Sharks, Highland Park to vie for state title
A state title will be decided between the school with the most wins in Texas high school football history and a first-year varsity program.
It seems fitting that a kicksix sealed the matchup. Shadow Creek defeated San Antonio Wagner 41-24 in a Class 5A Division I state semifinal Saturday at NRG Stadium to move to 15-0. The program can do something only Beaumont West Brook’s 1982 team can relate to — win a state championship in its debut year in the UIL.
The Sharks will have to get through two-time defending state champion Highland Park and its 831 alltime wins at 11 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
The Sharks were protecting a 27-24 lead in the fourth quarter when Wagner’s 36yard field-goal attempt fell short with 2:37 left. Shadow Creek’s Ronald Nunnery Jr. stood under it, corralled the ball and outraced Wagner players for the 100-yard TD return. Nunnery was back there on a hunch.
“I kind of knew he was going to miss it,” said Nunnery, who led the team with 12 tackles. “I had a great feel of the game. I knew he was going to miss it. Most high school kickers cannot really kick that far.”
Isaiah Harper’s 15-yard touchdown run after that was a bonus for Shadow Creek, which went through trial and error to get to that point.
Wagner’s triple-option offense had foiled the explosive Sharks for a 17-7 lead midway through the third. Wagner (13-2) was controlling time of possession — it led by nearly 23 minutes — and Shadow Creek’s offense was dormant.
But Sharks quarterback Jamarian George supplied an antidote, much like his three second-half rushing touchdowns against Foster in last week’s regional final. George’s 44-yard touchdown run cut Wagner’s lead to 17-14 with eight minutes left in the third. The run was welcome for a team with 8 rushing yards at halftime.
Shadow Creek’s Xavion Alford forced a fumble on Wagner’s next drive that Courtney Brown recovered, giving the Sharks more daylight.
They had a fourth-and-12 from the Wagner 33 and employed a fake field-goal attempt. Jared Jackson lobbed the first-down pass to Kealon Jackson with defenders draped over him. But an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on Shadow Creek, with referees citing a hideout player who was facing the sideline when the ball was snapped, which is illegal.
“It caught me off guard that we didn’t get to keep it,” Shadow Creek coach Brad Butler said. “I’ve seen several teams do very similar things, but obviously they did a great job reffing the game. I’m sure they know more than I do on it.”
The stalemate continued. There was George’s 12-yard touchdown pass to Jared Jackson, who was helped by a hefty huddle push into the end zone. Shadow Creek’s 21-17 lead was its first since 7-0 at 7:33 in the first quarter.
Wagner’s LJ Butler dared George to keep up with a 40yard touchdown run on fourth down — his fourth fourth-down conversion of the game.
George obliged on a 58yard TD run up the middle with 7:40 remaining in the game. He finished with three rushing touchdowns for the second consecutive week, this time on 10 carries for 88 yards. The extra-point attempt missed, and that set up Nunnery’s heroics.
“We were going for the tie and hopefully go into overtime and they made a big play,” Wagner coach Charles Bruce said. “Credit to them.”