Fredericksburg Heritage erupts in second half over Weatherford Christian in TAPPS final
It was a tale of two halves during the TAPPS 6-man Division 3 state championship on Thursday.
Weatherford Christian looked poised to win its first title, but things changed early in the third quarter.
Fredericksburg Heritage scored 38 unanswered points and held Weatherford Christian scoreless in the final 19 minutes to win 46-26 at Waco Midway’s Panther Stadium.
The Lions (12-2) came up short for the second straight year. They lost to Baytown Christian in last season’s final.
“24-3 the past two years. That’s really good and a lot of people would take that,” Weatherford Christian coach Stephen Cox said. “We thought we had something going and would’ve loved to finish, but it wasn’t in the cards today.”
The Lions, who led 19-8 at intermission, extended the lead to 26-8 one minute into the third when running back Wyatt Berry scored on a 1-yard run. Berry sparked the drive with a 36-yard run and quarterback Jackson Floyd hit Jarrett Foland on a 23-yard pass.
Heritage (13-0) scored on the ensuing drive to start a 38-point swing.
Running back John Fritzsch, who led all rushers with 170 yards on 22 carries, scored from the 10 to pull the Eagles within 26-16 with 7:48 left in the third.
The Lions, who scored on all three first-half possessions, turned the ball over on downs three times, punted once and threw an interception on their final five drives.
Heritage got within two with 4:36 left in the third on an 18-yard TD run by Fritzsch, who scored four times.
Quarterback Joshua Hoermann connected on an 18-yard scoring pass to Noah Given to put the Eagles ahead 30-26 with 1:32 left in the period. It was their first lead since 8-0 in the first quarter.
Hoermann and Fritzsch hooked up for a 21-yard TD early in the fourth and Hoermann scored from the 10 to put Heritage on top 46-26 midway through the fourth.
Samuel Richburg intercepted a Weatherford Christian pass attempt in the end zone and Heritage went on to run out the clock for the program’s first title since 2014 and seventh since 2004.
“This group was a bunch of fighters,” Cox said. “They don’t quit. It’s a great group of kids and they’re like my kids and my family. Great heart and I wish we pulled one out for them.”
After a 16-yard TD run by Fritzsch in the opening quarter, Floyd rushed in a score from the 10 midway through the period. His 11-yard scoring pass to Colton Hasenjaeger with 6:56 left in the half put the Lions up 12-8 after both extra point kicks were blocked.
Floyd threw an 11-yard score to Foland that made it 19-8 at the break.
“Everything was working,” Cox said. “Floyd was, the passing game was.”
In his final game, Floyd completed 14 of 31 passes for 200 yards and two TDs. He rushed for 32 yards and one score as Weatherford Christian will make the move to TAPPS 11-man next season.
Foland and Bryson Smith combined for eight catches and 145 yards. Berry rushed for 59 yards.
“11-man, we haven’t thought much about it, but we’ll get to work,” Cox said. “Looking forward to it, see if we can draw something up.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 2:21 PM.
