Holcomb rolls to second title in three years

RThe Holcomb Longhorns stampeded the Frontenac Raiders behind a dominating defensive effort to win the 4A-II state championship, 40 – 20. It was Holcomb’s second state football title in three years.

Holcomb frustrated Frontenac all day long, holding the Raider rushing attack to just 44 net yards, their lowest output of the season. Their leading rusher, Jake Wilbert, had 1172 yards rushing on the year, but managed just 35 yards on 14 carries in the title game.

The Longhorn ‘D’ set the tone early. After Holcomb punted on the game’s opening possession, Frontenac tried a little trickery that backfired. Wilbert, took the hand-off on a sweep to the right and then stopped to throw deep. But Chance Rodriguez picked it off at midfield and returned it 21 yards to set the Longhorns up at the Raider 29. Holcomb couldn’t pick up the first down and turned the ball over to Frontenac at the 21.

Two plays later, Carter Blackburn picked off QB Peyton Brown’s pass and Holcomb took over at the Frontenac 49. This time the Longhorns capitalized, with Trey Gilbert hitting Peyton Leonard for 30 yards on 2nd-and-11 and Reece Morss rumbling 20 yards in two carries, the last two yard run putting Holcomb up. Chance Rodriguez, 4 of 6 on the day kicking extra points, hit the PAT and the Longhorns led 7-0 midway through the opening quarter.

Frontenac went three-and-out and Holcomb then drove 68 yards in eight plays to go up 14-0, still in the 1st quarter. Gilbert connected on two big pass plays on the drive, a 30-yarder to Carter Blackburn and then a 16-yard completion to Rodriguez for his first of three TD catches.

The Raiders’ woes continued on the first play of the 2nd quarter, when Rodriguez forced a Brendan Ishimura fumble and Reece Morss recovered it at the Frontenac 33. Four plays later, Trey Gilbert scrambled in from six yards out and Holcomb led 20-0 after the missed PAT.

Frontenac turned it over on downs, but Holcomb gave the ball back to the Raiders when Gilbert was picked off by Ishimura. The Raiders threatened quickly when Brown found Ishimura 55 yards downfield to the Longhorn 13. But two plays later, Brown fumbled and Paden Cornelson recovered to get the ball back on Holcomb’s 15. On the next play, Gilbert hit Peyton Leonard streaking down the middle of the field for an 85-yard touchdown strike and Holcomb stretched the lead to 27-0, following the PAT.

Frontenac finally found some success on offense, with an 80-yard drive, assisted by an unsportsmanlike penalty against the Longhorns. Brown found Ishimura in the end zone from 28 yards out, but Trey Harris, who hit on 82% of his PAT tries during the season, missed this one and Holcomb held a 27-6 lead at halftime.

The Raiders took the 2nd half kick-off back to their own 43 and promptly went three-and-out, but a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt gave Frontenac new life on Holcomb’s 42. Three plays later, Brown found tight end Zach Rosebrough over the middle for a 35-yard TD and suddenly it was a two score game.

After a Longhorn punt, the Raiders tried to pull within one score, driving from their 39 to Holcomb’s 7, aided by two more untimely Longhorn penalties. After a 5-yard loss on 2nd down, Brown tried to find a receiver at the goal line, with Andrew Morss applying pressure, and found Reece Morss instead, who reached up a big left hand and yanked the ball out of the air at the 5, returning it to the 17. It was Frontenac’s 5th turnover of the game.

The Longhorns would move the ball across midfield before punting and pinning the Raiders back on their 12. The defense forced a three-and-out and Holcomb got the ball back on its 48.

Gilbert then found a wide-open Rodriguez for 52 yards and the Frontenac comeback was thwarted. Rodriguez’ kick made it 34-13 with just over 10 minutes to play.

The Raiders would pick up one first down on their next series, but ended up turning it over on downs at their own 41. The Longhorns would use three minutes to put the game out of reach, as Gilbert found Rodriguez again, this time from 5 yards out on 4th-and-goal, to make the score 40-13.

Frontenac finished the scoring with Brown hitting Ishimura with an 8-yard TD pass at the 3:20 mark and Harris’ PAT made it a 40-20 game. The Longhorns ran the clock down under a minute before punting to the Raiders who ran one play and then let the clock run out.

Holcomb racked up 431 yards total offense to Frontenac’s 271. Trey Gilbert was 12 out of 20 passing for 264 yards, three touchdowns, all to Chance Rodriguez, and one interception. Gilbert added a TD on the ground. Reece Morss led all rushers with 71 yards on 13 carries and 1 TD.

The Longhorns finish the 2017 season 12-1, with 43 wins and two state championships under head coach Kent Teeter against just seven losses over four seasons. Holcomb has won at least 10 games each of the last four seasons.

2017 also marks the final season of 4A-Division 2, which began in 2014, but goes away with classification realignment for 2018. The Holcomb Longhorns have won two of the four 4A-II football titles during that span. Holcomb also owns two boys’ basketball titles one baseball championship in 4A-II.