Searching for answers in the moments after his Waco La Vega Pirates lost the Class 4A Division II State Championship to Carthage, 28-14, Don Hyde kept coming back to the same analysis: those Bulldogs are just freaking good.
“Sometimes, you run into a wall that’s just a little bit bigger than your wall,” Hyde said.
He wasn’t speaking in a proverbial sense, either.
Carthage’s defense finished with 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks, which ranked second in Class 4A Division II state championship history. Outside of a 79-yard drive with the game decided, Waco La Vega managed a paltry 129 yards of total offense.
Carthage edge defenders Da’Quives Beck and Carson Crawford lived rent free in the backfield. Beck, the Defensive MVP, finished with 10 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Crawford, meanwhile, added four tackles for loss and two sacks.
But Beck and Crawford only stuffed the stat sheet because senior nose guard James Morrow stuffed the middle of Waco La Vega’s offensive line. Hyde called Morrow one of the best nose guards he’s coached against in a long time. Morrow’s efforts helped limit Waco La Vega senior running back Bryson Roland, who entered the day with 2,000 yards, to the hardest-earned 94 yards.
The Bulldogs defense kept Carthage in the lead even as the offense sputtered for most of the first half.
“We didn’t execute great sometimes, and that’s what good defenses do to you,” Carthage head coach Scott Surratt said. “But they didn’t execute at all.”
Carthage’s offense shifted out of neutral with 3:40 remaining in the first half when junior running back KJ Edwards emerged from a mass of five Waco La Vega defenders and ripped off an 86-yard touchdown, more than the 68 total yards Carthage had on the previous five drives. Edwards, the Offensive MVP, finished with 18 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
Edwards praised his offensive line for opening up the holes, then revealed why his teammates call him lightning.
“Ain’t nobody catching me when I get out in space.” Edwards said.
The win marked Surratt’s tenth state championship with a perfect 10–0 record, but it was his first with his son, Jett, starting at quarterback. Jett Surratt threw two touchdown passes on the game’s final two drives to ensure his father wouldn’t have a ringless finger anymore.
“You don’t get lucky ten times,” Scott said. “I’m not tooting my own horn. I’m talking about the administration. You’ve got to have a great administration.”
BOX SCORE
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waco La Vega | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | |
| Carthage | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| Team | Qtr | Clock | Score | Type | Play | Drive | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAR | 2 | 11:00 | TD | RUSH | K.Edwards 21 yd rush (PAT KICK by L.Medrano GOOD) | 3/46/0:53 | 7-0 |
| LV | 2 | 04:05 | TD | RUSH | K.Parr 1 yd rush (PAT KICK by G.Esqueda-Almanza GOOD) | 6/60/2:15 | 7-7 |
| CAR | 2 | 03:40 | TD | RUSH | K.Edwards 86 yd rush (PAT KICK by L.Medrano GOOD) | 2/86/0:21 | 14-7 |
| CAR | 4 | 06:24 | TD | PASS | J.Henderson 24 yd reception thrown by J.Surratt (PAT KICK by L.Medrano GOOD) | 6/58/3:28 | 21-7 |
| CAR | 4 | 02:17 | TD | PASS | J.Henderson 19 yd reception thrown by J.Surratt (PAT KICK by L.Medrano GOOD) | 4/37/1:45 | 28-7 |
| LV | 4 | 00:00 | TD | RUSH | J.Hernandez 4 yd rush (PAT KICK by G.Esqueda-Almanza GOOD) | 8/79/2:11 | 28-14 |
| STAT | Waco La Vega | Carthage |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yds | 208 | 305 |
| Pass Yds | 136 | 112 |
| Rush Yds | 72 | 193 |
| Penalties | 4-20 | 5-40 |
| 1st Downs | 15 | 12 |
| 3rd Downs | 2-11 | 3-11 |
| 4th Downs | 1-4 | 2-5 |
| Total Plays | 62 | 49 |
| Avg Yds/Play | 3.4 | 6.2 |
| Avg Yds/Completion | 13.6 | 14 |
| Avg Yds/Rush | 1.8 | 7.7 |
| Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg) | 124 (3.9) | 203 (8.5) |
| Red Zone | 2-3 | 1-1 |
| Time of Poss | 29:33 | 18:27 |
| Turnovers (Def Pts Off) | 1 (0) | 1 (0) |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Sacks (Def Yds) | 1 (10) | 7 (52) |
| TFL (Def Yds) | 5 (23) | 15 (67) |
Waco La Vega Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | PARR,K | 8-19 | 73 | 0 | 1 | 42 | 63.9 |
| 13 | HERNANDEZ,J | 2-4 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 182.3 |
| PASS TOTALS | 10-23 | 136 | 0 | 1 | 43 |
Waco La Vega Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ROLAND,B | 20 | 94 | 0 | 15 | 4.7 |
| 13 | HERNANDEZ,J | 4 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 3 | JONES,E | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| TM | TEAM | 2 | -8 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| 12 | PARR,K | 10 | -29 | 1 | 16 | -2.9 |
| 4 RUSHERS | 39 | 72 | 2 | 16 | 1.8 |
Waco La Vega Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | TGT | YAC | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | DEGRATE,J | 4 | 60 | 0 | 26 | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| 0 | ROLAND,B | 3 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| 2 | WILLIS,M | 1 | 46 | 0 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | THORNTON,J | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 17 | DANIEL,J | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 RECEIVERS | 10 | 136 | 0 | 46 | 22 | 30 | 3 |
Carthage Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | SURRATT,J | 8-23 | 112 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 104.4 |
| 7 | HENDERSON,J | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -200 |
| PASS TOTALS | 8-24 | 112 | 2 | 1 | 33 |
Carthage Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | EDWARDS,K | 18 | 188 | 2 | 86 | 10.4 |
| 22 | SMITH,B | 6 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2.5 |
| 9 | SURRATT,J | 1 | -10 | 0 | 0 | -10 |
| 3 RUSHERS | 25 | 193 | 2 | 86 | 7.7 |
Carthage Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | TGT | YAC | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | HENDERSON,J | 4 | 77 | 2 | 26 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | CRAWFORD,C | 1 | 24 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | ROSS,C | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 0 | EDWARDS,K | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| 18 | PRICE,B | 1 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | JEFFRESS,J | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 RECEIVERS | 8 | 112 | 2 | 26 | 23 | 25 | 4 |
Waco La Vega Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | C.Roland | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | G.Thomas | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | E.Thompson | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | M.Willis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | A.Gude Jr. | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | B.Scott | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | W.Richardson | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | J.Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | J.Hammond | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | D.Pullen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | C.Balch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | J.Degrate | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | M.Jackson Jr. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 66 | J.Johnson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | A.Gibson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 40 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
Carthage Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | D.Beck | 10 | 7 | 1 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | C.Crawford | 9 | 7 | 2.5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | L.Brown | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | B.Allison | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | T.Williams | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | J.Morrow | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 70 | C.Hodges | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | K.Ingram | 3 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | J.Lewis | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | T.Gant | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | M.Cooper | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | A.Sheppard | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | J.Harris | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 59 | 37 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
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