Go Friday Night

RICHLAND SPRINGS STATE CHAMPIONS

Saturday night in Abilene at Shotwell Stadium, somewhere in the neighborhood of 12000 people came out to watch Richland Springs and Rule play for the Division 1 Six-Man State Championship. They saw a great game between two very good teams. Only one team could walk away with the title. Last night that team was Richland Springs.

The Coyotes of Richland Springs defeated the Bobcats from Rule. The score was 78-58 and it was a great game between two great schools and programs. Unfortunately, neither school was at full strength due to injuries. It was a long season that began with two a days back in August and ended in Abilene here in the middle of December. Both teams played their hearts out just as you would expect them to.

Rule came into the game as a 15 point favorite by the people that are in the know about such things. Richland Springs left with a 20 point victory and a very nice piece of hardware to go into a trophy case that is already crowded. This was Richland Springs second State Championship in the last three years.
The Coyote win didn't come easy.

Coach Jerry Burkhart was glad to get the win. He was also very complementary of Coach Mike Reed and his Rule team. And why not? Rule gave Burkhart's team all it wanted.

Richland Springs kicked off to Rule to start the game. They did so by kicking the ball onside and apparently caught Rule by surprise. The Coyotes recovered the kick and immediately went to work with the ball at just inside Rule's 30 yard line. Two running plays resulted in no gain and on third down Tyler Ethridge threw an incomplete pass bring up 4th and 14 yards. Ethridge's favorite receiver line up split out to the left side. His route was fairly simple. He got behind the Rule defensive backs after appearing to be covered fairly well. At the last moment he accelerated in the end zone and Etheridge threw him a beautiful pass and just like that Richland Springs was up 6-0 with 8:31 left in the first. Richie Daniels converted on the PAT and the Coyotes led 8-0.

The kickoff was returned to the Bobcat 15 where it would be 1st and 15. Rule nearly gave the ball away deep in their territory when a pitch out went over the head of the intended Bobcat. He was able to pick the ball up from the turf and get a pass off that was caught for a first down. C J Saucedo, a speedy running back for Rule then got around the right side of the Coyote defense and looked like he was gone for a touchdown. Ethridge, who also plays on defense finally caught Saucedo which is pretty rare. Not before he got down to about the 5 yard line of the Coyotes. The Richland Springs defense held Rule at bay for three downs but on a 4th and goal from the one yard line, Julian Menchaca scored. Stephen Pace playing with a leg injury convert the PAT and the game was tied 8-8 with 6:14 left in the 1st quarter.

After a short kick by Rule, Richland Springs took over on their own 35 yard line. On third and long Ethridge completed a pass just long enough for a 1st down. The Coyotes would grind it out until Ethridge would score from 8 yards out. The kick would fail and Richland Springs led 14-8 with 3:21 left in the first quarter.

Rule would drive for a score. CJ Saucedo carried it in from 6 yards out. Pace missed the kick and the score was tied at 14 with 43 seconds left in the 1st quarter. On the next series the Coyotes would score again on an Ethridge to Jesstin Fox pass play good for 53 yards. Daniels Kick was good and Richland Springs was in front 22-14 with 5 seconds left in the first.

Rule would score on a 27 yard pass to Kyle Simpson but Pace would miss the PAT and Richland Springs remained in the lead 22-20 with 8:57 left in the half. The teams would trade scores before the half. Cason Fikes scores on a 15 yard pass from Ethridge and the kick was good and RS was up 30-20.
Rule came right back on a 25 pass to Simpson from Saucedo. Pace made the kick and the score was Richland Springs 30 Rule 28 with 6:18 left in the half. With 5:56 left Ethridge scored from 10 yards out the PAT was good and RS led 38-28 with 5:56 left in the half. Rule came back and scored on a Spitzer 13 yard pass from Saucedo. But Richland Springs blocked the PAT and led 38-34 at the half. Each team scored 5 tds in the first half but RS missed fewer PATs.

Richland Springs took the opening kickoff of the 2nd half and scored on their most time consuming drive of the night with Ethridge running the ball in from 4 yards out. Kick good and RS leads 46-34 with 7:52 left in the third.

Rule comes right back and takes their turn to score on a Tye Clark reception from Spitzer and Pace adds the PAT and it is 46-42 with 3:45 left in the third. Not missing a chance to score Richland Springs comes right back and scores on a 45 yard pass from Ethridge to Williams and the PAT is good and the score becomes 54-42 with 1:46 left in the 3rd. Going for the win, Richland Springs recovers an onside kick. The drive would stall those as Rule would intercept a pass in the end zone. Being down by 12 at this point Rule knows they must score and they do on a Kade Kittley reception from Spitzer and Pace converts and the score is 54-50 with 8:30 left in the game. Rule tried an on side kick that RS nearly breaks for a TD. Ethridge comes back and scores on a beautiful 29 yard run and the PAT is good and Richland Springs is back up by 12 with 8:11 left in the game. Rule is in the position now that they have to score.

The first blink, AT 7:29 left in the game, Rule loses a fumble and Richland Springs Coyotes are smelling blood. They promptly drive 40 yards and Score and with the PAT the score stands 70-50 with 5:13 left. With 4:14 left Rule gamely pulls back to with in 12 at 70-58

Methodically, the Coyotes with the skill of a surgeon go right back to cutting on the time clock and looking for one last score and they get it with 2:08 left in the game. The PAT is good and the score goes to 78-58.

The final is 78-58. Great game by Rule. The Championship belongs to Richland Springs.

Hail to the Victor.

• December 17, 2006 9:36 PM

NORTHSIDE DIVISION 2STATE CHAMPIONS

NORTHSIDE DIVISION 2 STATE CHAMPIONS. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The Northside Indians won the Division 2 State Championship Saturday played in Abilene at Shotwell Stadium by the score of 60-41. The Indians did what they had to do to win a back and forth kind of game. On the other hand, Jayton lost the game. TO was the problems. Not Terrell Owens this time. I am talking turnovers. Seven times Jayton lost the ball and eventually that led to the game being lost.

That sounds like I am trying to take away something from the Northside Indians and I am not. They played well enough to overcome 5 turnovers of their own. Between the two teams there were 12 turnovers. That isn't exactly what one would expect between schools playing in the Championship game.

There were seven lead changes that occurred in this game and the clock read only 2:05 seconds left in the third quarter when Northside became the first team in this game to score back to back touchdowns.
Jayton led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. That score was a result of a 15 yard run by Josh Wood. The PAT failed.

The second quarter saw a bit more scoring as Jayton led at the half 19 to 16. With 8:28 left in the half, Northside got on the board on a 48 yard pass play from Colby White to Zach Agnew. Landy Freeling made the kick on the PAT and Northside led 8-6. Jayton got the lead back with a nifty run by Tyler Speed of 26 yards. Again the kick failed and Jayton led 12-8 with 7:25 left in the half. That lead was last less than a minute as White would score for Northside on a run of 29 yards and the Freeling kick on the PAT would make the new score 16-12 Northside. Before the half would end, Jayton would score once again this time Speed scored on a run of 17 yards and Jayton would convert the single extra point and led 19-16 with about 4 ½ minutes left in the half and that was your half time score.

Scoring got started in the third quarter on yet another turnover. Northside's Corey Samson picked up a Jayton fumble and ran it in 25 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was no good. The Indians had a 22-19 lead with 7:18 left in the third quarter.

The ensuing kickoff looked like it might be yet another turnover by Jayton as Tyler Speed had trouble finding the handle on the ball. Once he did finally pick the ball up he was off to the races. 78 yards and a touchdown. Jayton again would fail on the PAT and the score would be 25 22 Jayton with 8:51 left in the third quarter. Later in the same quarter, Nathan McGee would start up the middle and break the run to his left and go 21 yards for a touchdown and with the PAT good, the Indians would take the lead 30-25.

The kickoff would go into the end zone and Jayton would take over on their 20 yard line. From that point Jayton started what appeared to be a very promising drive. On 1st down, Josh Wood picked up about 20 yards for a first down. Later in the same series, Jayton was called for intentionally grounding the ball. They overcame that mistake on a pass play that took the ball down to the 22 yard line. Keeping the ball on the ground Jayton drove the ball to the 4 yard line of Northside where it would be 1st and goal. Trailing by 30-25, the unlikely happened. On the next play with 4:52 left in the third quarter. The ball appeared to hit off the thigh pad of the Jayton running back on the exchange. The ball hit the ground rolling and went right through the back of the end zone for a touch back. Northside's ball on the 20, 1 st and 15. Northside definitely dodged the bullet.

Overcoming some stout play by the Jayton defense and a penalty on themselves, the Indians would drive 60 yards for a touch down and it was capped by a 23 yard run for a touchdown by Colby White and one more time Freeling would convert the PAT. The Indians opened up the lead to 38-25 with 2:05 left in the third.

The kickoff by Northside was short and picked up by Speed and he reversed his field and started up the left sideline. He was hit by a defender and the ball came loose and Northside recovers. Northside would score but it would be called back on a penalty. Eventually the ball goes over on downs and Jayton knows they need points.

The start of the 4th quarter begins with Jayton scoring on a pass to Lynn Mayfield for 22 yards. The kick is good and Jayton closes the gap to 38-33 with 9:51 left in the game. Jayton kicks the ball five yards deep into the end zone on the kickoff but the kick receivers decides to bring it out. He fumbles the ball when he is hit and Jayton takes over on the Northside 17 trailing by 5. With 9:20 left Tyler Speed catches the ball along the left sideline and loses the ball as he dives toward the end zone. Again, the ball goes out of the end zone and is ruled a touch back. Video shows the ball was fumbled short of the end zone and the officials call was correct. Twice, Jayton drives to the goal line to see the ball fumbled away and Northside getting the ball on their own twenty.

Knowing they had dodged the bullet once again, Northside makes a 2 play statement drive. On the first play they complete a pass to the Jaybird 35 yard line and the very next play McGee would score on a 35 yard run. The PAT was good and Northside was on their way to winning the Six-Man State Championship for Division 2 leading 46 to 33 with 8:44 left in the game.

Jayton would make one last run at coming back scoring on a 1 yard run by Mayfield and the PAT conversion kick by Wood coming at the 7:10 mark in the 4th quarter pulling as close as it would get 46-41.

Northside responded with 2 additional scores. Freeling would score on an 11 yard pass from White. The kick would fail putting the Indians in control 52 to 41 with 3:47 left. The icing on the cake and the State Championship came with just :27 seconds left on the clock. White would score on a 41 yard run and the PAT was good. Your final score Northside Indians 61 Jayton Jaybirds 41.

Congratulations to both teams and good luck next season.

• December 17, 2006 9:34 PM

CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY! How did they get here?

Week Zero
Jayton beat Benjamin 68-18
Northside beat Crowell 52-6
Richland Springs beat ACHS70-24
Rule scrimmaged Happy

Week One
Jayton beat Ropes 44-20
Northside beat Know City 64-19
Richland Springs beat Amarillo Bible Heritage 54-6
Rule beat Valley 39-15

Week Two
Jayton beat Spur 64-21
Northside beat Wichita Falls Christian 69-6
Richland Springs beat Gustine 56-6
Rule beat Moran 68-14

Week Three
Jayton beat Patton Springs 24-22
Northside be Roy NM 50-0
Richland Springs OPEN
Rule beat Paducah 59-14

Week Four
Jayton lost to Highland 32-14
Northside beat Chillicothe 77-30
Richland Springs beat Petersburg in Rule 64-0
Rule beat Bryson 82-34

Week Five
Jayton lost to Rule 50-0
Northside lost to Amarillo Bible Heritage 102-87
Richland Springs beat Granbury Happy Hill 83-0
Rule beat Jayton 50-0

Week Six
Jayton beat Loraine 58-20
Northside OPEN
Richland Springs beat Veribest 56-8
Rule beat Throckmorton 69 to 57

Week Seven
Jayton beat Trent 48-0
Northside beat Patton Springs 56-10
Richland Springs beat Brookesmith 65-20
Rule beat Spur 48-0
Week Eight
Jayton beat Hermleigh 58-0
Northside beat Harrold 50-0
Richland Springs OPEN
Rule beat Knox City 48-0

Week Nine
Jayton OPEN
Northside beat Benjamin 58-8
Richland Springs beat Eden 96-0
Rule OPEN

Week Ten
Jayton beat Borden County 64-57
Northside beat Guthrie 56-7
Richland Springs beat Rochelle 54-6
Rule beat Aspermont 57-0

PLAYOFFS BEGIN

Week Eleven
Jayton Beat Loop 82-54
Northside beat Moran 58-6
Richland Springs beat Lometa 40-16
Rule BYE

Week Twelve
Jayton beat Sanderson 51-6
Northside beat Apple Springs 58-6
Richland Springs beat May 56-8
Rule beat Happy 52-2

Week Thirteen
Jayton beat Borden County 72-36
Northside beat Woodson 82-52
Richland Spring beat Calvert 52-14
Rule beat Throckmorton 36-28

Week Fourteen
Jayton beat Whitharral 75-66
Northside beat Gustine 76-29
Richland Springs beat Blum 64-26
Rule beat Meadow 45-0

Week Fifteen
Jayton vs. Northside 3:00 PM Shotwell Stadium Abilene, Texas
Richland Springs vs. Rule 7:30 PM Shotwell Stadium Abilene, Texas

• December 15, 2006 7:11 PM

The BIG Buildup and PICKS

I became hooked on Six-Man, again, after carrying what was then my future son in law and now is to watch Throckmorton beat Valley 68-22 here in Abilene last year. I played Six-Man in high school at Lueders-Avoca back when the earth was still cooling down.

When I graduated High School back in May of 1970, I found my way over to the big city of Abilene. Lycia, and I married in 1972. Our oldest child, Angela, was born in 1977. That made a huge change in our life together. Then the son, Bradley, came along in 1983 followed my another girl, Casie Jo, in 1985. We pretty well raised those kids here in Abilene although we did move to the Dallas area in the late 80's before coming to our senses and moving back to Abilene in the early 90's. Those kids were Taylor Trojans, Franklin Broncos, and Abilene High Eagles. During that stretch I followed a different kind of football but I never totally forgot about my roots in Six-Man. I saw a few games here and there and checked on scores especially the Raiders.

Throckmorton's team a year ago was one of the best teams to ever pad up in Six-Man in my humble opinion. They cruised to the State Championship winning it with ease en route to a perfect season of 15-0. The memories of that team will linger for a long, long time. They have a real nice monument out in front of the school in Throckmorton that will help remind and inspire future Greyhounds. It, along with hard work, seemed to inspire this season's group of Greyhounds. They finished up this year at 9 and 3. I think that was an outstanding season for them considering the adversity they faced all year long. That all started with a new head coach. They got a fine one in Clyde Parham. He took a group of young men that wasn't quiet as experienced as the team from a year ago. They fought the injury bug. They had a huge target on their back, defending State Champs, that they carried into every game they played. Just a play here or there going their way and they might have been playing for a second championship in a row. You can all chime in now if you would like, “If and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas.” Congratulations to the Throckmorton Greyhounds. You gave it your all.

Beginning with seven games I saw in Week Zero, I have witnessed 25 games this year. The 2 championship games that are to be played here this weekend will give me 27 games this season. So far, I have traveled approximately 4000 miles round trip this season. No one made me do that. I did it on my own and I loved ever minute of it. I have eaten a hamburger at every game. There were some real good ones and a bad one or two along the way. The best part of it has been the people I have come in contact with over the season. Coaches, players, fans, cheerleaders, officials, people running the concession stands and the folks that sold me gasoline late at night are all memories I will carry with me the rest of my life.

Where did I go? Let's see.

Week Zero. I went to Richland Springs on Thursday night to the Coyote Kick Off classic. Liked it so well I went back there on Friday night. Saturday I spent the day in Hico at the Hico Super Six. If you never done either one of those, make plans right now to take part in one or both next season.

Week One. I found my way to Valley to watch them host the Rule Bobcats. After seeing Rule that night, I knew it was going to be a special season for them. They didn't play great but they showed resolve and won the game 39 to 15.

Week Two. It is a far piece from Abilene to Whitharral. I went there to see Whitharral host Meadow. Wow, that Streety boy can kick that ball. Meadow could score too. They won 99-60. If it were not for a few missed PAT's, I would have seen my first 100 point game.

Week Three. North again. This time I saw a great Division 2 game between Jayton and Patton Springs in Afton. Jayton scored with very little time left to win 24 to 22. I believe they were trailing 16-0 at the half. It was an exciting game even though there wasn't that many points scored. Quite a contrast to the game I saw the week before.

Week Four. I drove out to Highland to watch them host Jayton. Highland won that game 32-14. Those Highland folks sure fix a mean hamburger. Highland lost the week before to Spur by one point because they didn't play ball the way they were capable of playing. They played an outstanding game against Jayton. Offense, Defense, Special teams, they had it all going against Jayton. Highland is the best team I saw play this season that did not make the playoffs. They finished 7 and 3. That was a tough district.

Week Four. On Saturday I tripped off to Rule to watch Richland Springs play Petersburg. RS won that game 64-0 and it was over at the half. I left wondering what the Rule team and coaches thought about the Coyotes and if they were thinking then that they would be seeing them in the playoffs??

Week Four. Came back to Abilene and went out to Shotwell to catch a little of the Throckmorton and Abilene Christian High School game. Friends from Richland Springs told me in Rule that they were thinking about going back to Abilene and watching this game. I told them they would be wasting their time and that the game would be over at the half. I was wrong. ACHS who played the hardest early season schedule of anyone grew up that day. Throckmorton won the game but ACHS scared them. The final was 59-40.

Week Five. I found my way to Jayton to watch them host Rule. I expected a close game with Rule winning. Well, Rule won. 50-0. Jayton has a fine team. This game solidified my thoughts on Rule. I left thinking Rule is going a long ways this season. Maybe all the way.

Week Six. District 7 opening week and a heck of a match up. Rule traveled to Throckmorton to take on Bryce Hogue and the defending State Champs. I knew where I had to be on this night! It was a great game and Rule prevailed by the score of 69-57. 12 points. It was a close game but not as close as the score indicated. Rule pretty much controlled the game. I knew then that Rule had the total package. Offense, Defense, and SPEED. I left Throckmorton that night thinking to myself that Rule could quite possibly win the State Championship in Division 1.

Week Seven. I had been keeping up with some teams out East and decided the Abbott and Blum game was a must see Six-Man game. Both teams were undefeated and neither had come close to breaking a sweat yet or being tested. Abbott came into Blum a little banged up and Blum routed them. 47-0. I left there with the thought in mind, Rule is not the only team with speed. Not just speed, I mean SPEED. I figured I would see Blum again in the playoffs.

Week Eight. I decided to go back to Highland to watch them play Robert Lee. I was getting into this thing about speed and I heard that Robert Lee had some. After seeing Highland against Jayton a few weeks back I thought this should be my “game of the week”. Yes, I did have another Highland Hamburger. Robert Lee did show some speed. Highland played well again but Robert Lee won the game 54-42. There is something about this speed thing!!

Week Nine. I had been keeping up with the young man at Richland Springs that was closing in on the National Six-Man career touchdown passes record. He needed two or three to tie the record. RS was playing Eden and I thought there is a good chance that the record would fall and I wanted to be there to see it if it did. It fell. It was smashed. So was Eden and so would be the program at Richland Springs. The final score was 96 to 0 and that was at the half. All the people in the world came down on RS and the program there for running up the score on Eden. I was there and I saw every play and every point that was scored and my take on it was IF and you see that is a BIG IF. IF Richland Springs really wanted to have run up the score it could have been 300 to 0. Really!
Week Ten. The May Tigers had been making some noise and had been playing some tough defense so I decided to go to May and watch them play Santa Anna for the District 13 Championship. Both teams would make the playoffs but who would be the District Champ??? May won the game 82 to 62 and with that the right to play Richland Springs in round two of the playoffs.

THE PLAYOFFS BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!
Week Eleven. Vernon Northside and Moran settle on Shotwell Stadium for their Bi District game and choose to play on a Thursday night. Sweet! I have been wanting to watch Northside all season but it just hadn't worked out. During the regular season, I ranked teams here at Six-Man Central. I had the Indians of Northside ranked as the Number One team in Division 2. Northside was 5 and 0 and looked worthy of that ranking. They then hooked up with Amarillo Bible Heritage. Northside scored 87 points and STILL lost by 15 points!!!! That's right. 102-87. I did not know much about ABH but I figure if you let anyone score over a 100 points on you you are deserving of the Number One ranking. Quite frankly, I have picked against them ever since and ever since they have proved me wrong. I gave them no chance whatsoever of beating Gustine. Northside won that game 76-29.

Week Eleven. I decided for the Friday night game I would drive out to Stanton to watch Meadow and Robert Lee play. Meadow was a 45 point favorite. I had watched Robert Lee beat a good Highland team and besides that Robert Lee had speed. There was no way that Meadow would 45 Robert Lee!! Yes way. 72-24 Meadow. That set up a game of Meadow against Garden City if Meadow could get by Fort Davis and I knew I would have to see that as I had picked Garden City all season to face Rule at the Semi Final round.

Week Twelve. How could I resist going to watch May and Richland Springs? There were people that really thought May could beat Richland Springs. I did not but I thought it would be a close game. It is a simple fact that I know now. Tyler Ethridge will not allow a close game. The previous week with his team appearing to be in a close game, Tyler came out of his street clothes at he half ( he had been injured earlier in the final regular season game) and led his team to a 40-16 victory. I don't know if he changed his clothes in a telephone booth or not but he certainly played like he might have. The legend grows more and more. Tyler can't be stopped. BTW, RS is not a one man team. Tyler Ethridge is the key player NOT the only player. Back to the game at hand, May didn't have a clue what hit them. 56 to 8. RS Coyotes advance. Speaking of hitting, Richland Springs DEFENSE does just that. HITS

Week 13. A decision must be made. Do I watch a Rule and Throckmorton rematch OR do I head down Interstate 20 again this time to see Meadow and Garden City? My thought process was, Rule will beat Throckmorton with one hand tied behind their back and Garden City will advance and I will have the match up I have expected. Funny how things don't always go just like you figure it to. First, The Rule Bobcats escaped with a win over Throckmorton. The score was 36-28 and it came down to an unbelievable pass and catch for a TD at the end. Meanwhile, out in Stanton where I decided to go, Garden City can't hang on to the ball and Meadow scores 20 points off turn overs and win the game by twenty points 54 to 34. Meadow is looking stronger than ever.

Week 14. Rule and Meadow play is Lubbock on Saturday night. Sweet! That means I can make another trip to Comanche to watch to super DEFENSES go at it in Blum and Richland Springs. Here you have not one but two Six-Man teams whose defense is only allowing 9 points a game!!!!!! Oh! My Gosh!!!

The battle begins and it looks like it will be close. Do you remember what I told you back in week 12?
Tyler will not allow a close game. Tyler does not allow a close game with Blum and Blum has lots of SPEED. Blum decides to rush one on TE. Doesn't work. OK, plan B. Rush two guys on Mr. Ethridge. Same result. One thing left to do, that's right, rush three on that guy. Once again Superman responds. Blum with all their SPEED manage to score 26 points. Blum with all their SPEED manage to hold Tyler Ethridge to just 23 of 32 passing for 381 yards and another 145 yards rushing. Did I mention he threw for SIX touchdowns which by the way allowed him to break the all time record for career touch down passes that was held by the Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell when he played high school ball at Ennis? While rushing he did score a touch down. That is 7 touchdowns through the air and on the ground.

Saturday night in Lubbock, Meadow comes in to town having scored 804 points. A powerful offense to say the least. A defense good enough to have secured 13 wins against no losses. Rule brings their stout DEFENSE and all their team SPEED and they walk a way with a 45-0 win over Meadow. The whole world is shocked. Not that Rule won but how convincing they won.

Saturday right here in beautiful Abilene, Texas, four teams are coming here to play their hearts out to win a State Championship. Game one is the Six-Man Division 2 State Championship between the (12-2) Jayton Jaybirds and the (13-1) Vernon Northside Indians. The kickoff for this game will be at 3:00 PM. The official spread in this game has Northside 13 point favorites. My pick is Northside by 21.

Game 2 has Rule (12-0) facing Richland Springs (13-0) The kickoff is scheduled at 7:30 PM. The official line on this game has Rule installed as 15 point favorites. My pick is Richland Springs by 14.

Tickets are $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for students. One ticket gets you in for both games. The weather should be beautiful. Come early, stay late. Have a fantastic time and enjoy. Thanks for coming.

Thanks for reading.
Don Hardin
txsixii@yahoo.com

• December 15, 2006 1:56 AM

STATE FINALS ARE SET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The State Semifinals are in the books. Your winners are Richland Springs and Rule in Division 1.
Vernon Northside and Jayton won in the Division 2 Semifinals.

I have already heard from some of you and I am sure there will be others. I picked Rule by 14 and Richland Springs by 14. Rule won by 45 and Richland Springs by 38. I was surprised by both scores.

The BAD news? OK. How about Division 2? Well....... I picked Whitharral in what I said would be an upset. The score I picked was Whitharral beating Jayton by the score of 30-24. The actuall score was Jayton 75 Whitharral 66.

I picked Gustine to beat Northside by the score of 46 to 36. The score was Northside 76 Gustine 29. Am I good or what?

So, the GOOD news? ABILENE, ABILENE, prettiest town I ever seen. BOTH, count'em! Both CHAMPIONSHIPS for Six-Man will be played in Abilene at Shotwell Saturday December 16th.

I attended both of the Division 1 Semifinal games. Friday night I made my way to Comanche to watch two very good undefeated teams, Blum and Richland Springs, take on each other. The key word before this game was DEFENSE. What you had were two teams that had given up an average of 9 points per game. Unbelievable! I knew, you knew, something would have to give.

Well, Blum's defense gave up seven TD passes. Seven TD passes thrown by Tyler Ethridge. In case you don't remember him, he set the national record for career touchdown passes in Six-Man a few weeks back. He is a Junior by the way. It just so happens that the 4th touchdown pass in this game broke yet another record. There is a young man named Graham Harrell who plays for Texas Tech now that threw for 167 career touchdown passes while playing11-man ball at Ennis. That is an amazing record. The new record now stands at 171 and is owned by Mr. Tyler Ethridge.

Tyler finished the night completing 23 of 32 passes for 381 yards and as mentioned, 7 td passes. He also added 145 yards rushing and a td run of 17 yards. His main choice of weapons was Mark Williams who caught 7 passes for 150 yards and 3 of the 7 td passes thrown by Ethridge.

Blum did everything they could on defense to try to stop the Coyote's offense. They rushed one, two, and on a few occassions three players trying to contain Ethridge. These were not your run of the mill defensive players either. They were very good players. They did sack him a couple of times, maybe more. Most of the time though, Tyler worked his magic. Blum's coach, Gary Talafuse said in tribute to Ethridge, “about all we could have done different to slow Ethridge down was to have tried playing 9 players on defense.”

Michael Arrington, Blum's outstanding back gained 126 yards on 21 carries and scored three touchdowns.

The score by quarters: 1 2 3 4
Richland Springs 24 8 24 8 64
Blum 8 12 0 6 26

Saturday I went to Lubbock to watch Rule and Meadow. Let me just say right now that in Rule they spell Cats with a “d”, as in DEFENSE.

Meadow came into this game with an offense that had scored 804 points. They left Lubbock the same way. Rule shut them out! 45-0. I do feel there are several reasons for this. It certainly was not a great game on Meadow's part. I also believe that most of the reasons were the players wearing the Rule uniforms. Meadow gained 135 yards of total offense. Six times Meadow either gave the ball up on unsuccessful 4th down plays or by fumbling the ball away. It is somewhat ironic for the Broncos to be bitten so hard by the turnover bug because that is just opposite of their game last week with Garden City. Meadow got the turnovers last week and turned them into a 20 point victory. Not so this week and it cost them dearly.

Much had been made about speed (Rule) and SIZE (Meadow) during the days leading up to this game. Rule's speed is indeed lethal. Rule has shown all season that they were a balanced team passing and running coming into this game. Meadow in their loss did a great job in shutting down the Bobcat running game. Rule gained 80 yards rushing on 20 running plays. Meadow did not have near as easy a time in stopping the passing game of Rule. The Bobcats wound up completing 17 of 22 passes for 211 yards. Rule used 6 different receivers to accounts for the 211 yards.

It is usually kind of a “given” that as you prepare your team to defend against the other team, you “key” on one or at most two particular players on the other team and when you do your job, you are usually successful in your efforts. Rule poses a big problem for their opponents because it is difficult to stop 6 or more players. ONE TEAM ONE DREAM. Rule uses that as their motto and plays the game on the field like they mean it.

Saturday 3:00 PM Shotwell Stadium
Division 2 State Championship Jayton (12-2) vs. Northside (13-1)
The experts have installed Jayton as a 13 point underdog.

To follow afterwards at 7:00 or 7:30 PM
Division 1 State Championship Rule (12-0) vs. Richland Springs (13-0)
The experts have installed Richland Springs as a 15 point underdog.

My predictions on these games will appear later in the week.

Thank you for reading.

Don Hardin
txsixii@yahoo.com

• December 10, 2006 11:48 PM

Welcome to the State SemiFinals Six-Man style

Well, we have played our way down to 4 teams in each division of Six-Man football. I would truly love to see both games in Division 1 and Division 2. Impossible!

Division 1 has 4 undefeated teams. I will be making trios to Comanche on Friday night and on Saturday to Lubbock to wact the Division 1 Semifinals. Nothing against Division 2. I just can't pass up the match ups that Division 1 has to offer. The Meadow Broncos are 13-0 and play against the Rule Bobcats who are 12-0. This game will be played Saturday at 6:00 PM in Lubbock at Lowrey Field. I stopped ranking teams at the end of the regular season. Some continue to rank teams even now and Meadow is ranked number 1 in the state and Rule number 2.

Meadow has scored 804 points while giving up 275 points. Rounded that equates to Meadow outscoring their opposition on the average of 62-21. Saturday's opponent, the Rule Bobcats have won 11 games against no losses. They have averaged 55 points a game while the defense has given up 15 points a game. I have seen both teams play and they are very impressive. Reality is one goes on the other goes home. Six-Man Central picks Rule to win by the score of 48 to 34.

The other match up is Blum and Richland Springs. This is a Friday night game to be played at 7:30 PM in Comanche. Get there early if you want a seat. Blum is 13-0. They have managed to score 751 points and their defense has given up 120 points. Looking at the rounded averages, Blum scores 58 points a game and gives up 9. Most impressive is Blum has shut out 8 teams in the 13 games they have played. Impressive does not tell the story there. There are not that many schools that shuts out even one opponent much less 8! Richland Springs also brings impressive numbers to this contest. The Coyotes, (12-0) have scored 746 points and given up 108 points in 12 contest this season. The average there is 62 points a game on offense and 9 points on defense. Both teams will give up more than 9 in this one. Six-Man Central sees this one as Richland Springs 38 Blum 24.

Four teams with a combined record of 49-0. It can't get better than that.

Division 2 also has 2 excellent match ups. Jayton, (11-2) will play Whitharral, (10-2) Saturday at 7:00 PM in Post. I have seen both Jayton and Whitharral play this season. Jayton has averaged scoring 50 points a game while giving up 25 points a game. Whitharral is scoring 58 points a game on the average while giving up 32 points a game. Jayton is favored in most circles and by as much as 16 points. Six-Man Central smells an upset here and picks Whitharral to win 30-24.

The other Division 2 match up pits Vernon Northside, (12-1) against Gustine, (12-1). This is a Friday night game to be played in Throckmorton at 7:30 PM. Again, I have seen both teams and they are deserving to be playing in December. Northside has averaged scoring 63 points a game while giving up 20 points a game. Gustine has scored on the average of 55 points a game while giving up 12 points a game. The Indians of Northside will play it close before losing to Gustine. Six-Man Central sees this one 46 to 36 Gustine winning.

To the teams that I have picked to win and to the teams I have picked to lose, I say Good Football To You. Remember, the games or not won or lost just because some old codger says so. They are won or lost on the field.

My wish is you each play your best game of the year and that all remain injury free and that which ever 4 teams advance to next week's State Championship games, that you will consider playing in Abilene.

Don Hardin
txsixii@yahoo.com

• December 7, 2006 9:30 PM

What I Saw and What I Heard

I fretted all week long about where I wo go on Friday night to watch Six-man football. I wanted to see all seven of the playoff games that were being played in both Division 1 and Division 2. I decided to go to Stanton and watch Garden City and Meadow in a highly anticipated game between two of the top teams in Division 1. These teams had been on a collision course ever since they scrimmaged each other back in the dog days of August.

I had seen Garden City play only one time this season. What a game that was. Garden City handed Throckmorton a loss in Week Zero in a game played in Hico. The score was 38-36 and that was in overtime. Even at that time, Garden City seem destined for great things. Great things were done by these BearKats as they went through the entire regular season undefeated and rolled into the playoffs where they received a first round bye and then dispatched of Wellman-Union in the second round to earn a shot at the young men from Meadow. With all the cherished wins came the pain of injuries of players over the course of the long season. Garden City was blessed with good numbers of players and with great talent and even greater heart. When their star player went down another would step in and become a star himself. The injury bug kept biting and biting and it finally took its toll against Meadow.

Meadow also was destined for greatness dating back to the scrimmages held at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland way back in August. I watched Meadow play a couple of times during the season. The first game I saw Meadow play this season was against Whitharral. Whitharral is a Division 2 team and a good one at that. Good enough to still be playing this week end themselves. Meadow won that game by the score of 99 to 60. That was the third week of the season. Meadow of course went on to run the table during the regular season and then beat Robert Lee and Fort Davis in rounds one and two. It was the Robert Lee game that I watched when I saw Meadow play for the second time during this season and they totally dominated that Bi-District game. The score was 72-24. Just as GC faced the battle of injuries, Meadow, had to deal with key injuries themselves. When a star player would go down, a Meadow player would step in and Meadow would continue to roll on its collision course with Garden City....... Meadow was indeed on a roll and it continued last night.

I remember talking with Garden City's Head Coach, Vance Jones after the OT win over Throckmorton. When I asked how he felt, beaming his infectious smile he said “It feels good, really good.” Last night when I got to the stadium at Stanton and had a chance to speak with Coach Jones before the game, he said, “I feel good, really good...right now anyway”. After the game he would say, “ we had too many turnovers. I don't even remember how many times we did turn it over but you been around long enough to know that you can't do that against a good team and Meadow has a good team”.

For certain, turnovers played a big part in Garden City's loss however, the Meadow “D” played huge as Garden City was fored to turnover the balls on downs several times besides the uncharacteristic miscues pf the night. Turnovers hurt. Especially when the other team scores after you make the mistake that gives them the ball. That is exactly what Meadow did last night. Two Garden City fumbles in the second quarter and one more in the 4th quarter all led to points by Meadow. Twenty points worth. Oh! I don't think I have mentioned that Meadow won the game by the score of 54 to 34. A twenty point victory. That margin of victory looks mysteriously like the twenty points that came as a result of the turnovers I have already listed.

When Garden City didn't turn the ball over, they put points on the board. They trailed 26 to 8 at the half and were able to score 26 points in the second half but Meadow would respond by scoring 14 points in the third and 14 more in the 4th quarter. Twice it appeared that Garden City would get back in the game. They scored on a beautiful 50 yard run by Bo Eggemeyer very early in the 3rd quarter. Mr. Eggemeyer finished the night with nearly 250 yards rushing. Any new found momentum for GC was lost when Meadow came right back and scored on a 40 yard pass. Garden City responded with another touchdown of their own in the third quarter but Adrian Sanchez returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and that took the air out of a Garden City come back. Sanchez opened the night's scoring by returning the game's opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. Meadow missed their PAT and led 6-0. That would be the score at the end of the first quarter. Garden City scored early in the second quarter and made their kick to take the lead 8-6. It would be the only lead of the night for Garden City as the turnovers would kill any chance they had. As Coach Jones would say in the end, “it was just one of those nights”.

Meadow, now 13-0, advances to play Rule, 11-0 next week in the State Semifinals round. Rule eliminated the defending State Champions, Throckmorton by the score of 36-28. The game is to be played in Lubbock at Lowery Field either on Friday or Saturday.

The other semifinals round game will match two more undefeated teams. Richland Springs, 12-0 will take on Blum 13-0. That game is Friday night at 7:30 in Comanche. Blum is the home team and the ticket prices will be $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.

Sure hope Rule and Meadow play on Saturday as I want to see both games and I know many others will as well. The hold up at this point is when will Lowery Field be available and that won't be known most likely until the games are played there today.

• December 2, 2006 11:03 AM

16 divided by 2 = 8 teams

That is how many teams will be left after this weekend.

This weekend's Playoff Games for the uninformed.

Division 1 teams. All games Friday night.
The spreads are those posted on the sixmanfootball.com web site.

Garden City (11-0)
Meadow (12-0)
In Stanton at 7:00 PM.
Meadow is a 3 point favorite. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Rule and Throckmorton game in next week's Semifinals round.

Rule(10-0)
Throckmorton (9-2)
In Stamford at 7:30 PM.
Rule is an 18 point favorite. This is the second meeting of these schools from District 7. Rule won the first game 69-57. Throckmorton is the defending State Champion from last season. The winner of this game advances to the Semifinals round to face the winner of the Garden City and Meadow game.

Trinidad (10-1)
Blum (12-0)
In West at 7:30 PM.
Blum is a 23 point favorite. The winner of this game faces the winner of the Richland Springs and Calvert game in the Semifinals round next week.

Richland Springs (11-0)
Calvert (11-1)
In Gatesville at 7:30 PM.
Richland Springs is a 36 point favorite. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Trinidad and Blum game in next week's Semifinals round.

Division 2 games

Borden County (8-4)
Jayton (10-2)
In Merkel Friday at 6:30 PM
Borden County is a 2 point favorite. They lost the District 4 Championship game to Jayton by the score of 64-57. The winner of this game plays the winner of the Whitharral Samnorwood game next week in the Semifinals round.

Whitharral (9-2)
Samnorwood (7-5)
Amarillo Bushland SATURDAY at 6:00 PM.
Samnorwood is a 1 point favorite. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Jayton and Borden County game next week in the Semifinals round.

Northside (11-1)
Woodson (8-4)
In Munday Friday at 7:30 PM.
Northside is a 20 point favorite. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Gustine and Zephyr game next week in the Semifinals round.

Gustine (11-1)
Zephyr (8-3)
In Comanche Friday night at 7:30 PM. Gustine is a 45 point favorite. The winner of this game will play the winner of the Northside and Woodson game next week in the Semifinals round.

A couple of corrections or clarifications that need to be made. First, Samnorwood was the # 2 seed out of District 7. There was a three way tie for first between McLean, Motley County and Samnorwood. Such ties in this district are broken by a coin flip. McLean flipped heads to be the odd man in as the # 1 seed. Samnorwood was awarded the # 2 seed by virtue of their 46-38 win over Motley County .

I posted that Zephyr was runner up from District 13. That was WRONG as there is no District 13 to begin with and also Zephyr was the District Champion and Paint Rock was the runner up with both teams coming out of District 14. I want to thank Coach Wilcoxen of Zephyr and Shawn Reed, Superintendent of Samnorwood for pointing out the error of my ways. If anyone catches other errors please let me know and I will try to get those corrected as well.

The season continues to build toward the State Championships in a couple of weeks. Right now there are 16 teams left in both Divisions combined. Next week we will have 8 teams left.

Good Football To You.

Don Hardin
txsixii@yahoo .com

• December 1, 2006 7:13 AM