Covenant Classical School in Fort Worth has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in its first 11 years of football.
In their inaugural season in 2011, the Cavaliers had to throw a team party just to convince one of their players to join the team so they’d have enough players to complete.
Then following a semifinal run in 2014, Covenant Classical cancelled its football season in both 2015 and 2017 due to a lack of players.
But remarkably, after all those ups and downs, the Cavaliers are now back-to-back TAPPS state champions.
A year after knocking off Bracken Christian in a 68-66 thriller, Covenant Classical delivered a much more convincing victory this time around for the TAPPS six-man Division II State Title with a 68-30 blowout of Pasadena First Baptist.
Covenant Classical quarterback Lanham Briley (8) looks to connect with his receiver Logan Clifton (7) downfield. Credit TAPPS SmugMug
“We just played an all-around good game,” Cavalier Head Coach Ron Abrams said. “The kids were ecstatic. It’s a great honor to win one, but to win them back-to-back is difficult.”
Covenant Classical led 28-16 at halftime but put the game to rest with a 24-point blitz to start the second half. Cavalier quarterback Lanham Briley found Blake Schroeder for a 40-yard touchdown, Schroeder scored on a 15-yard touchdown run, and Jack Saadeh added a 34-yard rushing score all in the third quarter.
For a Cavalier team that won eight of their 12 games by 45-point mercy rule, Abrams said he wasn’t surprised at all by his team’s explosive start to the second half.
“It’s always our goal once we get on top of somebody to separate as quickly as we can,” Abrams said. “We went in [to halftime] with the lead and we told them coming out that we needed to make a stop and get the ball and score and put more distance on it and keep the throttle down, so that’s what we did.”
Covenant Classical is different from most six-man teams in that they run a spread offense and love to let the ball fly.
Behind center, Briley has thrived with the keys to the offense. In the championship game, he threw 33 times for 362 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished his four-year career at Covenant Classical with 195 passing touchdowns.
Sam Witherspoon delivers a crunching hit on the First Baptist quarterback. Credit: TAPPS SmugMug
But it wasn’t all Briley. The Cavalier defense also delivered in a big way, shutting out two of their four playoffs opponents, while also holding First Baptist to its season low points total.
“Our defense is always overlooked just because of our offense and all the motion and bells and whistles we do and the amount of passing we do. People think we are just an offensive team,” Abrams said. “But our defense was dominant all year. Going into that fourth quarter [of the state championship], we had only given up 32 points in the four playoff games, which in six-man is really hard to do.”
And with a second-straight state title now secured, Abrams reflected on how special it has been to watch the Covenant Classical program grow to what it is today.
“It has been a great ride and a great privilege to work with a bunch of outstanding young men,” Abrams said. “[We’ve] got the program now where I want it to be. It was a long road getting there, but it has been very rewarding,”
2022 Covenant Classical Team Stats
Offensive Points Per Game: 51.8 points
Points Allowed Per Game: 19 points
Passing Leader: Lanham Briley: 2,491 yards and 44 touchdowns
Rushing Leader: Blake Schroeder: 263 yards and six touchdowns
Leading Receiver: Blake Schroeder: 881 yards and 12 touchdowns
Leading Tackler: Blake Schroeder: 119 total tackles
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