Tulia Slays Goliath, Canadian

By Chris Doelle
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Updated: November 1, 2021

Tulia Gets State-Wide Attention Knocking Off Canadian, 54-35

The Tulia Hornets may not have surprised themselves, but they have sent a shock wave all through the world of Texas Class 3ADII. Neither was it a surprise to the defending State Champion Canadian Wildcats, who had prepared for this game knowing full well that the aerial attack Tulia has been perfecting all season was legit and could cause major problems for the Wildcat defense. All this with a phenomenal 47 district game win streak by Canadian going back to October 12, 2012 on the line.

Most of the shock wave certainly resides in Region 1. Tulia, along with Friona, have proven they can play with the two historic front runners in District 3-3A, Childress and Canadian. Which in turn means that all of the other District seeds will be forced to play one of these four teams throughout the bracket, right up to the Regional Final.

Hornets Coach Steven Coursey, who recently accepted the Tulia head coaching job, moving from Perryton, went full steam ahead with his Junior QB Travon McCaslin (the Panhandle area class 3A passing stats leader) to roll the Wildcats. Coursey was also ready to utilize trick plays, such as the flea-flicker scheme used to score on a 47-yard pass from left-hand throwing WR Adrian Brookins to Ethan Reyes.

CANADIAN OFF TO A GOOD START

The Wildcats were aware of the feats of McCaslin & company, but were not intimidated by opening the game in true Canadian Wildcat fashion by scoring the first two TDs of the game. QB Camren Cavalier drove the Wildcat offense 71 yards in 9-plays ending with a 6-yard TD run by Matt McClanahan. The Wildcat defense also got off to a great start. The Hornets had controlled the ball on their first possession for about 5-6 minutes of Q1 on 13-plays down to the Canadian 28-yard line, but a McCaslin pass was intercepted on that 13th play by DB Preston Miller. The Wildcats then showed their own passing prowess 4-plays later with Cavalier hitting WR Angel Garcia on a post route just one step ahead of DB Isiah Guerra for a 76-yard TD. It appeared that the Wildcats were right on-script with how the NASCAR offense and Blackout defense should look and feel. 14-0 Canadian with 3:49 left in the first
period.

THE HORNETS GET ORDERS FOR BOMBING MISSIONS

Before the first half would end, the Hornets would launch air attacks that would result in no less than five scores. With 3 seconds left in Q1, McCaslin hit Damian Cedillo from 52-yards out for a TD (that McCaslin seemed to have extended the play forever) with 3 seconds left in the first period. Canadian would then be held after a 9-play drive and Tulia would be stopped after a 4-play drive. Wildcat QB Camren Cavalier would then engineer a clock burning 14-play drive that ended with a Isay Ramirez 1-yard TD run with 3:16 left in the half. Within that last 3 minutes and 16 seconds, with Canadian up 21-7, Tulia would go in at the half with the lead.

Here’s how they did it: the onslaught of the Hornet passing attack would continue with the aforementioned WR Adrian Brookins pass to Ethan Reyes with 2:04 left, a 76-yard TD pass to Brayden Franco from McCaslin, and the “miracle of 4 seconds” (left in the half) play of a pass to Reyes from McCaslin, who reversed the field and then lateraled to McCaslin who took the flow back to the far sideline again going 64-yards for the TD with zeroes on the clock. The Velazquez PAT was no good and the Hornets went in at the break leading 27-21.

WILDCATS CLOSE THE GAP

Canadian finally caught some wind in their sails in the 3 rd period and answered two of Tulia’s scoring drives with two of their own. Cavalier hit WR Cree Waite for a 30-yard TD pass and with 22 ticks left in Q3, Cavalier was able to punch it in from the 1-yard line for a TD that narrowed the score to only 5-points after Hernandez kicked the PAT to go 7-for-7 on the night, cutting the Tulia lead to 40-35 with the 4th quarter to go. It would appear that the Wildcats were getting a second wind and getting a better feel for how they could still finish the game with another district win. But those hopes were soon dashed as the Hornets offense lined up on a 2nd & 3-to-go and with the first play of the 4th quarter, McCaslin hit Brayden Franco on a post route down the middle for a TD. As Q4 played out with Tulia leading 47-35 and after keeping the Wildcats out of the end zone for the rest of the last period, the Hornets pulled out their running game to drive the point home. Hornet RD Damian Cedillo run in the last TD of the game from 13-yards out with 2:15 left to stamp an exclamation point on a win that will forever be remembered in Tulia High School history.

The record book can now certify that the Canadian Wildcats won 47 consecutive District games over a period of nine seasons. The Wildcats, obviously, were not ready for that record to be published yet, however, it was an inevitable consequence that comes with injuries and the changing of the guard every school-year as each team must deal with the harsh life and quality competition that Texas High School Football offers the athletes that sign up for it.

As the Tulia Hornets celebrate an historic, program building win, the Canadian Wildcats are not deterred to continue to reach for the goal they set for themselves every season: to win a District Championship. The Wildcats know they are battered and beaten up physically and that they face the greatest challenge of the 2021 season: the very talented, experienced, rested (from a bye week), and motivated Childress Bobcat team. It is no secret, because the win-loss record speaks for itself, that there are years of payback that Childress would like to deliver on a silver platter on November 5th at Wildcat Stadium to their nemesis, the Canadian Wildcats. With a 4-1 District record (7-2 overall) the Wildcats still have the right to line up against the highly rated and mostly favored Bobcats and continue reaching for their goal, to win a District Championship. This is why they schedule the games. This is why the teams show up for kickoff.

Jerry Brunson for Lone Star Gridiron
@CHSWildcatNews (Facebook & Twitter)
chswildcatnews (Instagram)

Stats courtesy of Ron Shrader, Canadian ISD

SCORING

          1ST 2ND 3rd 4th - Total
CANADIAN   14   7  14   0  - 35
TULIA       7  20  13  14  - 54

CAN – Matt McClanahan 6 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 8:59
CAN – Angel Garcia 76 yd pass from Camren Cavalier (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 3:49
TUL – Damian Cedillo 52-yd pass from Travon McCaslin (Daniel Velazquez kick) 0:03

CAN – Isay Ramirez 1 yd run (Hernandez kick) 3:16
TUL – Ethan Reyes 47-yd pass from Adrian Brookins (Daniel Velazquez kick) 2:04
TUL – Brayden Franco 76-yd pass from Travon McCaslin (Velazquez kick) 0:56
TUL – McCaslin 64-yd lateral from Reyes (Daniel Velazquez kick no good) 0:00

TUL – Adrian Brookins 92-yd pass from McCaslin (Velazquez kick blocked) 10:19
TUL – Damian Cedillo 28-yd run (Daniel Velazquez kick) 5:58
CAN – Cree Waite 30-yd pass from Cavalier (Hernandez kick) 4:27
CAN – Camren Cavalier 1 yd run (Hernandez kick) 0:22

TUL – Brayden Franco 34-yd pass from McCaslin (Velazquez kick) 11:53
TUL – Damian Cedillo 13-yd run (Daniel Velazquez kick) 2:15

TUL - CAN
FIRST DOWNS 16 - 29
YARDS RUSHING 419 - 264
YARDS PASSING 141 - 254
TOTAL YARDS 598 - 511
COMP-ATT-INT 14-26-1 - 18-32-1
PUNTS 3-40 - 4-32
FUMBLES-LOST 0-0 - 1-1
PENALTIES 15-155 - 9-85

Friday Night Legends Historic Teams
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Want to see how the Canadian teams stack up against some of the best all time?

We have the 2015 Championship and 2017 teams already created and football fans and game board players around the world are coaching the Canadian Wildcats against some of the greatest teams in history.

2015 Canadian - The Wildcats won the Class 2A Division I State Championship with a convincing 41 point win over Gulf Coast power Refugio. This was Canadian's 4th Championship win in 5 Championship games since 2007.

2017 Canadian - The Wildcats extended their winning streak to 16 years. All 16 years they have had 8+ wins. This team made it to the Semifinals with a high scoring offense and great defense.

2020 Canadian - The 2020 Wildcats won the Texas 3A DII Championship 35-34 over the Franklin Lions. It was their 5th state title.