End of the road
Bears playoff bid falls short as they lose to Athens 34-7
By Chad Wilson Editor

Anthony Tusing Photo Brownsboro's leading receiver Keith Johnson avoids a Hornet defender during last Friday's game in Athens. Johnson hauled in a 15 yard touchdown pass from Zack Bailey with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

It was not the way they had hoped the season would end, but even with a win the Bears would have been outside looking in for a District 14- AAA playoff berth.

Brownsboro had to win last Friday night to even have a chance at the playoffs, but with a win they needed help.

The needed help fell through as both Bullard and Chapel Hill, the pregame favorites, lost their final regular season games.

When it was all said and done, all games final, Canton edged Bullard on the final play of the game while Van dominated Chapel Hill and Athens beat the Bears 34-7.

Four teams tied for the 2007 District 14-3A Championship. Those teams were Athens, Van, Canton and Chapel Hill all with 3-2 records.

Due to head to head match ups of the four remaining teams Athens, Chapel Hill and Canton all advance to the playoff with games beginning Friday night.

Anthony Tusing Photo While playing in his final high school football game senior Ryan Epperson takes a moment to reflect.

Chapel Hill (5-5) will play Ferris (7-3) 7:30pm Friday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium while Canton (6-4) will play Kaufman (8-2) at Forney high school at 7:30pm.

Athens, the D-1 seed, will play Mabank (5-5) on Saturday at 7:30pm at Tiger Stadium in Corsicana. The Hornets defeated Mabank earlier in the season.

Last Friday was not a game to be remembered for the Bears as they were held to 107 total yards of offense and did not score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter with Athens already in front 34-0.

The Hornets opening drive was held to three points after an impressive stand by the Bear defense.

Miscues allowed the Hornets to build a quick lead as two Brownsboro turnovers resulted in a short field and 12 points.

Trailing 15-0 at the beginning of the second quarter despite the poor first half performance the Bears were still in the game.

Anthony Tusing Photo Juniors Charlie Stringer and Tristian Warren, right, converge on a Hornet running back during game play last Friday in Athens. Both Stringer and Warren look to have a major impact as seniors for the Bears next season.

Athens blocked a punt two plays into the second quarter to once again have a short field in front of them. Following a big tackle from Ryan Epperson the Hornets settled for a 23 yard field goal to increase their lead to 18-0.

With 1:55 to go in the third quarter the Hornets broke open the game as they scored on a 21 yard run to increase their lead to 27-0. Athens once again had good starting field position after a Bear punt following a safety.

Brownsboro lit up the score board for the first time in the game with two minutes left in the game as Keith Johnson made a nice catch on a 15 yard pass from Zack Bailey. Tyler Smith connected on the PAT to give the Bears seven.

Defensively the Bears held the Hornets to just 37 passing yard and forced one interception. David Rudd intercepted an Athens pass, he also blocked a PAT attempt.

Athens rushed for 301 yards on 53 carries while scoring three times. While attempting to score in the third the Hornets fumbled and the ball was recovered for the Bears by senior Ryan Epperson.

Brownsboro rushed for 58 yards on 18 attempts while passing for 49 yards on nine of 23 pass attempts.

With the talk of district realignment, the Bears can still say they were the only team to win the District 14-AAA championship outright in the two years they played with the above mentioned teams.

On the 2007 season sophomore quarterback Zack Bailey passed for 1,935 yards while leading the Bears to a 5-5 overall record and a 1-4 district record.

Bailey completed 154 of 294 passes (52%) on the season while throwing 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His finished the season with a quarterback rating of 67.77.

According to Smoaky.com Bailey set Brownsboro High School records this season in passing yards, attempts, completions, touchdowns and passing yards in one game.

Jerqualyn Dora hauled in five passes from Bailey in the game at Athens to finish the season with 26 catches for 310 yards and one score.

Brownsboro was led in receiving by Keith Johnson. Johnson caught 35 passes for 431 yards and two scores. Tristian Warren scored 5 times while pulling in 18 passes for 273 yards.

Senior Collin Wilson caught 10 passes for 277 yards and three touchdowns.

Ryan Epperson led the team in scoring and rushing. He rushed for 276 yards on 57 carries scoring 13 touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes for 182 yards and two scores.

Heading into next season the Bears will lose 14 players to graduation. Seniors on the team this season were Epperson, Rudd, Andrew Adair, Wilson, Lorenzo Chester, Tyler Smith, Rusty Lawrence, Monty Shultz, Dustin Edgar, Ethan Newell, Kendon Draper, Alex Deal, Paul Deal and Damion Green.

Returning starters on offense will include Cameron Warren, Bailey, Keith Johnson, Tristian Warren. Cameron was sidelined this season with a knee injury and is recovering well and expected to start next season in the Bears back field as the starting half back.

On defense the Bears will return Dustin Lackey, Jared Bray, Andrew Dyer, Charlie Stringer, Will Jones and several other key players.

Once all the teams in the district have completed their playoff runs the All-District team and All-Henderson County teams will be announced. The Statesman will publish these teams once they are announced.