Brewer’s season comes to an end at the hands of an overpowering Denton Ryan
By the time the White Settlement Brewer Bears finally managed an offensive play for more than six yards against a swarming Denton Ryan defense Thursday night, the third-ranked Raiders were well on their way to a dominating 65-24 Class 5A Division I bi-district win at the C.H. Collins Athletic Complex.
As impressive as the Ryan offensive unit was – reaching its per game scoring average (47.3 ppg) before halftime, the Raider defense took early control of the game, sending Brewer quarterback Carson Ingram scrambling for his life seemingly on every play.
The Raiders countered with an explosive video game-style offense, putting up highlight reel scoring plays of 21, 45, 41, 29 and 45 yards in building up a 48-10 halftime advantage. Before the starters took a seat, they had added three more scoring drives and finished the night averaging over 10 yards per play.
Quarterback Seth Henigan threw for 182 yards and four touchdowns while four different running backs found the end zone for Ryan.
Brewer was able to put together a pair of late scoring drives of 10 and seven plays against a number of the Ryan reserves, but the Raiders continued to pull away, scoring on three of four second-half possessions.
THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN: Ryan answered the Bears’ only prolonged scoring drive of the first half with three quick scoring drives of four or fewer plays to turn a 28-10 lead into a 48-10 cushion.
PLAY OF THE GAME: After a slow start, Seth Henigan connected on the Raiders’ first scoring play with a 21-yard scoring slant to Ja’Tavion Sanders. Then, following a four-down stop by the defense, Tra Smith took a punt return 45 yards to make it 14-3 and the rout was on.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ryan wide receiver Ja’Tavion Sanders caught four passes for 77 yards, but two went for touchdowns. Raider running back Emani Bailey carried the ball 13 times for 146 yards and a touchdown, then added a 23-yard reception to his totals.
DEFEENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: The entire starting 11 of the Ryan defense, which provided relentless pressure the whole game.
UNSUNG HERO OF THE GAME: Brewer quarterback Carson Ingram, who accounted for 200 of his team’s 279 total yards, rushing 26 times for 61 times and a touchdown while completing 14 of 24 passes for another 139 yards.
NEXT UP: Ryan, which has been advanced all the way to the state semifinals each of the last two seasons, awaits the winner of Friday’s Amarillo High and El Paso Del Valle matchup. The site and time is to be determined.
This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 10:15 PM.