Covenant Classical goes back-to-back in winning the TAPPS Division II 6 Man state title

The Fort Worth Covenant Classical football team squeaked by with a field goal in the last minute to win the TAPPS Division III 6 Man title last season.

There was no doubt this time around.

The Cavaliers used a strong defensive effort to stymie the powerful running attack of Pasadena First Baptist and pulled away in the third quarter to capture the Division II title 68-30 on Thursday afternoon at Waco ISD Stadium.

“The chemistry and love that our team has for each other will push us through anything,” said Covenant Classical quarterback Lanham Briley, who threw for 359 yards completing 26 of 33 passes with seven touchdowns. “I trust every one of those guys.”

The teams couldn’t have been more different with Covenant Classical (12-1) using a spread, mostly throwing offense behind the strong, right arm of Briley. First Baptist (13-1) wanted to pound the ball behind running backs Donald Guillory and Matthew Cundiff.

“We came in knowing they were a running team and we just had to contain them on the outside,” said Covenant Classical coach Ron Abrams. “We’ve been flying around all year and we’ve given up very few points with only 16 allowed in the playoffs up to this point. Everybody thinks that we’re all offense because we score so much, but our defense is pretty dominant.”

Guillory had 123 rushing yards on 22 carries for the Warriors and Cundiff picked up 110 on 25 carries, but the duo was held to 63 yards rushing in the second half after CC made an adjustment moving sophomore Luke Evans over to nose guard.

“We knew that they were going to run to the outside with No. 6 (Donald Guillory) and we game planned for him all week,” said Evans, who wreaked havoc on the Warriors all day. “We saw that he likes to cut outside and they run the toss all the time so we just ran to the ball.

“They have a really, really good offensive line and we planned for it. We just had to be physical with them.”

The Cavaliers carried a tenuous 12-point lead into the intermission, but Briley’s 40-yard scoring pass to Blake Schroeder started a 24-point run that First Baptist could never recover from.

The Cavaliers shut out the Warriors in the third quarter behind Evans and the rest of CC’s defense to take a commanding 52-16 lead heading into the final stanza.

“We went into this game plan a little bit differently because we knew that they just pound the ball,” said Briley, who doubles in the defensive backfield. “We’ve got some young guys that are big and strong and we put them on the line. We told them that we believe in them and they were making plays left and right.”

Briley’s seven touchdown passes went to five different receivers, and the senior had six different receivers with catches. Schroeder was his main target catching 11 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns. Schroeder, a junior, also took a jet sweep in for a 15-yard TD in the third quarter.

“I basically took my 11-man spread offense and brought it to six-man football and nobody has really adapted to it,” said Abrams. “We have designed routes and such, but when Lanham scrambles it becomes a little bit of a street game. But we also have rules and they all know where they’re supposed to go to give him targets.”

Rex Platt, who kicked the game-winning field goal a year ago, had five receptions for 115 yards with touchdowns of 60 and 12 yards.

“We started with a short game because we knew that they were going to play a cover three. We just hit the underneath stuff, just keeping it simple and easy,” said Briley. “We knew that they would eventually bite so we could take some shots over the top. That wasn’t working too well, but I trust every guy.

“I trust the center to snap me the ball, the running backs to run the ball, and the receivers to catch the ball and run. It’s just all love on this team.”

“This second title feels way better than the first,” added Evans, who didn’t start, but played on the 2021 title team. “This one was more special to me because this group of guys just love each other so much. We loved each other last year, but this year just felt different.

“Our leaders, our juniors from last year that turned seniors this year, really stepped up this year and this game just felt different. The atmosphere felt different.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 6:07 PM.