East Bernard Wins Big In Class 2A Division II Championship
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Updated: December 21, 2012
East Bernard wins Texas high school football Class 2A Division II State Championship
The third and final game of the first night of the State Championship game marathon at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington saw an offensive explosion. East Bernard commanded the attention of the state two weeks ago by giving the No.1 ranked and reigning defending champs Refugio a taste of their own medicine 54-23 in the Region IV Final. The undefeated Brahmas, avoided the let down the following week by taking care of business against Elyisian Fields in the State Semi-finals.
In Thursday's Class AA DII UIL State Championship game against Corsicana Mildred, East Bernard expected to cap the remarkable playoff run with a bang and make sure it wasn’t all for naught. EB made sure to do just that, and then some.
The Eagles of Corsicana Mildred were welcomed to the State Championship stage (it was their first title game appearance) with a rude awakening thanks mostly to a stellar performance by East Bernard Senior quarterback, Ty Slanina. Ironically wearing the white and maroon uniform of East Bernard, Texas A&M might regret pulling the offer out from under Slanina after watching this game. The now TCU commit, only attempted two passes and completed both of them (one of them good for a 20 yard TD), but thanks to his legs, he didn't need more. Slanina, the UIL Offensive Player of the Game, reached the end zone four times via the ground on rushes of 35, 2, 76, and 12 yards. He finished with 167 rushing yards on only 8 carries.
As much as this game seemed like it was a one man show, it wasn’t. The East Bernard offense spread the ball around exceptionally, handing the ball off to six different rushers and passing the ball to four different receivers from two different quarterbacks. The Brahmas had three 100 yard rushers in Ty Slanina, Cedric Perkins, and Joc Richardson and totaled seven TD’s on the ground overall.
“They didn’t have much answer for our offense,” East Bernard coach Jerry Long said.
This was definitely an understatement.
It wasn't just the EB offense (who scored on 8 of their first 9 drives) that came to play today. The Brahma defense, led by UIL Defensive Player of the Game Cody Rosales, held Mildred to only 47 yards and no points in the first half, and 126 yards and 14 points total by game’s end. In addition to forcing five punts, the D also held Mildred’s offensive stars in check; sacking 8,000 yard career passer Nic Shimonek six times and holding 1,900-yard RB Draylon Sterling to just 33 yards rushing on the day.
The 56-14 victory over Mildred is the second State Championship for East Bernard (2-1 in title games), but first in Class AA. The program won its last championship in 1977 in Class A (27-10 over Seagraves HS) and its other championship appearance was in a losing effort in the 1982 Class AA State Championship (falling 28-6 to Eastland HS). The Mildred Eagles, heavy underdogs to the undefeated Brahmas, were sent home from their first championship game appearance with a disappointing loss but ends the season on an impressive 13-2 overall record and looks to rebound next year.
By Taylor Brasher
LSG Intern
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