Four East Texas TAPPS teams went on the road on Friday. All four came back home with TAPPS D-II District 2 victories.

All Saints, in its first district game since 2011, beat Carrollton Prince of Peace 27-8.

Bishop Gorman went to 1-0 in league play for the time under coach Coby Gipson.

Grace Community overcame a slow start to top Frisco Legacy Christian 49-35.

Perhaps most impressively, Bullard Brook Hill took down defending district champion Dallas Christian 23-20.

“That’s an important part of being in this district is being able to play on the road,” Gipson said.

This week the four East Texas teams return home and hope to shutout the Metroplex schools once again before they start playing each other.

All Saints takes on Legacy Christian, Brook Hill hosts Shelton, Grace looks to keep Dallas Christian off the board and Gorman welcomes Prince of Peace for homecoming.

 

BROOK HILL GETS IT DONE

Brook Hill coach Bobby Brasher said his team prepared to win at Dallas Christian and went out and got the job done Friday.

The Guard rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown, all of which came from Gabe Lucio, and passed for 281 yards and a touchdown in a 23-20 win to begin district play at 1-0.

“We probably had our best week of practice since I’ve been here and our kids played really physical,” Brasher said. “They really stepped up to the challenge. I didn’t know we had that much in us, but we did.”

The Guard (2-1) had never beaten Dallas Christian before but took a 17-13 lead into halftime thanks to a 6-yard scoring strike from Grant Hanks to Seth Brasher, a 1-yard TD run by Lucio and a 29-yard field goal by Caleb Chadwell.

Chadwell was responsible for all of Brook Hill’s points in the second half, connecting on field goals of 21 and 30 yards. His 30-yarder occurred with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter and that turned out to be the decider.

“We knew we had to be able to run it enough to keep them in the box, so they couldn’t rush three and drop eight (back into coverage) and we could throw the ball,” Brasher said. “Gabe Lucio picked up tough yards and we had four or five receivers who caught balls.

“It was a pretty conservative ball game, but (it was what we needed to get it done).”

— Chris Parry

 

TROJANS WIN IN RETURN

Most All Saints players had never played in a district game before. Whether it was that inexperience or the long travel to Carrollton, the Trojans fell behind 8-0 on the Eagles’ first drive.

But after that, All Saints (3-1, 1-0) dominated, particularly on defense. The Trojans allowed 155 yards, none through the air.

On offense, All Saints racked up 396, with Jace Evans (16-133, one TD) and Matt Brunson (7-102, one TD) leading the way as the Trojans ran for 305 yards.

“We started off a little slow, I think travel got to us,” All Saints coach Mike Hall said. “We went out a little flat defensively. Let them push it right down our throats that first drive, then we woke up and decided to play some football.

“We had some nerves to overcome. … All in all we’re very happy with the way it turned out.”

All Saints’ last district win came Nov. 11, 2011.

“We talked about how we were in the new season so I think they did sense it but it’s still so new to them,” Hall said. “I think they’re understanding now and they realize we belong and our theme this year is believe.”

The Trojans can notch their second TAPPS D-II District 2 win on Friday at home against Frisco Legacy Christian.

 

GRACE ADJUSTS FOR VICTORY

Like All Saints, Grace started a little slow on Friday.

The Cougars led 28-27 at halftime before pulling away in the second half thanks to a few key adjustments to the blocking schemes.

“It started helping our run game when we changed schemes,” Grace coach Mike Maddox said. “Our guys did a good job adjusting and I thought at halftime we made some good adjustments and had a real good third quarter.”

The changes allowed the Cougars to finish with 574 total yards of offense, led by a strong effort from the offensive line. Zach Tatman had nearly half of those, rushing for 276 yards and two touchdowns to propel Grace (3-1, 1-0) to victory.

Maddox was glad to see his team overcome adversity in a tough road game.

“I thought our kids hung in here and found a way to make positive things happen,” Maddox said. “You always like to see that out of your kids.”

 

CRUSADERS HAPPY TO BE 1-0

Going up against a team that went winless last year, Bishop Gorman took care of business to keep Dallas Shelton winless this year.

The Crusaders (4-0, 1-0) racked up 476 yards to cruise to victory against the Chargers.

“Anytime you can be 1-0 it’s a great start,” Gipson said. “It’s a step in the right direction and we’re trying to build each week and play better than the week before.”

Gipson said he was pleased about the way the team started. Gorman came out and forced a punt on the first drive, one of the team’s goals for the game.

A second goal was to run the ball effectively, which the Crusaders did, toting up 201 yards on the ground.

“I would say the way the defense handled their running game and the way we ran the ball we’re very happy with,” Gipson said.