With only four football teams left in the entire state in each classification, there are nothing but elite teams remaining.
Two of those squads will meet this Friday when Boerne High (11-3) faces Richmond Randle (14-0) in Waco in the 5A DII state semifinals.
Kickoff is set for Friday, 7 p.m., at McLane Stadium, home of the Baylor Bears.
BHS coach Che Hendrix said the Lions will be the fastest and most talented team they’ve played this season, so far.
“What jumps out at me is their overall team speed, they’ll definitely be the fastest team we’ve played,” he said. “They have an elite running back who has all kinds of offers and they have a player who signed with Oregon State and another who signed with (Texas) A&M.”
The back Hendrix is speaking of is Landen Williams- Callis who has 1,953 rushing yards and scored 41 TDs.
The Greyhounds have seen a few highly-recruited running backs this year like Michael Terry from Alamo Heights, who is going to UT, and last week they faced C.C. Miller’s Broderick Taylor who ran for 172 yards and 2 TDs against BHS and is committed to UT-Rio Grande Valley.
Whenever the Boerne defense has been able to shut down an elite back, Hendrix said it’s because of their “picket-fence defense.”
“We’ve got to keep our pickets in the fence, we’ve got to be gap sound and not get out of position,” he said. “We have to set an edge; we can’t let (Williams-Callis) get to the edge and we have to try to keep him in a box.”
The Lions are averaging 52 points per game and have tallied 61, 62, 69, 58, 68, 73, 63 and put up 79 against Elgin.
As good as their offense is, Hendrix said the Randle defense is even better.
“Their defense is better than their offense, that’s why they score so much, they suffocate you and get turnovers,” he said. “They stop the run and have great schemes, they’re very well coached.”
While great at stopping the run, Hendrix said he’s noticed that Randle has struggled a little when they faced passing teams and that’s one thing that the Greyhounds can do – pass the ball.
“We present some challenges for them,” Hendrix said. “They haven’t played a strong throwing team, so we’ll present some challenges and hope to keep them off balance.”
Boerne’s offense scored on every possession last week vs. Miller with 9 TDs and 1 FG, with 5 of those touchdowns coming through the air.
BHS QB Hank Hendrix completed 24 of 29 passes for 435 yards and 5 TDs.
Boerne had two receivers go over 100 yards after Eli Nikolas snagged 7 passes for 118 yards and 2 scores, while Brooks Perez caught 4 passes for 116 yards and also had 2 touchdowns.
Two other Boerne receivers almost went over 100 yards after Ben Bays hauled in 4 passes for 84 yards and a TD, while Adam Hicks caught 5 passes for 77 yards.
Hicks also rushed for 124 yards on 24 carries and 2 touchdowns, while Hutson Hendrix took over late and ran the Wildcat and rushed 8 times for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground.
The Boerne “D” gave up 506 yards and 50 points to Miller but came up with enough stops to make a difference after they forced two punts and also had an interception to kill another drive.
Because of that, the Greyhounds stayed a possession or two ahead the entire time. Miller’s only lead came at 7-6 early in the first quarter.
Hutson Hendrix was busy on defense and finished with 16 tackles, Jake Perez had 7 tackles and broke up 2 passes, Cole Durham added a sack and Jaxon Baize intercepted a pass.
The Greyhounds beat Miller, 65-50, while Randle is coming off a 21-14 overtime win against district foe Iowa Colony last week.
Coach Hendrix said they’re excited to be in the state semifinals and play at a DI stadium like McLane.
“It’s special, the amount of energy it brings,” he said. “McLane Stadium is such a great experience for everybody. We’re looking forward to playing there.”
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