3 Fort Worth area football teams turn around losing streaks, now playing in state semis
After Brock lost to Gunter in Week 4, the Eagles dropped to 0-4.
Their worst start to a season and their most losses in a single season.
But there was no panic from coach Billy Mathis and his group. Brock might have been 0-4, but it played some of the best teams in the state.
Gunter is the top-ranked team in Class 3A Division 2 and the Tigers are playing this week in the state semifinals. Before that, Brock lost to three state-ranked teams in Class 4A Division 2, one class higher than the Eagles: Texarkana Pleasant Grove, Wichita Falls Hirschi and Wimberley.
Wimberley is also still playing this week in the semis.
“Those first four games were tough. We knew playing the best teams in the state was going to get us battled tested and ready for moments like last week,” Mathis said after his team beat Whitesboro 30-19 in the regional final round.
Brock nearly won one of those games during a 37-30 overtime loss to Hirschi in Week 2.
“When you’re not winning in a place that historically does nothing but win, you wonder how some people would respond, but the town and parents were all outstanding,” said Mathis, who led Brock to the 3A D1 state championship game last season. “Sure there might have been some naysayers, but everything I heard was all positive. They knew it was tough and could see it on the field.
“Losing builds characters and [Aledo coach Tim Buchanan] taught me that losing sometimes opens your eyes and exposes your weakness and you want that early in the season rather than in the playoffs.”
Since the Gunter loss, Brock has won 10 straight games.
The Eagles (10-4) will play Malakoff (13-1) in the 3A D1 state semifinals at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Ford Center in Frisco. It’s Brock’s sixth trip to the semis in the past eight seasons.
“Nobody likes losing, but there was no panic button,” Mathis said. “We knew going in that 0-4 was a possibility, but the boys never lost faith in me or the coaches or in each other, and there was never a lack of effort. We just weren’t finishing those opportunities and those close games.”
Brock went 6-0 in district and won its seventh district championship.
The Eagles haven’t dropped a district game in three seasons. Then they beat Iowa Park, Muleshoe, Bushland and Whitesboro in the playoffs. They trailed 27-7 against Bushland before reeling off 44 straight points.
Brock trailed Whitesboro 12-10 after three quarters before scoring three touchdowns in the fourth.
“No one was happy about it. 0-4 is the worst start in Brock history, but we put that aside and understand that’s the path we’re on. You can either let it crush you or you don’t dwell on it and get better each week. We knew the wins would start coming,” Mathis said.
Decatur
Decatur started the year 0-3, but the Eagles have won 11 in a row and will play China Spring (13-1) in the 4A D1 semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Newsom Stadium in Mansfield.
For coach Steve Huff, it was matter of finding an identity.
Huff was hired in February after a successful time with College Station.
The Eagles lost to Anna (won its first 13 games), Wichita Falls Rider (went two rounds deep) and defending 4A D1 state champ Stephenville.
“We were playing good competition, but we were new as a staff, which is no excuse but we were trying to get our transformation over,” Huff said. “It took the kids and coaches a while to get settled in. They hung in there those first three games. We never played bad, just had nothing to show for it.”
The Eagles then beat Pampa by 29 and Alvarado by 30 to wrap up their non-district slate before going 4-0 in district play. It was Decatur’s third district championship in four seasons and first undefeated title since 2019.
The semifinal appearance is Decatur’s first since 2018.
“It was still all positive. We were playing good football and good people, and continued to get better,” Huff said. “We learned a lot about ourselves. We always tell them it’s tough to put a round peg in a square hole, and the kids were still upbeat. It was about getting better and putting our nose to the grind.”
Aledo
Aledo fared slightly better, but still started the season with back-to-back losses.
It was the first time Aledo had lost back-to-back games since 2007.
Oddly enough, that was the last time Aledo lost a district game. The Bearcats have won 111 straight district games and 15 straight district championships.
The Bearcats lost to Dallas Parish Episcopal 24-17 and Denton Guyer 44-14 to open the season.
“We learned that we were a really young team and had a long way to go, but it helped us figure out who could play and who couldn’t play,” Buchanan said. “Could we have learned the same thing if we won by a touchdown, yes, but it was great to play those teams at that point.”
Parish won the TAPPS D1 state title last week, its fourth straight championship. Guyer is undefeated and ranked No. 12 in the nation. The Wildcats play Desoto in the 6A D2 state semifinals.
Aledo has won 12 straight games with playoff wins over Killeen Shoemaker, Lubbock-Cooper, Midlothian and Burleson Centennial. The Bearcats are in the semis for the 15th time in the past 19 seasons.
They play Longview (14-0) in the 5A D1 semis at 2 p.m. Saturday at Kincaide Stadium in Dallas.
“There was never any panic. Nobody was happy and we weren’t going around telling people how good we were, but there wasn’t a sense of urgency and we didn’t feel like we had to be great right now,” Buchanan said. “We knew going into the season we would have a bunch of young players and it would be a building process.
“It just takes a while to develop and build a good team.”
