SAGINAW, Texas- The Stephenville Yellowjackets (11-2) came into Friday’s contest having knocked off the #3 team in the state last week in Argyle and were riding that confidence heading into their 4A Regional Final against Wichita Falls Hirsch (11-2). In the end, the Yellow Jackets came out on top against the Huskies 31-21 on a cold December night in front of a raucous crowd at Ranger Stadium.
Stephenville received the opening kick an took it down the field and got a 30-yard field goal from Chase Carrillo to take a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. Turnovers would be a key for both teams all night long and Stephenville recovered a huge fumble by the Huskies in the end zone to take a 10-0 lead and at this point had huge momentum on their side.
The big story of the night for Stephenville was RB Krece Nowak. Nowak used his speed, quickness and elusiveness to frustrate a speedy Husky defense who just couldn’t corral the Yellow Jackets running back. Nowak displayed his versatility by rushing for 127 yards as well as 96 yards receiving with two touchdowns one receiving and one rushing.
Late in the second quarter, Nowak took a screen pass from quarterback Easton Jones 48 yards for a score showing off his speed by weaving thru defenders and breaking away from the defense. On that pass play Nowak picked up key blocks from wide receiver Blake Aragon.
“They were double teaming me all night with two guys, so I wasn’t able to establish myself like we normally do,” Aragon said after they clinched the win, “I knew that if I concentrated on blocking for Krece when his number was called that he would be able to find the holes in the defense”, said Aragon after his team clinched the victory.
For Hirschi, RB Daimarqua Foster came into the regional final as one of the best running backs in the state of Texas. Foster had the second most yards in a game in Texas this year with 580 against Decatur earlier in the season. The star finished the night with 21 carries for 131 yards and two scores.
Foster got the Huskies on the board in the 2nd quarter with a 13-yard run to cut the Stephenville lead to 17-7 with 7:32 left in the 1st half. On their next possession, QB Mar’tez Vrana went deep to star wide receiver Javen Banks for a 52-yard pass play with 2:06 remaining in the 1st half, but the extra point was blocked by Stephenville.
Special teams mistakes seemed to plague the Huskies throughout the contest, as bad snaps on punts, field goal attempts, costly fumbles on kickoff returns help to ultimately take away momentum from Hirschi at key points during the game. The Huskies had four fumbles on the night and lost two of them to the Yellow Jackets.
Stephenville moves on to the semifinals in Class 4A to face the Kennedale Wildcats at AT&T Stadium.
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