ARLINGTON – Ryder Lambert added his name to the list of great quarterbacks to engineer the Stephenville Yellow Jackets to a state championship in a 38-21 win over Austin LBJ in the Class 4A Division I state title game at AT&T Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Two of those quarterbacks – Kevin Kolb and Jarrett Stidham – eventually reached the NFL. 

Lambert, a junior, outpaced both of those legends in every passing category. Kolb threw for 3,357 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior in 2002. Stidham passed for 2,934 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior in 2014. Lambert entered the state title game with 4,011 yards and 49 touchdowns to just six interceptions. He completed over 65 percent of his passing attempts in 2021 during the 15-0 start leading into the contest against LBJ. 

Lambert’s favorite target throughout the season is wide receiver Coy Eakin. The senior caught 84 passes for 1,953 yards and 28 touchdowns through the first 15 games of the season. The duo immediately put LBJ on notice with a 43-yard pass completion on the opening drive. Later in the first quarter, Eakin caught a touchdown pass with one hand in the back of the end zone. 

"Offensively, when we get the ball to the hands of No. 2 (Eakin), good things happen," Stephenville head coach Sterling Doty said. "Ryder (Lambert) led the offense, and we were able to make the big plays on both sides of the football." 

Lambert completed five passes in the first quarter, and each of those five were to Eakin, who caught and ran for a touchdown in the pivotal first quarter as Stephenville built a 17-0 lead thanks to four LBJ fumbles. 

Mistakes were the story of the game for the Jaguars, the first team from Austin ISD to play for a state title since 1973 and only the fifth school from one of the six largest cities in Texas (Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, and El Paso) with more than half of its students categorized as economically disadvantaged to reach a championship game since segregation ended in 1966. South Oak Cliff becomes the sixth on Saturday morning. LBJ lost five fumbles and threw an interception to go along with a few turnovers on downs. 

"In the first half, our defense put a ton of pressure on LBJ's rushing attack," Doty said. "Our guys executed the game plan perfectly, and we were able to grab the momentum in the first half."  

Lambert and Eakin capitalized on those errors for four quarters. Lambert finished the game 16 of 28 for 258 yards and three touchdowns. Eakin caught nine of those passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. The duo rewrote the record book for a Stephenville program that is used to high-powered offenses. And it almost never happened. Eakin and Lambert were in a quarterback battle prior to the season. Lambert won out, which allowed Eakin to concentrate on catching passes rather than orchestrating the offense. That freedom allowed Eakin to top the 2,000-yard mark as a receiver and win the Offensive Player of the Game award. 

"I was fighting for that quarterback job, but Ryder got me on that and it worked out for the best," Eakin admitted after the game. "Everything fell into place after that."