(Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

All Saints hadn’t won in 370 days.

The Trojans, facing a 2-0 Alba-Golden team on the road, put an end to that.

All Saints’ 34-24 win on Friday ended a 10-game losing streak dating back to early last season and gave Drew Starnes his first victory as Trojans coach.

“It kind of rewarded the kids for all the hard work they put in,” Starnes said. “We were real excited to win against a quality opponent like Alba-Golden, too. It made it more special, beating a good, well-coached team.”

The Trojans’ last victory came on Sept. 4, 2015, the last time all four Tyler-area TAPPS schools won on the same day – a feat repeated Friday in impressive fashion.

Grace Community beat two-time defending state champion Waskom 52-20, Bishop Gorman set all kinds of offensive records in a 91-71 victory over Ore City and Bullard Brook Hill edged Dallas Triple A Academy 31-28.

All Saints won with success in all facets but Starnes said the offensive line set the tone. Quarterback Tanner Towns ran for 125 of the Trojans’ 291 yards while also throwing for 78, including a 60-yard touchdown to Dalton Hayes.

“It didn’t really matter what play we called,” Starnes said. “We were moving their D-line.”

Just as impressively, the All Saints defense held running back Cody Frazier, who came into the game averaging close to 200 yards per game, to 49 yards. The Panthers managed 178 total yards compared to 369 for the Trojans.

To round out the effort, Russell Wynne connected on two field goals to help give All Saints a little breathing room.

“We weren’t clicking on all cylinders, but we’re steadily moving forward,” Starnes said.

 

CRUSADERS TORCH ORE CITY, RECORD BOOKS

Bishop Gorman basketball coach Spencer Denmon tweeted late Friday night that not many basketball teams get outscored by their football team, but that’s precisely what had just happened as the Crusaders scored 91 points on the gridiron, setting a number of records in the process.

Denmon’s sharpshooter on the court, Jake Smith, threw for 10 touchdown passes on the turf, tying a state record. The sophomore finished with 693 yards, the third-highest total in Texas high school football history.

Wide receivers coach Connor Streit is a walking Bishop Gorman encyclopedia both on the field and off and kept the Crusaders abreast of all the countless school records broken.

Smith broke the school record for passing yards in his first start two weeks ago with 513 yards before shattering it this past week.

The team set records with 13 touchdowns and 91 points while Judah Bell caught 16 passes for 376 and five touchdowns, all school records. Tyler Hobbs, who started the year at quarterback while Smith was injured, equaled the receiving touchdowns record.

“We have fun seeing what records have been broken and what records can be achieved,” Gipson said. “He does a great job of keeping track of that for us.

“He bleeds green and he gives us those records as soon as we need them and it’s really fun to watch records fall.”

Gipson said the scoring was mostly the result of great playmakers on both sides of the ball, with plenty of big plays and few sustained drives.

The 162 total points were the third most in modern Texas high school football history, trailing only a couple of wild Jacksonville-Nacogdoches games (2010 and 2014).

“It was a game that kind of shows you that no matter what you expect, no matter what should happen based on the team’s previous scores or records or anything like that, in a Texas high school football game, anything can happen,” Gipson said.

 

GUARD SEEKING FASTER STARTS

Brook Hill is 3-0 and aiming for a 4-0 perfect non-district start to the season, but new head coach Scott Ryle said he is not that happy with how the Guard achieved their last two victories.

In both, the Guard trailed at halftime. Last week Brook Hill took the lead in the second half at Dallas Triple A Academy, only for the home side to grab it back. The Guard eventually won on a last-minute touchdown run by Jermiah McGowen.

“We put ourselves in a bad spot with a lot of mental mistakes,” Ryle said. “I really didn’t feel comfortable about the game until (McGowen’s) touchdown.

“We gave up big kickoff returns, had a snap go over the kicker’s head and had an interception. It was just a lot of mental mistakes that we had to correct this week.”

– Chris Parry

 

COUGARS FINISH STRONG TO BEAT WASKOM

In Grace’s lone defeat this year, the Cougars couldn’t finish off Canton and gave up a late lead.

With a seven-point halftime lead against Waskom, which had won 32 of its last 33, Grace accomplished what coach Mike Maddox had preached all week in practice.

“I just thought our kids handled themselves well consistently throughout the game and finally turned close game into a big win in the fourth quarter,” Maddox said. “After the Canton loss we knew we had to be stronger in the fourth quarter and that’s something I thought our team really focused on throughout the week was really finishing strong.”

The Cougars’ win was keyed by the defense, which stopped the Wildcats on fourth down on five out of six attempts. Maddox noted the defensive play of Adam McKinney as well as Ndukwe Uduma and Josh Spitzer.

“Adam McKinney had a big game defensively,” Maddox said. “It got us the ball in good field position and I thought our offensive line blocked very well.

“They’ve won as many games as anybody in the state the last two years so it was a good win for us.”

TWITTER: @TYoestingETFS

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TAPPS Division II Football Coaches Rankings

Week 4

No. School (Previous)

1. Dallas Christian (1)

2. Grapevine Faith (2)

3. Fort Worth Christian (3)

4. Austin Regents (4)

5. Houston Second Baptist (6)

6. Midland Christian (5)

7. Grace Community (7)

8. Bullard Brook Hill (10)

9. San Antonio Holy Cross (8)

10. Houston Lutheran South (9)

Dropped out: none

Others receiving votes: All Saints, Trinity Christian-Cedar Hill, Bishop Gorman, Sugar Land Fort Bend Christian, Carrollton Prince of Peace, San Antonio Christian, Frisco Legacy Christian, Austin Hyde Park

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TAPPS 5A Volleyball Coaches Rankings

Week 5

No. School (Previous)

1. Grapevine Faith (6)

2. Victoria St. Joseph (2)

3. San Antonio Holy Cross (1)

4. Midland Christian (5)

5. Austin St. Michael’s (4)

6. Carrollton Prince of Peace (3)

7. Sugar Land Fort Bend Christian (NR)

8. Bullard Brook Hill (8)

9. Austin Regents (NR)

10. Austin St. Dominic Savio (10)

Dropped out: Laredo St. Augustine (7), Fort Worth Southwest Christian (9)

Others receiving votes: Cedar Hill-Trinity Christian, Corpus Christi Incarnate Word, Fort Worth Southwest Christian, Houston Second Baptist, Austin Hyde Park, San Antonio Providence, Houston Lutheran South, El Paso Lydia Patterson, Laredo St. Augustine, San Antonio St. Mary’s, Garland Brighter Horizons, San Antonio Christian, Fort Worth Christian