Snake Farm frenzy: Tolar reaches first title game with dominating win over Stratford

The Tolar football team had heard time and time again all week how Stratford was a more physical team than the Rattlers.

On Thursday night the Rattlers answered the question. Tolar dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball en route to a 35-7 drubbing of Stratford in a Class 2A Division 1 state semifinal at Lion Stadium.

“We heard it over and over about how physical they were,” said Tolar quarterback/linebacker Isaac Blessing. “We’re the most physical team in the state and there’s no doubt about it.”

Tolar (14-1), ranked No. 3 in the final Class 2A D1 state poll by Dave Campbell’s, will play in its first state title game, in any team sport, when the Rattlers face top-ranked Timpson (15-0) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Timpson had to rally from 14 points down to defeat Ganado 35-21 on Thursday.

“We’ll just pound the rock and then toss it,” said Blessing, who rushed 19 times for 108 yards and threw only five passes, completing three (two for touchdowns) for 65 yards. “If you stop the run we’ll just throw it deep.

“And our defense is so damn good, so damn good. We’ll stop anybody. I’m so ready for next week.”

Tolar’s task at hand was to stop Stratford quarterback Bryce Braden who had rolled up 1,314 yards on the ground and 1,848 more yards through the air with 47 total touchdowns on the season.

But the Rattlers were able to do just that. Braden finished with 91 yards rushing on 17 carries and had 122 yards passing completing 13 of 24 with four interceptions. Tolar took the ball away from the Elks five times in the game.

Braden had 15 carries that netted 37 yards and two more carries that gained 54.

“We knew going in that he’d be tough to slow down,” said Tolar head coach Jeremy Mullins. “He’s so big and they have a couple of huge offensive tackles, but hats off to our defensive line. They’re not the biggest, but man do they play hard.

“They’re athletic, physical and fly around to the ball. Our linebackers are pretty physical as well and they can all tackle.”

Tolar held the Elks on downs to start the game, taking over at its own 49 after Braden was stopped for no gain on fourth down.

It took the Rattlers five plays to capitalize. Garrison Nation picked up 16 yards on first down and three plays later Blessing hit Clayton Stembridge with an 11-yard scoring pass.

Stembridge made a terrific catch on the play, leaping high and then falling backwards in the end zone to give the Rattlers a 7-0 lead with 8:02 left in the first quarter.

The teams traded punts before Tolar picked off the first of its four passes.

Drake Owens’ pick was returned 24 yards to the Elks’ 23. Nation then carried three times, getting a facemask call along the way, with the final tote being a scoring run from two yards out to up the lead to 14-0 with 9:04 left in the second quarter.

Nation finished with 72 yards on 15 carries for Tolar with backfield mate Peyton Brown picking up 80 yards on 16 tries.

Stratford was able to answer this time, however. The Elks converted a successful fake punt on a fourth and five from the Tolar 46 on a 17-yard pass from Chase Lantelme to Izakia Salas.

On the ensuing play Braden just got the ball over the fingertips of Nation, who doubles at linebacker, and into the hands of Julio Valdez who took it 29 yards for the score.

Tolar countered with a drive that was aided by two 15-yard penalties on Stratford that moved the ball to the Elks’ 36. But the Rattlers had back to back penalties of their own for holding and a false start.

Blessing was able to find Matthew Behrens across the middle for a 47-yard score on the third and 21 to up the lead to 21-7 with 3:41 left before the intermission.

Stratford looked as if it would close the gap going into halftime, but a fumble by Braden was recovered by Cash Clark for Tolar at the Rattlers’ 10 yard line with 13 seconds left.

Tolar’s offensive line was stellar as the Rattlers controlled the ball, and the clock, in the second half with long, time-consuming drives.

Tolar opened the third quarter with a 13-play, 68-yard drive that took 7:02 off the clock and was capped by a one-yard scoring run by Blessing. The Rattlers went on a 13-play drive late in the third quarter that covered 52 yards before the Elks held and took over on downs at their own 10 yard line.

The drive ate almost eight more minutes off the clock.

“Same story on the line for us on offense,” said Mullins. “We’re not super big, but man those five guys fought their butts off. They know that if they can fight for a good two to three seconds that we have good enough skill kids to have a chance.”

Stratford had four possessions in the second half with one ending in a punt and the other three being halted with interceptions. The Tolar defensive line had Braden on the run most of the night and the Rattlers’ secondary took advantage.

Owens tipped a pass that was picked off by Grant Sherley at the Tolar 38 late in the third quarter. After the Rattlers lost the ball on downs at the 10, Stembridge picked off a Braden pass and returned it 10 yards to the Stratford 16.

On the ensuing play Brown carried it in to give Tolar a 35-7 lead wth 5:24 left in the game. Ty McClure sealed the game for Tolar picking off a pass at the Rattlers’ 35 with 2:46 left.

“Our defense is just run heavy and we play downhill,” said Owens, a junior who lead Tolar with 117 tackles coming into the game. “I think it wears them out and makes the quarterback make some bad decisions.”

Stratford was making its 12th appearance in the state semifinals since 1999 and the second in three years. The Elks won the Class 2A D2 title in 2021.

Tolar reached the state semifinals as a six-man school in 1971, but hadn’t been back since and now is headed to the title game playing 11-man.

“We’re such a good tackling defense,” said Blessing, who was a second-team all-state linebacker a season ago and then added quarterback duties this season. “Football just comes down to tackling and blocking and I think tonight that we won both.”

This story was originally published December 8, 2023 at 2:05 AM with the headline "Snake Farm frenzy: Tolar reaches first title game with dominating win over Stratford."