The showdown between Brock and Lorena was supposed to have plenty of fireworks as the top two scoring offenses in 3A Division I football met for the state title.
Instead, it was a rock fight as Lorena dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball, securing a 35-18 victory and its first state title since 1987.
“Our kids prepared all week long to be as physical as they could possibly be,” Lorena head coach Ray Biles said. “Brock has a history of being physical. We knew what we were getting into.”
Defensively, senior defensive end Baxter Bankston led the way for the Leopards with two sacks and six total tackles as they limited the top scoring offense in 3A Division I football to just 18 points and Brock quarterback Tyler Moody to just 170 yards passing.
“I think it was just all about getting pressure on the quarterback,” Bankston said. “If we could get him off his balance and get him throwing risky passes, we could stop their high-scoring receivers and that tight end [Nathan Jones].”
In the trenches offensively, the Lorena offensive line paved the way for running back Rhett Hanson, who won Offensive MVP honors after rushing for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
“We knew Brock would be a physical team, so we knew we had to match that intensity,” said Elijah Turley, a senior offensive lineman. “We knew we had one job to do today and that was to create holes and get some movement up front, and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
On the other sideline, Brock finished the season 15-1 in Billy Mathis’ first year since coming over from Weatherford. After the game, he said he was impressed by Lorena but still proud of his players.
“[Lorena] just played a heck of a football game,” Mathis said. “I think we played really well, but they outplayed us, they outcoached us tonight. Who knew second place would hurt so bad?”
After 32 years of waiting to play for a state title, Lorena wasn’t going to waste its opportunity early on.
The Leopards jumped out to a 14-0 lead as Rhett Hanson scored on touchdowns of two and 54 yards on their first two possessions.
Finding itself down by two scores early on, Brock soon settled into the game. The Eagles responded by embarking on a nine-play, 80-yard drive, which Kutter Wilson finished off on a one-yard run to cut the Lorena lead to 14-6.
As he has been all season, Wilson was the bell cow for the Eagles on the night, finishing with 171 yards on 24 carries.
Then after a Lorena fumble, Brock had a chance to potentially drive to tie the game up. However, back-to-back sacks by Bankston and Braylon Henry denied the Eagles a chance to gain any momentum heading into halftime.
“[Those sacks] were huge,” Bankston said. “You could have heard me on the field screaming at everybody, “Hey, we need to get a stop right now!’ I just knew that we needed something big to change the tide of the momentum to get us back the ball.”
Coming out of halftime, Lorena turned to the wildcat formation, a decision that proved smart as Hanson carried the ball four times for 44 yards, scoring on a one-yard touchdown run.
In another two-possession hole, Brock kept fighting. Wilson broke off a 39-yard run to get the Eagles moving before Moody connected with Nathan Jones for a four-yard touchdown.
On the next Leopard drive, the Brock defense looked like it had come up with the play it needed to flip the game on its head as linebacker Dillon Mueller picked off Lorena quarterback Ryne Abel. However, a fourth-down stop by the Leopard defense followed by a four-yard touchdown pass from Abel to Camden Brock restored Lorena’s double-digit advantage, 28-12.
Cason Pitts extended Lorena’s lead in the fourth quarter on an improvised pitch from Hanson, while Brock did find the end zone one last time with a minute to go on a 34-yard pass from Moody to Eli Potts.
Despite the defeat, Jones said he and his teammates were incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to play together under Mathis this season.
“I thank God every day,” Jones said. “We’re lucky that he came here. We wouldn’t want to spend it with anyone else, win or lose. It’s been a good year.”
The victory was win number 200 for Lorena head coach Ray Biles. And after staying at Lorena for 30 years as its head coach, he said he was glad he got this moment with his team.
“I couldn’t write a story to win a state championship and it happen to be my 200th win,” Biles said. “To me, doing it all in one place. I didn’t bounce from one school to the next. I stayed with them at times and they stayed with me. I told these guys before, ‘I chose y’all.’ They know I love them.”
Lorena safety Andrew Brittain said he and his teammates were glad they could bring home a state title for Biles after all he has done for them.
“The best part about it is winning one for him,” Brittain said. “He deserves it more than anyone else. He’s the hardest-working man I’ve ever met. More importantly, he’s the reason that I became the person I am. He’s instilled qualities in every single one of us that will last the rest of our lives.”
Thursday afternoon was the last high school football game for the 19 seniors on Lorena’s roster. And with many of them having spent the past six years together, Turley said that coming out victorious was an amazing ending to their high school careers.
“Seeing all the work pay off. It’s been six years now, middle school and high school,” Turley said. “Just seeing all that payoff and knowing that our last game was for a state championship was awesome.”
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