No. 5 Graham dominates No. 2 Brock in a battle of District 3-4A Division 2 behemoths
The Brock football team had dominated in Class 3A Division 1 for several years before moving up to 4A D2 this season. The Eagles hadn’t missed a beat coming in at No. 2 in the state and No. 2 in the Star-Telegram Class 4A rankings, even against the competition with the larger schools...until the night of Nov. 1.
Graham, ranked No. 5 in the state in 4A D2 and No. 6 in the Star-Telegram 4A rankings, dominated Brock on both sides of the ball to walk away with a 38-0 win over the Eagles in a District 3-4A D2 showdown for the de facto district title at Newton Field.
It was the worst loss Brock (8-1 overall, 3-1 district) has suffered since the Eagles started playing football in 2013. It was only the third time that Brock has ever been shut out.
“They whipped our tails tonight,” said Brock coach Billy Mathis. “We knew this game was going to be a tough game and I think everybody thought it would be a toss up as to who won the game. We just didn’t play up to the level that we needed to play and they did.”
Graham (8-1, 4-0) outplayed Brock on both sides of the ball the entire night. Brock was forced to punt on each of its four first-half possessions while the Steers were putting up 21 points.
Graham scored each time on long, time consuming drives led by quarterback Ty Thompson who the Eagles were unable to corral. The Steers first possession was a nine-play, 60 yard march that culminated in an 11-yard scoring pass from Thompson to Jace Gill.
After another Brock punt, Graham went 86 yards in 10 plays with Thompson once again tossing a TD pass, this time to Brayden Riggins to make it 14-0 with 11:42 left in the second quarter. Riggins looked to have fumbled the ball through the end zone before crossing the goal line, but the side judge ruled the play a touchdown instead of a touchback that could have changed the complexion of the game.
“We were just playing hard and we had a good game plan for them tonight and made it work,” said Thompson who rushed 15 times for 128 yards and was 18 of 22 passing for 141 yards. It’s always nice when your defense plays like that and gets another goose egg. I’m proud of those guys.
I not going to say that I expected us to win like this, because Brock is a good team and I respect them a lot, but we talked about pride all week and taking pride in what we do and when you do that good things are going to happen for you.
Brock was finally able to get a stop and force a Graham punt, but after punting it back to the Steers, Graham was on the march again. This time the drive was nine plays and 64 yards with Rylan Monsey darting in from four yards out to make it 21-0 with 1:07 left before the intermission.
Monsey picked up 18 yards on a fourth and one from the Brock 22 on the previous play to set up the score. Monsey carried 15 times for 106 yards on the night.
Graham linebacker Mateo Rodriguez leads a defense that is playing at an extremely high level. The Steers recorded their seventh shutout of the season against Brock and the Graham defensive 11 hasn’t been scored on in 22 consecutive quarters.
Graham held Brock to 30 yards of total offense in the first half and 116 total yards for the game.
“It always starts with the defensive line,” said Rodriguez, who was in on several tackles and delivered several punishing, hard hits. “Taking on pullers, filling up gaps, working down the line of scrimmage. Everything that come in the back end _ picks, tackles, tackles for losses _ all comes from the defensive line and they deserve all the credit.
“I didn’t expect them not to score, but I did expect us to win. Our team has a lot of pride and a lot of confidence, but I did see this, I did.”
The Steers picked up where they left off in the second half. Thompson made an incredible 35-yard scoring run, shedding tackler after tackler, to open the third quarter and make it 28-0. Late in the third quarter Thompson scrambled and then found Harison Brockway in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard TD making it 35-0.
With 2:45 left in the game Graham was facing a fourth and seven from the Brock 33 when chants of ‘Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy’ could be heard getting louder and louder in the stands. The Steers had originally lined up to run a play, but called time out before sending kicker Ozzy Trejo out to try, and make, a 50-yard field goal to cap the scoring.
“This was special,” said Graham coach Clay McChristian. “Brock is a really good football team and there’s a really good chance that we’re going to see them again in the playoffs. I’m just so proud of our kids tonight in all three aspects and Ozzy (Trejo) put the exclamation point on it with that long field goal.”
Graham’s only loss was to Springtown in Week 2 by a score of 35-21.
Brock quarterback Brody Woods provided most of the offense for the Eagles with 41 yards rushing on 16 carries and 33 passing yards hitting five of 12.
“I’ve seen Alabama lose and I’ve seen other dominant teams go down,” said Mathis. “Losing a football game hurts, it burns, but the sun is going to rise tomorrow and it’s not the end of the world.
“Thank God that this was a district game and not a playoff game because we’re promised another game next week, but after that we’re not promised anymore. We’ll go back home and go back to work and the Brock Eagles will be flying high again I promise you that.”
