BCS Wins State
BCS Depth Charges Hit Target Say GoodKnight to Covenant, 52-38
The Bracken Christian Warriors climbed a steep mountain in just five years to the pinnacle of TAPPS Division 1 football championship. The Warriors proved their worth in defeating Dallas Covenant Knights last Saturday in Moody, Texas.
The Championship game in Six-Man Division 1 has been dominated by schools in North Texas for the last six years. The Championship game has not had a south team play since the 2003 season, when Austin Regents ended their three year reign with three championships in a row.
Enter a team that many pundits said could not win the game because their was no depth on the roster. The team had one or two players at the most and that would not carry the Warriors to the trophy room. I don’t know what those pundits were smoking….but I do know that smoking is not allowed in the stadium, meaning they had not seen BCS play this year.
The defense is what wins championships and this year was no exception for Bracken. The offense can wow you with incredible numbers and accolades, but the defense never got the same ink.
Enter the first offensive play for Covenant. A running play that was met by nose guard Jeremy Johnson in the backfield. Johnson was there so fast the refs almost threw a flag thinking Covenant was playing with seven players.
“They took us lightly,” Johnson said. “I don’t feel like I did anything special, I was just settling in.”
In 2010, the Warriors defense controlled the game in every facet of any given game. On this night the defense made the Knights work for every yard and that defense would wear down Covenant.
“They (Covenant) was mostly a tight offense and we excel more more for those type of teams,” Defensive End Grant Granato said. “We adapted to the razzle dazzle their offense tried in the second half.”
Eli Achilles was everywhere on the field as he finished with 27 tackles in the game giving him over 200 stops for the year. The supporting cast from Linebacker Joe Lonigro with 15, Junior Kevin Knapick and Senior Grant Granato with 13, and finally the Defensive End Stephen Burbank finished with 10.
The defense not only tackled well, but they forced fumbles causing the Knights to lose momentum and allowed the offense to enter the field to do what they do best…..score.
The game started shaky when the Warriors had two turnovers on the first two possessions. The good news was the Knights could only muster an eight point lead during that span.
On those two turnover drives, Bracken had a pair of 47 yard drives, the first drive ended in a fumble and the next drive BCS had a 68 yard Grady Achilles run called back on a holding call before ending the drive with an interception.
The offense was convinced very early, that the vaunted Knight Defense would not be able to hold the dike for much longer. The dam did break and water finally rusted the Knight’s armor allowing the speed of the Warriors to score on their next six possessions.
During that same time frame the BCS defense allowed one touchdown on the next six Covenant possessions. The time frame allowed the Warriors to seal the deal with 21 unanswered points and telling bedtime stories to the sleepy Knights.
Junior running back and MVP of the game, Grady Achilles rushed for 230 yards and had 92 yards called back because of penalties. Achilles also finished with nine tackles in the game. The presence of number 3 on the field finally allowed the Warriors to unleash the depth that they were told did not exist.
“They could not keep up,” Junior Grady Achilles said.
Dallas Covenants defense was keying on Grady all night long allowing BCS to use Fullback Ehren Jacobson for the hard yardage up the middle. Eli Achilles was also used in the spread offense to the tune of 111 yards rushing on just nine carries. This was the second game in a row having two runners break the 100 yard barrier. The feat had not been done all year, but now Btacken had done the trick twice.
More Depth? How about Lonigro being on the dump pass for four completions allowing BCS to keep crucial drives alive.
“Sometimes we are taught to take the ball,” Lonigro said. “Other times we will get dump passes when nothing opens up for the runner.”
The Warriors had heard the last few weeks about the dominating defenses from the North, but those teams did not consider the BCS defense a hurdle to jump. The miscalculation allowed the Warriors to go home with the trophy.
With BCS clinging onto a 46-30 lead and two minutes on the clock, the Warriors crumbled the rusty Knights when Eli Achilles ran the ball in from 18 yards out. The play would put the covers on the Knights, as Eli met the defender on the two yard line….after the hit the Warriors said goodKnight with a 52-30 lead and in cruise control for the rest of the evening.
“Once we played our game we were physically better than them,” a confident Eli Achilles chimed. “They were too slow….the player was coming to wrap me up with an arm tackle.”
The South has now been to the Championship game four times and each game a South team has found its rightful place for that trophy, on the bus. In this case saying goodKnight to the team from the North.
“This is everything….it is awesome,” Lonigro finished. “We have been working since August!”
“I’m so happy I played, this is what it is all about,” the excited Stephen Burbank closed.
Senior Grant Granato had a word for the team for next year, “This was a great way to go out….Keep up the passion and never lose hope.”
Grady Achilles capped off the night with the following, “This will stick with us forever, I love each and every player that was out here tonight. It was a blast….we just wanted that state trophy!”
1 2 3 4 Final Dallas Covenant 0 16 8 14 38 Bracken Warriors 0 26 13 13 52 Scoring Summary: DCK-Koop 16yd run (Koop kick), 9:08, 2nd BCS-Grady Achilles 7yd run (pat failed), 8:15, 2nd BCS-Grady Achilles 12yd run (pat failed), 6:09, 2nd DCK-Koop 48yd run (Koop kick), 4:44, 2nd BCS-Grady Achilles 65yd pass from Eli Achilles (Granato from Eli Achilles), 3:50, 2nd BCS-Granato 6yd pass from Eli Achilles (Grady Achilles run), 0:02, 2nd BCS-Eli Achilles 29yd run (pat failed), 8:28, 3rd DCK-Koop 10yd run (Koop kick), 4:32, 3rd BCS-Eli Achilles 9yd run (Grady Achilles run), 3:08, 3rd BCS-Ehren Jacobson 1yd run (Grady Achilles from Eli Achilles), 3:43, 4th DCK-Hornberger 7yd run (pat failed), 2:32, 4th BCS-Grady Achilles 18yd run (pass failed), 1:58, 4th DCK-Koop 1yd pass from Hornberger (Koop kick), 0:58, 4th
