Pre/Game: BCS vs. Abilene Christian in Zephyr-Saturday 2pm
History: Abilene Christian leads series, 1-0. 2011 BCS 28 Abilene Christian 32 Semi-Final Game
This Year's Results: BCS 56 Austin Hill Country 06 ACH 68 Cherokee 34 BCS 66 Sugarland Logos Prep 20 ACH 62 Newcastle 20 BCS 60 Brenham Christian 12 ACH 30 Rockwall Heritage 22 BCS 56 Boerne Geneva 58 ACH 14 Water Valley 60 BCS 58 SA Lutheran 00 ACH 62 Watauga Harvest 06 BCS 98 Gustine 56 ACH 102 Rotan 57 BCS 53 SA Winston 08 ACH 51 Carrolton Christian 22 BCS 53 CASA 00 ACH 52 FW THESA 00 BCS 51 Houston Emery-Weiner 19 ACH 54 Amarillo Holy Cross 00 BCS 60 Kerrville OLH 14 ACH 64 Midland Trinity 14 BCS 60 Sugarland Logos Prep 30 ACH 72 Watauga Harvest 24
Bracken Christian will fight another epic battle with Abilene Christian Panthers this coming Saturday in Zephyr, Texas.
Last year, the Warrior’s season ended against this eventual TAPPS Champion, by four points and only three yards from what would of been a different outcome.
The Panthers returned three offensive and defensive starters from that team and have done a good job of keeping their mojo going, as they have only one loss this season to a UIL Water Valley team.
Abilene did have to replace their Quarterback from last season and Michael Avila has done an admirable job taking over those responsibilities.
Other players that you will notice during this contest; first on the defensive side of the line.
Trevor Tyson will be patrolling the backfield and two defensive ends that might be star material in J.D. DosSantos and Samai Massaquoi. These two players were pivotable in last year’s game when holding a very potent Bracken team to 28 points.
The last time BCS has been held to a point total lower was in their final game in 2009 against eventual TAPPS Champion Greenville Christian which held the Warriors to 24 points.
Abilene only had 29 plays in their Bi-District contest last Friday over Watauga Harvest, that lasted one play into the third quarter before a Mercy rule was invoked.
DosSantos and Massaquoi were their only rushing players in that game with both runners breaking the century mark.
Tyson caught five passes for 98 yards while three other players had a catch a piece.
So, now you can deduce that the major defensive players also play a major roll in the Panther’s offense.
Another concern would be Bailey McCorkle, who was perfect on his Bonus Kicks for Abilene last week.
That position becomes a major problem if both teams are even in their scoring. Bracken will lose a point on every touchdown and those one point conversions are certainly not automatic.
Abilene also has two other players that have mastered the Bonus Kick. Massaquoi and DosSantos (There are those names again) can also boot the ball, which gives this Panther team more choices based on who might be hot or not in that department.
Last year’s game, Bracken lost two fumbles, with the first one having the Panthers only having to go eight yards for their first score.
Bracken comes into this game as a 35 point underdog.
Motivation might not be a problem for Bracken with this game.
BCS will bring a potent running game into battle with a passing game that picks and chooses when to take action.
Eli Achilles will be one player that will need to be on his A game. These last couple of weeks, sickness has been going around with some players, hopefully, this will not be an issue.
Bracken has never lost a Playoff game if they can get to 30 points are more. So, that should be one key factor to keep a close eye on.
Abilene Christian’s defense could be better than Bracken’s, so the Warriors will need to stay the course in order to be the team with the most points when the clock reaches 0:00.
Abilene will not punt and BCS has had success in their return game this season.
Two kick-off returns along with six interceptions that were returned for touchdowns this season.
Defense will win this game and turnovers will be a big part of who will end up on top. Bracken has kept their opponents with less points, however, you can certainly make a point that those UIL teams Abilene played were a lot tougher games than many of those Warrior contests.
Another ‘Barn Burner’ against Abilene Christian and the difference just might be in all those four quarter games played by Bracken.
That extra work just might result in those extra three yards needed for a touchdown sending BCS to the final four for the fourth year in a row.
Good Luck!!