-
On fourth down, Ian McKinney (99) and Case Brister (far right) tackle one of the state’s top quarterbacks, Andrew Body, to give the Badgers one last offensive drive as they attempt a 19-point comeback. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD -
Lane Haviland attempts to down a punt on the one-yard line. Haviland was one of 23 seniors to end his last Badger football career on Saturday. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
Andrew Body scored eight touchdowns for Corpus Christi Miller, and a stop on fourth and one saved the Buccaneers’ 54-49 win after the Badgers fought back from a 19-point deficit.
The Badgers (9-1) reached the Miller five-yard line on their last drive and had momentum from 14 unanswered points and two huge defensive stops.
But Miller (8-4) stopped the fourth-down run, stunned the second-ranked Badgers in Saturday’s area playoff and advanced to the regional semifinals to face Boerne.
Lampasas was the defending regional champion, and only one team had come within 17 points of beating the Badgers all season.
Quarterback Ace Whitehead -- one of 23 seniors on the LHS team -- ended his career with more than 11,000 passing yards, over 13,000 total yards, 177 touchdowns and a record of 31-15 as a starter. He put up four touchdowns on Saturday: two runs of his own and two passes to sophomore receiver Ethan Moreno.
Jack Jerome, a three-year starter, ran for the Badgers’ first three touchdowns. Lampasas trailed almost the whole game, after scoring first but then allowing 21 straight points. After receiving the opening
After receiving the opening kick, Lampasas’ first drive went smoothly and ended with a 7-yard touchdown run by Jerome. Jerome followed blocks by John Long and Hayden Waldrip and made a dive just across the goal line less than two minutes into the game.
Miller fired right back with about a minute-long drive and a big rushing touchdown by Body.
On the Badgers’ second offensive drive, Miller defensive back Lonnie Adkism intercepted a pass, and one play later he hauled in a 50-yard touchdown from Body.
Things looked like they were about to get out of hand when Body’s third touchdown of the quarter gave the Buccaneers a 21-7 lead. But a touchdown run around the edge by Jerome kept the Badgers in the game as the first quarter wound down.
Josh Carter blocked a punt, and Lampasas took over at the Miller eight-yard line. That set up a six-yard touchdown run by Jerome two plays later. Whitehead’s extra point tied the game at 21-21 early in the second, but Miller scored on the next play from scrimmage.
On a botched extra point, Ian McKinney slammed into the ball carrier, causing a fumble, which Case Brister recovered.
After the Buccaneers’ next touchdown, Connelly White broke up the two-point conversion attempt.
Moreno caught a Whitehead pass for six points to cut into the lead, as he dodged tacklers and followed blocks by Klein Muse, Long and Aden Rascoe. The Buccaneers’ last
The Buccaneers’ last touchdown of the half gave them a 40-28 lead. At the buzzer, three Badger receivers and about four defenders went for a jump ball in the end zone, but the pass by Whitehead was ruled incomplete.
The Buccaneers ate up nearly half of the third quarter on a scoring drive, which gave them a 47-28 lead.
With the Badgers facing their biggest deficit since 2018, on third and 20, Whitehead found Lane Haviland for a diving, 41-yard catch. Three plays later, Whitehead scored on a QB sneak to make it a 47- 35 game, which remained the score at the end of the third.
Lampasas recovered an onside kick that rolled all the way to the Miller 22, but it was called back on a penalty.
Miller took over and scored on fourth down, leaving the Badgers trailing 54-35 with 10:42 to go. The next 10 minutes were some of the Badgers’ best all season.
On third down, Whitehead scrambled for a 45-yard touchdown run, somehow untouched as three defenders closed in on him in the red zone. His extra point cut the Buccaneer lead to 54-42 with 8:14 left.
Carter recovered a Body fumble on the Badger 38-yard line. Lampasas made first downs with receptions by Haviland and Moreno.
On fourth and 10, Hayden Waldrip and Jerome had crucial blocks as Whitehead scrambled under heavy pressure. Whitehead broke a tackle from 280-pound Adrian Olivarez in the backfield, and with pure determination sprinted just past the first-down marker, where he was thrown out of bounds.
A few plays later, Whitehead slung a pass to Moreno, who broke a tackle at the 10-yard line and scored to cut the Bucs’ lead in half.
Miller recovered the onside kick, but Sosa Sokimi led a group of Badger tacklers on third down to stop Body for his third straight short gain on a QB carry.
On fourth and four, McKinney broke through a block by a 325-pound Miller lineman, and teamed up with Brister and Keagan Richardson to force a turnover on downs on another Body carry.
The Badgers trailed 54-49 with the ball on their own 41 and 3:23 left in the game.
Lampasas moved the chains with a completion to Mike Murray, then a scramble by Whitehead and later a targeting penalty, as Body delivered a head-to-head shot to Whitehead.
Whitehead carried the ball on the next four plays, and Body brought him down on first and second downs. On third and fourth downs,
On third and fourth downs, Whitehead hit a wall of defenders. His last carry came with 49 seconds on the clock and no Badger timeouts.
Body took a knee one time to end the game.