For the first time since 2004, the football team will compete for a state championship today after trouncing Brownsville Veterans Memorial 49-21 on Dec. 8 to claim their spot in the 5A Division I state finals.
With a score of 49-0 at the beginning of the second half, Coach Larry Hill pulled all starters and gave his backups some state semifinal experience, which could come in handy as they face returning two-time state champion Aledo Bearcats. Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and the game will be aired on Bally Sports and Rangers Network.
The offense racked up 348 yards – 100 passing and 248 rushing. The Rangers dominated the run accumulating a total of 6 rushing touchdowns. Running into the endzone rushing were junior RB Brad Sowersby, senior WR/DB Cole Freund (two touchdown), junior RB Daniel De Hoyos (two touchdowns) and freshman RB Caleb Peagler The singular passing touchdown was from a 75-yard jet sweep to Freund.
Defensively the Rangers held Veterans Memorial to a total of 168 yards. Veterans Memorial struggled with passing, only having a total of 30 passing yards and an interception picked off by junior safety Diego Davila. The defense also held Veterans Memorial to 138 rushing yards, with 19 tackles for losses and 4 sacks.
The Rangers scored the first points of the game with a 29-yard run by Sowersby with 6:56 left in the first. The next score came shortly after with a 17-yard pass to Freund with 2:19 minutes left in the first. Freund scored again on a 7-yard run early in the second quarter. With nine minutes left in the second, De Hoyos scored an 8-yard rushing touchdown; 7 minutes later, De Hoyos scored again with a 3-yard rushing touchdown to put the Rangers up 35-0 at halftime.
With 11:46 left in the third quarter, Freund scored a 75-yard touchdown run. With the clock 3:35 in the third, freshman running back Caleb Peagler scored a 1 -yard rushing touchdown bringing the score to 49-0 going into the fourth quarter.
To buy tickets for the game, go to https://seatgeek.com/uil-high-school-football-state-championships-tickets . Tickets cost $20 for general admission.
