2016 UIL Football State Championship Games Recap, Friday, 12-16
UIL Friday
4A Division II: West Orange-Stark Mustangs vs. Sweetwater Mustangs
With 7:45 left in the first quarter, a Sweetwater defender picked up the fumble and returned it 99 yards for a defensive touchdown. Their two-point conversion attempt was not successful. With 29 seconds left, WOS ran it in for a rush TD to tie the game 6-6. The PAT was converted, and WOS took a 7-6 lead.
The second half started with WOS getting a turnover and converting it into a field goal. That put West Orange-Stark up 10-6. No scoring occurred the rest of the third. The fourth quarter began with Sweetwater intercepting the ball in the end zone to stop a possible scoring drive by WOS. However, the red Mustangs gave the ball right back around their own 35-yard line. Things settled down a bit, and at the 7:58 mark, WOS scored on a quarterback sneak and went up 17-6. Sweetwater then began its next drive with their backup quarterback. In the middle of that drive, a screen pass was attempted, which was intercepted and returned for a TD by WOS. The PAT was converted, and with 5:38 left in the game, WOS went up 24-6. The silver and blue Mustangs didn't allow anymore scores, and held the ball until time ran out, winning their division's state title for a second consecutive year.
4A Division I: Carthage Bulldogs vs. Abilene Wylie Bulldogs
Wylie struck first when they scored a touchdown with a 30-yd pass play. After the PAT was made, Wylie was up 7-0 with 10:09 left in the first. Wylie scored again in the first, this time with 5:55 left in the quarter. Martin made a remarkable touchdown grab, getting one foot in before going out of bounds. The PAT was made, and Wylie increased their lead to 14-0. Carthage finally scored with a 25-yard receiving TD by Ingram with only 23 seconds left in the first quarter to make the deficit 14-7. On the following possession, the red Bulldogs forced the Wylie QB to fumble the ball and were able to recover it. Carthage then marched down to the red zone in a couple of plays, and rushed it in for six right after the second quarter began. Once the PAT was converted, Carthage had tied the game at 14-14. Carthage got the ball back pretty quickly, and got a 26-yard field goal out of their possession. The red Bulldogs now led 17-14. As the first half wound down, Wylie put together a drive that made it to the red zone. The purple Bulldogs couldn't get a TD after three downs, and settled for a field goal. The first half ended with the game tied 17-17.
The second half was a far cry from the first one. Both defenses hunkered down and not a score was allowed in the third quarter. In the fourth, Carthage broke through and got themselves a touchdown with 8:10 left in the game to go up 24-17. The red Bulldogs' defense held Wylie at bay, and the offense extended the lead when they scored a rush TD with only 3:49 left in the period. After the made PAT, Carthage now led 31-17. Obviously, Wylie tried its best to score, but the red-colored Bulldogs weren't giving up anything. For the rest of the game the score stayed at 31-17, and Carthage won the 4A Division I Championship.
5A Division II: Corpus Christi Calallen Wildcats vs. Aledo Bearcats
At 4:09 of the first quarter, Aledo broke the defensive stalemate when they scored a rush TD and converted the extra point to take the lead, 7-0. No more scoring occurred until Calallen notched a field goal at the 8:55 mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 3-7. A little over two minutes later, Aledo extended their lead by scoring on a field goal attempt. The Bearcats took their 10-3 all the way to halftime.
The start of the second half mirrored the start of the game, but Aledo was able to score a lot sooner than in the first quarter (rush TD), and went up 17-3 with 8:14 left in the third. The Wildcats struck back with their own rush TD with 5:44 left in the third, and cut the lead 10-17. After that, neither team could score until the 5:43 point of the fourth quarter. That is when Aledo bumped their lead up to 24-10 via a rush TD. Calallen didn't give up, and notched a rushing touchdown with 1:39 left in the game. Unfortunately for them, the extra point was missed and their deficit stood at 16-24. The Coastal Bend squad tried an onside kick, but the Bearcats recovered it and ran the clock out. Aledo took the 5A Division II title with a 24-16 victory.
