GoFridayNight
Departing Knox City coach Steele helps Red to win in fourth-annual Brazos Bowl
By James Mcafree, Special to the Reporter-News
KNOX CITY--"Coach Charles Steele got to taste victory one more time here at Greyhound Stadium Saturday night as the defensive coordinator for the Red team, which scored a 44-20 victory over the Blue in the fourth-annual Brazos Bowl.
Steele, who will coach at Covington this fall, didn't waste a lot of time talking about the score, however.
"The most important thing about this all-star game is it allows many kids the last chance to play football and gives their parents and coaches one last time to see them put on pads," he said.
Rudy Hawkins, coach at Wichita Falls City View, and staff members Adam Arrington and Jeff Ward also led the Red, getting a chance to see how six-man football compares with the 11-man game they usually coach.
"It was a lot of fun," Hawkins said. "The kids did have to teach us some of the different rules."
The Blue team was coached by Bret Tyler, the former Sterling City coach who is moving to Frederick, Oklahoma, this fall and making the change to 11-man.
The Blue team was unable to capitalize early after recovering two fumbles in the red zone as the Red defense rose to the occasion.
The Red got on the scoreboard first, taking advantage of a 38-yard run by Loraine's Patrick Tillis, who was easily the fastest player on the field. Then Knox City teammates Elias Nevarez and Ryan Heard teamed on a 1-yard pass.
Following a fumble recovery, Tillis bobbled a handoff but recovered and escaped for 35 yards and a touchdown. Nevarez added the point after kick.
When a fourth-down gamble at its own 25 failed for the Red, the Blue got back in the game on a 25-yard pass from Stetson McPherson of Woodson to Hunter Pustejovsky that made it 14-6.
The Red answered, however, when — on fourth-and-6 from the Blue 16 — Matt Pinkert won a hand fight for a pass in the end zone and Nevarez made it 22-6.
Isaiah Mendoza of Balmorhea returned the ensuing kick 57 yards to the Red 20, but again the Red defense made a stand, stopping a fourth-down try with a fumble recovery by Nevarez.
The Blue battled back in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to 22-20 as Bryant Taylor scored from 4 yards out, Mendoza scored from the 12 and Corey Myers of Aspermont split the uprights.
Tillis allowed the Red to put the game out of reach, though, scoring from 30 and 49 yards, and then Bryce Brady of Motley County scored the game's final TD from 19 yards out."