ONE TWO THREE......

One Two Three.....

There was lots of action from the start of the game to the final buzzer in the Regional Championship between the winning Rankin Red Devils and the tough Ira Bulldogs. In my humble opinion three defensive stops by the Red Devil defense was the difference.

The first two offensive possessions by Ira saw them move the ball but resulted in no points and Rankin as a result led the previously undefeated Ira Bulldogs 14-0 with 1:05 left in the 1st Quarter. Ira would be chasing that lead all night long.

The record setting Lance Morris finished this game with 261 yards on 33 carries and 3 touchdowns. Lance also finished his high school career this game. I have his career rushing record at 11866 yards on 828 carries with 179 touchdowns. Congratulations to Mr. Lance Morris who is the All-Time leading rusher in the state of Texas.

It was a rare game that Ira went down in defeat. Just as rare is the fact that Lance Morris was not the best in show. Mr. Dalton Michum of Rankin carried the ball 31 times for 322 yards and 6 touchdowns. As I have often reminded those outside of the Six-Man world that Lance Morris also plays defense, so does Dalton Michum.

Coach Shannon Williams of Rankin knew he would need to design a defensive game plan that would slow down the talented Morris of Ira. The Red Devils for this game moved Michum from cornerback to middle linebacker to combat the Ira tight formation end sweeps. The early 14-0 lead and defensive play of Rankin got Ira into the spread offensively which is not particularly the strength of Ira. Once in the spread, heavy pressure on Morris resulted in three sacks for a minus 24 yards. That may not sound like it was that big a deal but in my mind it was huge.

The 14-0 lead in the first quarter indeed proved to be more than Ira would be able to handle but Ira showed plenty of fight before the half would end. lance Morris scored the 1st of his three touchdowns with :53 seconds left in the quarter on a 46 yard run. Jared Cotton was successful with the PAT and Ira had cut the lead 14-8. It would be a short lived lead. Less than a minute into the 2nd quarter, Dalton Michum got his second touchdown of the night on a 4 yard run. The PAT failed and Rankin was  on top by 20-8. Each team put up 24 points in the second quarter with Rankin getting 4 points on the 42 yard FG by 6 foot 3 inch 290 pound senior Caleb Wrinkle as time expired in the half. The score at half time was 38-32 and Rankin was riding the momentum train knowing they would get the ball starting the second half.

Rankin started out offensively in the second half with Dalton Michum throwing a pass that Logan Morris of Ira intercepted. This was a great opportunity for Ira to tie or possibly take the lead for the first time in game. Rankin's D came up huge for the third of 3  stops that I believe won the game. Aaron Castillo on 4th down sacked Lance Morris. Six plays later, Dalton Michum scored his 4th of six touchdowns and Rankin lead   46-32 with 4:04 in the 3rd.

With one minute and thirty-eight seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Lance Morris threw a touchdown pass to Tanner Shifflett. The PAT failed bringing the score to Rankin 46 Ira 38. There was still way more than enough time on the clock for the explosive Ira Bulldogs to come back and win the game. A mere 20 seconds later, Dalton Michum would tear the hearts out of Ira with a 58 yard run with 1:18 left in the 3rd. Though the PAT failed, the damage was done. Rankin lead 52-38. One full quarter and some change left but Ira was empty. Rankin added one more touchdown on a one yard run. The PAT again failed your final score was 58-38. CONGRATULATIONS Rankin Red Devils. They advance to play the defending state champions, Throckmorton Greyhounds Saturday December 1st at 6:00 PM in Snyder.

Don Hardin

Abilene