Brook Hill linebacker Ross Lee and the Guard defense held Dallas Lutheran to zero total yards last week. (Jaime R. Carrero | Tyler Morning Telegraph)

KILLEEN — Bullard Brook Hill and Austin Regents know each other well — the Guard and Knights have met in the TAPPS Division III playoffs the last three seasons.

Regents won the first meeting 55-28 in the 2008 regional round before Brook Hill bounced back with a 48-21 victory in the same round the following year. Last season, the Knights defeated the Guard 38-7 in the state championship.

Today is Round 4: Brook Hill vs. Regents in a prize fight between the two best teams in the division all year for all the marbles. The state championship kicks off at 6 p.m. from Leo Buckley Stadium.

“This is not an unfamiliar foe for us,” Guard coach Terry Pirtle said.

After last year’s win in Temple, Knights coach Beck Brydon said he began preparing for Brook Hill right after the 2009 loss and devoted a few hours each week to a potential rematch.

The efforts paid off with a state championship. Now the Guard are hoping they can do the same, having begun preparations for the Knights months ago.

“We’ve had meetings and we’ve decided that we were going to make sure we were well-prepared when we played them,” Pirtle said. “During the summer we were putting the depth chart together for them and then obviously we followed them real closely during the season.

“We feel a little bit more intimate with them this year than we did last year.”

Brook Hill’s coaching staff began planning for Regents in the summer and had film on Regents by Week 3.

“We know what our opponent can do and we know how well we have to play to win and so we’re focused this week and really we aren’t messing around,” said Austin Langemeier, the team’s leading receiver and one of 18 seniors. “We were still focused on each week’s games, but we knew what the final goal was and we knew what we were aiming at.

“We’ve been preparing for a long time for this game, for this Saturday.”

Both the Knights and Guard are different squads from last year. Regents graduated Walker Netherton, who ran for 148 yards in last year’s final, and quarterback Caleb Smith. Brook Hill graduated all-everything quarterback/safety Tyler Baker.

Dawson Gamble is the Knights’ top athlete this year. After recording seven interceptions a year ago, Gamble has five picks this year to go with 1,475 total yards of offense, 989 of them receiving.

On offense Regents has turned to the twin brother duo of Andrew and Douglas Meynig, both juniors. Andrew, the quarterback, leads the team in rushing (1,231) and passing (1,072) while Douglas has added 873 yards and 10 touchdowns at running back. Older brother Chris Meynig quarterbacked Regents to a state title in 2006.

What the Meynigs lack in size — Andrew is 5-8, 150 pounds; Douglas is 5-6, 145 pounds — they make up for with speed and smarts.

“They’re smaller kids but they’re quick and hit the hole and they make good decisions,” Pirtle said. “We’re going to have to control those three kids.”

Brook Hill’s offense has been sparked by Gunnar Dorsey, who has 1,516 yards and 20 touchdowns rushing, averaging 143.1 yards in the last eight games. Junior quarterback Will Weathers has completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,779 yards with 24 touchdowns and four interceptions to go with 635 yards and 13 scores rushing.

Pirtle said the team takes pride in its balanced offense, which has 3,542 rushing yards and 2,743 passing yards.

“Last week when we played (Houston) Cypress (Christian) the defensive coordinator after the game was like, ‘I don’t know how to prepare for ya’ll because you have so many sets, can do so many things well that it’s hard to prepare for you,’” Pirtle said. “That’s a compliment and that’s something that we’re trying to do is disguise what we do but still do what we do well.”

Senior linebacker Ross Lee heads the Guard defense with 119 tackles while Jared Dickey has 115 tackles and 15 sacks. Lee said he’s befriended a few Regents players over the years, furthering the familiarity between the teams.

“It’s probably going to be intense,” Lee said of seeing familiar faces. “A lot of us turn into different people when we get on that field; we go from nice kids to like it’s all or nothing now, especially since this is going to be our last football game.

“I’m just ready to go. It doesn’t matter who’s across from me, if they’re my best friend. It’s just football. It’s time to go.”

Lee went on to say this game isn’t about revenge for him, it’s about going out on top and playing the last game together with 18 seniors, many of whom were integral in starting the program years ago in middle school.

“We’re going to try to set a tone for the future for Brook Hill, try to get them over the hump and try to get this school on the rise,” he said. “And try to get kids to know that if you want to play 14 games instead of 10 games, this is where you want to come and be a part of a championship team.”

 

Brook Hill vs. Austin Regents preview

What: TAPPS Division III State Championship.

When: 6 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Leo Buckley Stadium, Killeen.

Radio: KTBB 600-AM.

Records: Brook Hill 10-3; Regents 9-4.

2010 Result: Regents 38, Brook Hill 7.

How They Got Here: Area: Brook Hill 56, Flower Mound Coram Deo 0; Regents 55, Gainesville State School 6. Regional: Brook Hill 48, Carrollton Prince of Peace 7; Regents 48, Katy Faith West 31. Semifinal: Brook Hill 28, Houston Cypress Christian 17; Regents 42, Fort Worth Calvary Christian 12.

Players To Watch: Brook Hill — RB Gunnar Dorsey, TE/LB Jared Dickey, LB Ross Lee, OL/DL Colton Campbell. Regents — WR/CB Dawson Gamble, QB Andrew Meynig, RB Douglas Meynig, OL/DL Will Bowers.

Quick Slant: In a rematch of last year’s state final, storylines abound. From the 18 Brook Hill seniors trying to give the school its first football championship to the Meynig twins trying to follow the footsteps of older brother Chris, who quarterbacked Regents to a 2006 state title. Last year a flu bug ripped through the Guard lineup, leaving the squad weakened. Now healthy they want to go out on top and finally win after losing consecutive title games.

Key Matchup: Campbell vs. Bowers. Last year Regents won the battle in the trenches, aiding in a runaway victory. This year linemen Campbell, Bryan Stephenson, Bailey Franklin, Mason Dickey, Matthew Seamands and Mason Jones will try to push around Bowers, Stafford Sadler and the rest of the Knights defensive front to pave the way for Dorsey.

Quotable: “Last year their line dominated us. That was the determining factor in that game last year. Their line was bigger and better and more prepared and this year I feel like our line’s bigger and better and more prepared and I feel like we can really dominate the line of scrimmage because they’re a run team and I think we can really shut down their run.” — Brook Hill senior defensive lineman Grady Dennis.

Directions To Leo Buckley Stadium: From Tyler, head west on TX-31, around the loop in Athens and through Corsicana. Turn left and enter I-35 S. Exit right onto US-190 W towards Killeen. Take the Veterans Memorial Blvd exit on the right in Killeen and turn right onto FM 2410. Killeen HS will be on the right with the stadium behind it off N 52nd St.