Brock, Mansfield Lake Ridge reflect on special football seasons

Magical seasons are a dime-a-dozen every year in high school football.

But for two area teams, the magic couldn’t be more true.

With multiple teams having memorable years, Mansfield Lake Ridge and Brock may have had the most memorable with their first appearance in state title games.

Even more special for these two schools is that neither has been playing football for long.

Brock is in its third year, and second in UIL competition, while Lake Ridge has only been opened for four years.

Both teams were perfect through the regular season, both finishing in the top 10 of the final Associated Press regular-season poll: Brock No. 2 in Class 3A and Lake Ridge No. 7 in Class 5A.

Both won district titles, Lake Ridge winning its first in 14-5A while Brock made it back-to-back titles.

When it came time to play for it all this past weekend in Houston, Brock came away with the Class 3A Division I state title — rallying to beat Cameron Yoe 43-33, a team that was going for its fourth straight state championship.

“Our kids didn’t quit all year long and we battled,” Brock coach Chad Worrell said.

Brock (16-0) dominated teams on offense, scoring at least 40 points in 13 games, 50 in 10 games, 60 in eight and 70 in three.

Brock went four rounds deep in its first UIL season last year, and Worrell knew then that his team could come back and win a state title.

“I think last year when we made that run, even though we lost in the quarterfinals to Shallowater at the end of the game, we had a lot of kids coming back and I think it proved to our kids that to them, they could play with anybody in the state,” Worrell said.

“We had a great off-season, great summer turnout, we have a great group of seniors, can’t say enough about them, that really led the team,” he added.

One senior that had a terrific season was running back and linebacker Leddy French, who had 133 yards rushing and three touchdowns against Yoe, earning him the Offensive Player of the Game.

“Think that put him over 2,000 [yards] – Leddy is a player, all our players are,” Worrell said. “He’s been there all year long, playing both ways. He’s an important player for us as are all of our seniors.”

And like weeks before leading up to the final, Worrell used a quote he had read earlier in the week.

“I can’t remember who said it, it was in the predictions and the writer said ‘these guys might not know how to lose’ and these kids don’t know any better, they just go out there and play hard.”

For Lake Ridge (15-1), injuries impacted its 56-0 title game loss to Richmond George Ranch, but that didn’t stop the team from becoming the first in Mansfield ISD history to reach the championship game.

Not to take away anything from the other Mansfield high schools; four of the five teams made the postseason, and Legacy lost out on a tiebreaker.

“This is a family. Everybody in Mansfield is part of the family, and everybody is going to continue to work,” Lake Ridge running Duke Carter said. “We’re going to continue to get teams here and we’re going to continue to win.”

Lake Ridge was another explosive offensive team, scoring at least 40 points in 14 games, 50 in nine games, 60 in four games and and 70 once.

Carter finished the year with 37 rushing touchdowns.

“I’m not going to stop working. I’m going to do it for them. They’re the best teammates I’ve ever had. They all care about the game,” he said.

Quarterback Jett Duffey is off to Texas Tech after having a tremendous season where he accounted for 4,405 yards and 49 touchdowns.

Gerard McClain added 13 rushing touchdowns.

“I’m not going to take anything away from George Ranch because they earned this win. It’s just the way things worked out and I’m proud of my brothers no matter what happened,” McClain said.

Along with Duffey, Carter and McClain, center Anthony Narro is one of a handful of seniors who made this season the school’s best.

“Going through all four years with these guys — it’s just like a family. You grow to love each other, you hang out with each other all the time and you go to war with them every day and every game,” he said. “It’s bitter to come out here and lose the big game, but it was fun and I’ll remember it forever.”

“We have a lot of seniors who’ve really done a great job for us for four years,” Lake Ridge coach Kirk Thor added. “They’re great men and they’re going to be great leaders. There’s not many words to say, but I’m proud of our kids.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Brock, Mansfield Lake Ridge reflect on special football seasons."