Atascocita tops North Shore in OT to advance to state semifinals
QB throws for 349 yards, runs for TD in overtime
After making it through all the postgame interviews, Atascocita coach Craig Stump was heading for the tunnel when he saw his electric senior quarterback, Daveon Boyd, grinning from ear to ear.
“You know, you could have just scored before overtime,” Stump admonished him.
Replied Boyd: “I wanted to make it more suspenseful.” Mission accomplished. Boyd had everyone on the edge of their seats during Friday night’s thrilling finish at NRG Stadium.
Boyd rushed for three touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime, and threw for 349 yards and another score, lifting the Eagles to a 33-27 victory over defending Class 6A Division I champion North Shore.
“This is the greatest feeling in the world, being the (regional) champions,” Boyd said. “My team battled. On offense, we had some plays we didn’t make, but the defense stepped up, and it’s on to the next round.”
The victory in the 6A Division I Region III final earned the 12-1 Eagles a trip to the state semifinals to face Lake Travis at 2 p.m. Dec. 10 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
North Shore ended its season at 12-2.
The Mustangs notched field goals on their first two drives of the third quarter to take a 20-14 advantage. The second Jonathan Rodriguez field goal was set up by Boyd’s second interception.
But the Eagles snatched their first lead on their ensuing series, with Lujuan Winningham turning a short Boyd pass into a 60yard score. They added a 21-yard David Heaton field goal for a 24-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.
North Shore took the lead back with a clutch drive in the final minutes.
Running back Kerrion Hadnot capped it with an improbable 17-yard grab in the end zone for a 27-24 lead with 1:31 remaining.
But Atascocita forced OT when Heaton drilled a 36-yard field goal with no time left.
Then Boyd secured the school’s first regional title with a 6-yard touchdown run after North Shore fumbled away its first overtime possession.
“You could tee it up and play this game all over again and probably have a different outcome,” Stump said.
Stump’s high-powered Eagles won the opening coin toss, elected to receive and quickly marched to North Shore’s 11-yard line.
Then the Mustangs flexed their defensive muscle.
Defensive lineman Josh Sifuentes intercepted Boyd and returned it 18 yards to North Shore’s 28, where quarterback Bryant Badie set up before making Atascocita pay for the turnover.
Badie directed a sevenplay, 72-yard drive, which he capped by following Hadnot into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown run and 7-0 lead at the 6:42 mark of in the first quarter.
However, Boyd wasn’t deterred.
He guided an emphatic Eagles response, hitting Winningham for 26 yards to North Shore’s 8 and then punching in a 1-yard scoring run on fourth-and-goal after the Mustangs stymied three plays inside their 2.
But with Badie picking apart Atascocita’s secondary, North Shore regained the lead on its ensuing possession.
Badie (307 yards, one TD passing, two rushing TDs) provided the payoff with a 17-yard TD run for a 14-7 first-quarter lead.
Then the Eagles’ defense came up big.
North Shore forced a punt and reached Atascocita’s 9 before back-to-back sacks by Jaylon Allen and DeMarius Brooks pushed the Mustangs back 24 yards, eventually forcing a turnover on downs.
Boyd exploded for a 32yard TD run with 2:05 left in the second quarter, forging a 14-14 halftime tie.
“I’ve never been (to the state semifinals), either,” Stump said. “In high school coaching, this is it.
“(So) to come in here, when nobody thought we were going to win except the guys in that room, is huge.”