‘Burn the ships’: Brock Eagles thrash Clyde in high school football regional round
The Brock Eagles are soaring to the Class 3A D1 quarterfinals.
Brock (10-3) thumped Clyde (11-2) behind quarterback Brody Woods’ offensive onslaught on Friday at Graham High School. The Eagles, who scored 61 unanswered points, seized the momentum after Clyde quarterback Blake Carr left the game with a leg injury.
“I hate that a couple of their guys got hurt,” Brock head coach Bill Mathis said. “You don’t ever want to see that. But I’m just proud of how our guys came out.”
The Eagles, in the quarterfinals, will face the winner of the Paradise (11-1) and Bushland (11-1) game that kicks off at 6 p.m. CT at Vernon Stadium on Friday. Brock beat Paradise 26-14 on Oct. 20, 2023 in a District 4-3A D1 regular season contest.
“Both are great teams,” Mathis said, mentioning that Brock is familiar with both. “We can’t make mistakes if we want to beat a team like them.”
Throughout the 2023 season, the Eagles have utilized a specific mantra: burn the ships.
“No retreat, right? No surrender,” Mathis said. “We’re gonna go out to battle. You’re gonna go on that land and you’re gonna your ships because you’re not ever looking back and that’s what our whole goal was from the off season.”
Brock lost in the 2022 Class 3A D1 State Championship, 17-14, to Franklin. Now, they’re one step closer to another championship opportunity.
“Losing that state championship the way we did, you know, it hurt,” Mathis said. “We’re going to look forward. Not going to look back and we’ll keep our eyes on the prize.”
Brock has outscored its opponents 210-34 throughout the playoffs.
Linebacker Cooper Massey, who is averaging 15.5 tackles per game, played a big role in limiting Clydes’ run game by getting to the ball. Massey also had an interception. Mathis called him a smart coaches’ kid who has “football savviness.”
“He’s a stud,” Mathis said. “Just his heart, his desire, how fast he plays and his intensity. It gets everybody else going.”
Quarterback Brody Woods bounced back after throwing two early interceptions, finishing with 345 yards and 6 total touchdowns. He passed for 253 yards, completing 11 of 18 passes. Mathis said Woods did a good job shaking off the two early mistakes.
“He came back and threw the ball great,” Mathis said. “The rest of the game he ran the ball great. He did everything that we needed him to do to go grab this win.”
Woods said the win was a great team effort. He credited the offensive line for protecting him and the running backs and receivers for playing hard.
“Just want to give all praise and glory to God,” Woods said. “Our coaches got us right throughout the week.”
Two way player Carson Finney had a monster game, gaining 121 yards and scoring three touchdowns on just five receptions. Finney also had an interception, returning it 40 yards to set up his own 19 yard touchdown.
“He’s a stud,” Mathis said. “He’s a football playing dude. He does everything we need him to do on defense. Offensively, he’s hard to handle. We throw it to him, run it to him. He takes a lot of pride blocking out there.”
Running backs Vance Gutherie and Brett Tutter had solid performances, tallying 49 and 61 yards respectively. The Eagle RB duo also had one score each.
Woods said the Eagles will fix the early mistakes that were made in the first quarter in the upcoming practices.
“We’re going to keep rolling,” Woods said.
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