Stephenville senior Coy Eakin spent most of early Friday afternoon terrorizing Austin LBJ’s defensive backs, finishing with 9 catches for 187 yards and three touchdowns as he earned Offensive MVP honors in the 4A Division I State Title Game.
However, his most important play of the contest came on defense.
With Stephenville up 24-7 early in the third quarter, LBJ defensive back Noah Baker had just intercepted Stephenville quarterback Ryder Lambert near his own goal line. As Baker began to return it, Eakin came up behind him and keenly punched the ball free. Fortuitously, it landed in the arms of Yellowjacket receiver Kallan Kimbrough, who returned it 10 yards for an improbable touchdown to extend Stephenville’s lead.
“I ran a slant-and-go and Ryder through the ball over,” Eakin said. “[Baker] intercepted the ball, and I just went for the ball to get it out.”
That play served as a gut punch for LBJ as the Jaguars sought to turn the tide of momentum after halftime. Up by 24 at that point, Stephenville went on to secure the 4A Division I State Title in a 38-21 victory over the Jaguars. It was the sixth state title for the Yellowjackets.
After the game, Stephenville head coach Sterling Doty praised the efforts of his players before reflecting on the wisdom of longtime Stephenville coach Mike Copeland when it came to the fortuitous bounce of the ball into Kimbrough’s hands.
“Our guys are taught to play to the whistle,” Doty said. “Coy and all 11 offensive guys did that. We were able to get the ball out, and Kimbrough was in the right spot because he was hustling. An old wise coach once told me that to win it you need to stay healthy, you got to be good, and you got to have some luck. Tonight, we were all three.”
Playing in its first-ever state title game, the Jaguars couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start as they fumbled on each of their first four possessions.
“This was our first time, so you’re just trying to get a feel for everything in the pregame,” Austin LBJ head coach Jahmal Fenner said. “We just tried to get them to settle in the game as quickly as possible, and it just took longer, so we made mistakes early and that’s what ended up really putting us behind. We have never made those mistakes early in a game like that.
Doty said he was impressed how his front seven disrupted LBJ early on in the game.
“Today in the first half, I thought the wardogs put a ton of pressure on LBJ and their running attack,” Doty said. “Made that quarterback, who’s a great player, make quick decisions, and they put the ball on the ground because of it. Just a shoutout to our defensive staff for getting our guys in the right spot.”
With LBJ shooting itself in the foot early on, Eakin made them pay, coming down with a one-handed catch for a 16-yard score before showing off his rushing skills with a seven-yard touchdown up the gut. Corbin Poston added a 26-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter to make it 17 points off of turnovers for the Yellowjackets.
Eakin kept rolling as the half went on. He finished with 156 of his receiving yards in the first half, including a 43-yard, catch-and-run touchdown with two minutes to go in the half to put Stephenville up 24-0.
The Jaguars finally got on the board late on in the half as Oscar Gordon III connected with Noah Baker for a 33-yard score. However, the aforementioned fumble return touchdown killed any momentum they had coming out of the break.
LBJ did find some more success on the deep ball as the second half progressed as Sedrick Alexander and Baker secured touchdowns of 29 and 30 yards on passes from Gordon III.
But Eakin came down with a 31-yard touchdown and the Stephenville defense came up with a fourth-down stop at the LBJ 5-yard line in the fourth quarter to stamp out any chances of an LBJ comeback.
The day was still a historical one despite the defeat for the Jaguars as LBJ became the first Austin ISD school to play for a state title since 1973. Fenner said that although his team is hurting after the defeat, the work his team put in over the past 15 weeks shouldn’t be overlooked as they finished 15-1 on the season.
“It hurts a lot because we worked so hard, and we had an outstanding season,” Fenner said. “It just didn’t happen for us. I love all these kids, and to see the community rally the way they did, we really wanted to pull it off for everybody.”
A year after getting knocked out by Lindale in the state semifinals, LBJ made it one step further this year with the motto “unfinished business.” Baker said he and his fellow underclassmen have some more unfinished business now and will be hungry to take home the trophy next year.
“I think this will really humble us and make us eager to come back here,” Baker said. “We came up short last year and look what happened. We’re ready to come back and win it next year.”
After being vanquished by Argyle in the second round the past two seasons, Stephenville was able to defeat the Eagles 21-17 in the regional semifinals this year. And after finishing 16-0 and securing Stephenville’s first state title in nine years, Doty said he was proud of his team and the way the community rallied around them by traveling to AT&T Stadium in droves.
“We’re just so proud of our football team and the way that they prepared all season,” Doty said. “We played so well. We just wanted to finish and bring back that sixth title. The community, boy all the bank robbers. I hope it didn’t happen, but if it was going to happen, today would be the day back in Stephenville.”
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