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ARLINGTON — Chapel Hill leaned on a high-powered offense throughout the first 15 weeks of the 2023 Texas high school football season, but its explosive attack was stalled in a 26-0 Class 4A Division I state championship defeat against Anna on Friday at AT&T Stadium.

“They were solid on defense [and] made it tough on us,” Chapel Hill athletic director and head football coach Jeff Riordan said of Anna’s success against his team on Friday. “It seemed like almost every time we would get something going, something would happen, and we would get behind the sticks. And no football team is good playing from behind the sticks. I think that hurt us offensively.”

The Bulldogs earned a lot of their season success on the ground, and brought 5,005 rushing yards to the year’s final stage. Rickey Stewart was the leader in the clubhouse with 2,797 yards and 40 touchdowns, Demetrius Brisbon continued the trend with 1,664 yards and 13 scores, and Ja’borian Cook followed with 414 yards and five touchdowns.

The team was also productive in the passing game before Friday. Brisbon recorded 1,939 of his team’s 2,092 passing yards, and Connor Griffin earned 153. They connected with Cameron Kelley (710 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns), Jayvin Mayfield (538 yards and eight touchdowns), Stewart (285 yards and four touchdowns), Damarcion Blaylock (162 yards and four touchdowns), Jonah Riordan (141 yards), and Darrius Dean (134 yards and one touchdown) on a regular basis.

As strong as Chapel Hill’s offense had been, it never found its footing on Friday, and was ultimately shutout in the season finale. Brisbon completed 11 of his 22 passes for 76 yards in the loss, and Griffin completed four of his five attempts for 24.

Dean caught five of their passes for 41 receiving yards, and Blaylock grabbed six for 40. Brisbon also ran the ball 11 times for 35 yards, and followed Stewart’s 14 carries for 66.

But, the collective effort wasn’t enough. Anna scored an opening drive touchdown to put early pressure on Chapel Hill, and eventually expanded its lead to 10-0 in the first period. The Bulldogs could only answer with 18 rushing yards and three passing yards in the frame.

It was more of the same in the second quarter because the Coyotes added two more offensive touchdowns, and took a 26-0 advantage before halftime after a Chapel Hill punt snap flew out of the end zone. The Bulldogs were also kept in check with 11 passing yards and -13 rushing yards in the quarter.

“They just played defense,” Riordan said of Anna. “They flew to the football, and tackled well. We couldn’t get loose. Everything we got was earned. When you don’t execute at 100 percent, and play a defense like that, it’s hard to get anything going.”

Chapel Hill started to show more life in the third quarter. It earned an 85-26 yardage advantage in the third quarter after 56 rushing yards and 29 passing yards, but it couldn’t finish the first drive of the second half in Anna territory. The Bulldogs reached the Coyote 20-yard line, but Cook was caught for a loss of one yard on a first down carry. Then, Brisbon was sacked for a seven-yard loss on third down, and fumbled on the following fourth down at the 5:34 mark.

The Bulldogs topped that with a 102-81 fourth quarter yardage edge after 57 passing yards and 45 rushing yards, and moved down the field to the Anna two-yard line, but Brisbon’s fourth down pass attempt to Mayfield was incomplete.

“We came out in the second half, and I thought we played better football than they did in the second half,” Riordan said of his team’s late push. “We moved the ball all over the field, and couldn’t get it in the end zone. I was proud of our kids for not quitting [and] coming out in the second half. With the fumble and turnover on downs, I thought we should’ve had 14 points in the second half. Our defense shut them down [in the final two quarters].”

Chapel Hill finished the outing with 206 total yards of offense compared to Anna’s 260.