Highlanders win Region II
Stifling defense fuels victory in honor of teammate in coma
WACO — It was clear from the onset that there would be no stopping The Woodlands on Saturday at McLane Stadium.
Neither the rain nor Round Rock could cool The Woodlands off, as the Highlanders racked up 543 yards of offense on their way to a 41-18 victory over the Dragons in the Class 6A Division I Region II final.
Just seven days after senior linebacker Grant Milton was rushed from McLane to a nearby hospital for emergency brain surgery, the Highlanders took the field knowing their teammate was still in critical condition and in a coma.
When The Woodlands (14-0) took the field, every player had a “21” decal on the back of his helmet in honor of Milton, and some also wore green wristbands with “#MiltonStrong21” printed in white on it or wrote the number 21 on their hands.
“We talked all week about how we have to finish this thing because that is what Grant would have wanted us to do,” The Woodlands coach Mark Schmid said. “They know him, and they know that they needed to do that, so that’s what they came out and did.”
The Woodlands will face Allen in the 6A Division I state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at DKR Memorial Stadium in Austin.
Senior quarterback Eric Schmid seemed determined to do anything he could to help position his team for the win against Round Rock (10-4).
He threw for 247 yards with a touchdown and ran for 107 yards and three more scores. Schmid broke free for a 57-yard run that set up his 12-yard score, which made it 34-6 with 9 seconds left in the first half.
There was little he hadn’t done for the Highlanders through the first two quarters — but the offense wasn’t able to do much more outside a 19-yard Carlos Ramos touchdown run to make it 41-12 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.
“I think we were just trying (too hard) to put it away,” Eric Schmid. “But the defense played great all night. I don’t know how many sacks they got, but they were putting pressure on them, and the secondary was covering well.”
The Woodlands’ defense recorded six sacks. Michael Purcell had 2½ sacks, Zach LaCanfora had 1½, and Zach Loane and Cole Sichley each had one.
Dragons senior quarterback Marc Reed was held to just 1 yard on 19 carries after entering Saturday with 1,277 rushing yards.
After the game, coach Schmid commended his team’s ability to keep its focus throughout the week, but when asked if he’d ever had to deal with this kind of situation himself, he simply shook his head, fighting back tears.
“There is no playbook for something like this,” he said before pointing to his team. “But those guys are awesome. Those guys are awesome.”