Div 3A S2 Champ. 5 pm
Malakoff 50
Grandview -5'
2 units on Over 50 WIN FS: GV 35 M 21
2 units on Malakoff +5' LOSS
Perhaps the biggest surprise of this 3A Final are the two teams representing. Don't get me wrong, as both teams deserve to be here, however, in a Blueblood Football State of Texas, both programs are making their first Championship appearance despite Malakoff Tigers (13-2) starting football in 1925 and Grandview Zebras (14-2) going back to 1909. That's quite a drought for both schools.
Grandview comes in as the fav and many people feel that the Championship was 3 weeks ago against perennial power Franklin (1 loss) which Zebras won 24-21...... The week before, GV slipped past previous unbeaten Woodinville 42-14......In the quarterfinals, Zebras pulled off an OT win 36-35 despite turning the ball over 6 times..... Last week's semifinal win over red hot Yoakum 28-14 was the dressing....
Malakoff Tigers are playing their best ball at the right time.... They survived a shootout in week 1 of playoffs over Pottsboro 63-35.....next was a 10 point win over Jefferson 31-21......Against Gladewater the Tigers won easily 35-7.....The quarterfinals against Atlanta 37-22 and people started paying attention.... Last week's semifinal win 23-21 over Brock (another perennial power) brought them to the doorstep in Arlington....
Of note should be the fact that these two hooked up in the regular season in Week 3 in which Grandview controlled all aspects with a 28-7 victory, a game where Tigers didn't score until last 2 minutes of the game.... Made all the more surprising since Grandview has had to live on the razors edge in these playoffs while Tigers have coasted up until last week.
Grandview has a Soph QB Dane Jentsch, who is the teams field general and actually makes check down at the LOS.... He has passed for 2,845 yards and rushed for another 1,210 yards with a combined 59 Total TDs.... In last week's 23-21 win he rushed for 180 yards w/2 TDs rushing and passed for a score too...... RB Elijah Golden (6' 185 lbs) since taking over starting duties has rushed for 1,270 yards.... The Zebras have 4 different WRs with at least 450+ yards...... The O-Line is physical and aggressive....The defense has received accolades for allowing only 16.7 ppg and has yielded roughly 21 ppg in the playoffs.... Not bad since the D unit only returned 1 starter from last year's unit that made it to the regionals.
Malakoff appears to be playing their best ball at the right time.... HC Jamie Driskell is seeking his 100th career win.... Tigers also have a Soph QB starting, Darion Peace is dual threat passing for 2013 yards w/28 TDs.... Kid has only 2 INT in 198 attempts.... Team is a run first philosophy with RB Keevie Rose doing the most as the work horse rushing for 1,425 yards w/17 TDs on 200 carries *Of interest is Rose only rushed for 8 yards on 8 carries when these two met...... He won the starting job after a couple of major injuries sidelined the top RBs on the depth chart...... Malakoff will grind the run and now has all pieces of the puzzle healthy...... Defense is big and holds opponents to 17 ppg..... Massive Soph DL D Crownover is 6'7" and plugs the holes.
Both teams are naturally excited in making such an historical appearance and chance to live on in Texas HSF Immortality........ In the first meeting, Grandview controlled the LOS only allowing 8 total first downs to the Tigers and 170 total yards (48 rush yards in 29 attempts).....*Since that game, Malakoff has turned things around scoring an average 41 ppg...... The difference here is that Tigers are a completely different team as everyone is healthy and the motivation is different....
Something to Consider: Malakoff Starting DL Caleb Adam's lost his baby sister, Karen to Cancer on Oct 15......He was very close to his Sister and she actually had a softball sized tumor that metastatic in her esophagus cutting off air flow..... Originally, they thought she was in remission after Chemo therapy but the tumor returned on a family trip to DisneyWorld that they were celebrating her remission........ The Mother ended up losing her home because she missed shifts to be with her daughter and the medical bills......Karen (15 year old Sister) died 3 times on Oct 15 and each time returned to say her goodbyes... Her last time, she told the family and friends that she was could see Heaven and told her that she wouldn't be coming back, so she said her goodbyes and passed..... The whole team has put Her Name on their helmets and Caleb has played for his Sister as have the whole team...... The family has been homeless but friends have put them up and the community has come together to help the family, paying for her funeral and has provided meals to the family that is housing them........ It's pretty easy to see the motivation for this team..... My prayers are certainly with them.
Lastly, I like the Revenge factor in this game... Think Malakoff pulls out a close one and 50 points could go over here as frankly neither D has pitched many shut outs....
Gluck
