FATE HANGING IN THE BALANCE

CLASS 2A ROUNDUP: DI Valley Mills still searching for first district win after falling to two front-runners; DII Meridian plays host to perennial powerhouse Bremond

As two Bosque County high school football teams playing in large districts, the Class 2A, Division I Valley Mills Eagles and the Class 2A, Division II Meridian Yellowjackets already find themselves facing key matchups that will determine their chances of making the playoffs.

After battling through the gauntlet to earn their first trip to the Class 2A, Division I playoffs since 2019, the Eagles find themselves facing yet another daunting challenge as the University Interscholastic League’s biennial realignment landed them in the highly-competitive District 7-2A, Division II.

Coming off their first winning record and postseason victory since 2019, Valley Mills entered the season picked to make it back-to-back playoff appearances by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football behind the state-ranked Axtell Longhorns, Italy Gladiators and Dawson Bulldogs, finishing ahead of the Rio Vista Eagles, Itasca Wampus Cats and the Bosqueville Bulldogs.

In a crucial matchup between two teams playing to keep their postseason hopes realistically alive in District 7-2A, Division I, the Eagles (0-2 in district, 1-5 overall) will hit the road to take on the Bosqueville Bulldogs (0-2, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Friday as the Eagles will be coming off a 19-2 district loss to Dawson. Valley Mills has opened district with back-to-back losses to the front-runners, Axtell and Italy.

“Bosqueville has some very big offensive lineman and got their quarterback back from injury,” Valley Mills head coach Bob Featherston said. “With the quarterback back, it makes them very multiple at what they can do, so we have to defend the entire field. Defensively, that puts a lot of athletes on the field that can fun and prevents teams from making big plays.”

Although Meridian has not qualified for the postseason since 2017, the Jackets have a rich Texas high school football tradition dating back to 1916 – four seasons before the University Interscholastic League even existed.

As a part of the eight-team District 10-2A, Division II following the UIL realignment, the Jackets line up against the top-ranked Mart Panthers, Bremond Tigers, Chilton Pirates, Goldthwaite Eagles, Wortham Bulldogs, Frost Polar Bears and Hubbard Jaguars.

In District 10-2A, DII this week, the Jackets (1-1 in district, 1-4 overall) will return home to host Bremond at 7 p.m. Friday as the Tigers (1-1, 3-2) will be coming off a convincing 60-30 victory over Wortham. Featuring a balanced attack, the Tigers have rushed for 273.8 yards per game for 23 touchdowns while throwing for 155.8 yards per game and eight scores.

“Bremond is one of the top teams in the state,” Meridian football head coach Jim Kerbow said. “Therefore, we will have to play mistake free Friday night if we want to be in the ball game.”

AXTELL 54, VALLEY MILLS 34

Still looking for their first District 7-2A, DI win while playing host to the preseason district favorite, the Valley Mills Eagles played tough before falling to the undefeated Axtell Longhorns, 54-34, last Friday night at J. C. Larkin Athletic Complex. With the win, Axtell avenged its 29-18 Bi-District playoff loss to the Eagles last November.

“Axtell is very talented on offense,” Featherston said. “We couldn’t go score-for-score with them. And eventually, they were able to pull away.”

Although it proved to be not enough, the Eagle offense took flight as junior running back Jasean Johnson rushed for a team-high 185 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore Blayne Griner completed 11 of 26 passes for 151 yards, connecting with junior Jacob Garcia six times for 105 yards and two scoring strikes.

“We felt that we did what was necessary on offense to give us a chance,” Featherston said. “We still had some untimely errors that hurt us late. But overall, we had some kids make plays.”

Using a balanced attack, Axtell rolled up 481 yards of total offense, completing nine of 14 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns while piling up 242 yards rushing with four scores. Longhorns slot back Coldyn Horn rolled up 151 all-purpose yards while scoring three times. In fact, the only thing that slowed down the Longhorns was three turnovers – two interceptions and a fumble.

Freshman Bryson Bell led the Eagles with four tackles, six assists and an interception, followed by junior Cooper Wolf with three tackles, seven assists and a fumble recovery, while junior Garret Poth came up with four tackles and two assists along with sophomore Cross Warner with three takedowns and two assists, and senior Chris Gentry pulling down an interception.

“We had a lot of trouble with Axtell’s athleticism in open space,” Featherston said. “We had a better second half, but we gave up way too much early. We had Axtell in long third down situations that they either got a big first down or score.”

FROST 41, MERIDIAN 13

Coming off the dramatic double overtime win on Homecoming Night, the Class 2A, Division II Meridian Yellowjackets hopes to continue riding that momentum to a fast start to District 10-2A, Division II competition.

Despite compiling 341 yards of total offense, three turnovers proved costly in Meridian’s hopes of putting a winning streak together to open district as the Frost Polar Bears handed the Jackets a convincing 41-13 loss on the road last Friday night.

“Turnovers and missed tackles seemed to be the difference in the game Friday night,” Kerbow said. “Offensively, we moved the ball efficiently at times Friday night, but we really could gain much traction.”

Using a balanced attack, sophomore Ricky Shank — the Offensive Player of the Week — led the Jacket (1-1 in district, 1-4 overall) ground game with 101 yards rushing on 19 carries, followed by senior quarterback Matthew Jones with 52 on nine scrambles and senior running back Ian Gomez with 50 yards on 11 attempts.

Through the air, Jones completed seven of 16 passes for 138 yards with one interception, connecting with Shank on a 60-yard scoring strike. Shank finished with four catches for 78 yards, Gomez two receptions for 35 yards and Walyn Sheppard one for 25.

But three turnovers, two fumbles and an interception, proved to be too much to overcome for the Jackets as Frost (1-1, 2-3) basically moved the ball at will most of the game.

Dustin Padgett led Meridian with four tackles and three assists, followed by Gunnar Chandler with four tackles and one assist, Jones with three tackles and two assists, Garrett Pope with three tackles and one assist, and Gomez with three solo takedowns, while Ezekiel Mabry grabbed two tackles and four assists.

Jones drew the Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Gomez was named the Special Teams Player of the Week with a 53-yard punt return, and Isiah Garza was name the Practice Player of the Week.

“Defensively, we struggled tackling, which cost us the game,” Kerbow said. “Tackling will continue to be a great priority for us. Not tackling efficiently was what turned the game in Frost’s favor Friday.”