing touchdown.
College Station’s star running back Marquise Collins responded by breaking free for a 23-yard touchdown after being held in check for much of the first quarter, but he was cancelled out by another fullback dive as Gene Kendall punched one in from a yard out for the Panthers.
And just when it looked like College Station was going to go into halftime with the lead, Kentrell Webb, who was named Defensive MVP on the night, jumped a pass by Jett Huff, the College Station quarterback, in the end zone for an interception that kept things level at the break.
“My alignment was inside, so once he threw it back outside, I just made a play on the ball,” Webb said. “It set my team exactly where they wanted. We set those guys [the offense] up, we got their backs, and they got our backs when we weren’t playing the best.”
Both defenses made key plays in the third quarter as College Station denied Brown on fourth down before the Panther defense came up with a strip sack as Tyler Silves obliterated Huff.
Paetow took full advantage of that forced turnover by its defense as Dumas scored on a quarterback sneak eight plays later to give Paetow its first lead of the night.
As the clock ticked under five minutes, Paetow looked to put the game away, but a stop by College Station’s defense on fourth down followed by a 70-yard touchdown run by Collins on the very next play tied the game up again and brought the purple shirts in the stadium alive with just four minutes left to go.
Neither team could find a breakthrough in the rest of regulation, destining the game to an overtime period.
And once College Station was forced to settle with a 24-yard field goal by Dawson Schremp in the overtime period, Paetow was given the opportunity it needed to go and win the game.
After the game, College Station head coach Steve Huff praised his players for their effort in what was a grueling game.
“I’m just so proud of this group of kids,” Huff said. “They fought their tales off tonight. Couldn’t be more proud of them. That was a heck of a ball game.”
And even though the Cougars were edged in the end, Walsh said just getting to AT&T Stadium is an accomplishment he and his teammates can hold onto for the rest of their lives.
“This night is everything we’ve ever worked for since the third grade,” Walsh said. “It was amazing to get here. Obviously, it didn’t end how we wanted, but it was a great experience.”
In just its fourth year as a varsity program, Paetow finishes the season with a 15-1 record and its first state title. Webb said that being part of the beginning of Paetow’s football program was an amazing experience.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” Webb said. “I couldn’t ask for a better 4-5 years. It’s just great how we all came up together. We’ve bought into the program. We love each other, and we’re a big family.”
Starting a high school program isn’t easy, a reality that made Gotte even prouder of what his team accomplished on Friday night
“Going to a new school is not always popular,” Gotte said. “I told the kids from the beginning that we’re going to compete to win. Our standard is excellence, and they bought into it and they worked hard. For us to be able to call these guys champions now is really, really cool.”
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