Brahmas come up short in 1st state title game in 46 years

ARLINGTON — Bellville was back at the state championship for the first time in 46 years.

The Brahmas were able to hang with a Gilmer program that had a little bit more recent history at this juncture.

The Buckeyes led from midway in the first quarter until the end for a 28-26 win Friday afternoon in the UIL Class 4A Division II championship at AT&T Stadium.

Gilmer (13-3) won its fourth state title in program history, its first since 2014.

Bellville (15-1), in its third trip to state, fell for the first time all season.

“It was special and I loved it,” Bellville senior linebacker Connor Gaines said of the experience of being the first Bellville team at state since 1977. “Being here was special. The team was proud to be here and we made it this far. When it came down to it, we fought with everything we had.”

Bellville coach Grady Rowe chalked up the loss as a result of an untimely turnover and penalties. The Brahmas were picked off in the red zone in the first quarter and then totaled 70 yards in penalties.

“I’m just so proud of our kids,” Rowe said. “They just fought so hard and I’m so proud. But you can’t win these games and have those kinds of penalties and turn the ball over. Some of those things we especially did in the first half.”

It was an unbalanced day as the teams combined on seven touchdowns in the first half. Bellville trailed 28-20 at halftime and shut out the Buckeyes after the break.

“Our guys made some adjustments and did some really good things,” Rowe said.

Gilmer came up short at state in 2020 and 2021. It then started this season 2-3 with 71 points allowed in the opener against Class 4A Division I state runner-up Tyler Chapel Hill back in August.

“It’s just amazing to have this opportunity to coach young men like this,” Gilmer coach Alan Metzel said. “It was a challenging year, and it just adds so much to the sweetness to it.”

The Buckeyes survived a fourth-quarter interception and a failed fourth-down conversion by stuffing the Brahmas on three plays and forcing a pair of punts.

On its final drive of the game, Gilmer converted four first downs and ran out the clock.

The Brahmas lived on the Slot-T offense, which netted nearly 6,000 rushing yards through 14 games.

Bellville did some non-Bellville things offensively in the first half. It netted a 50-50 result.

Having not thrown it much at all this season in this particular style of offense, senior quarterback Zach Leuschner, he of eight touchdowns and 349 yards on the season, connected with junior running back D.D. Murray for a 72-yard strike on a big third-down conversion to keep pace with Gilmer. A botched extra-point attempt made it a 14-13 Gilmer lead with 1:09 to play in the first quarter.

“That’s Slot-T offense,” Rowe said. “Play-action and we catch you off guard. That’s what it was. Zach has done a great job for us all year long. I’m so proud of him.”

Gilmer quarterback Cadon Tennison, who rushed in a firstquarter 2-yard touchdown, threw a beauty to Ta’Erick Tate, who bolted up the left sideline for a 69yard score and a 28-20 lead heading into halftime.

Gilmer dominated time of possession with over 14 minutes with the ball in the first half.

The teams exchanged punts out of halftime.

Bellville then moved down the field on eight plays for 75 yards — including a crucial 4th-and-short conversion — as Corrian Hood reached the end zone on an 8-yard run at the 2:26 mark. A two-point conversion was stuffed, and the Brahmas continued to trail 28-26.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Bellville got its huge takeaway.

Senior Colin Goeke leaped for an interception inside the Brahmas’ 5-yard line to give his team possession and a chance to take the lead.

The Brahmas, however, were stuffed on three straight run attempts and were forced to punt.

Hranicky finished with 157 rushing yards while Murray had 81 and Hood had 49. Goeke had an interception on defense. Gaines totaled 13 tackles while leading in that department.