Beasts in the East: Stephenville’s Lambert, Dublin’s Teten primed for strong seasons

ERATH COUNTY — Only two quarterbacks in 11-man Texas high school football surpassed 4,000 passing yards in 2021.

Their high schools are about 15 miles apart.

Stephenville’s Ryder Lambert and Dublin’s Chris Teten were among the state’s best arms a year ago, and are expected to be again when the new season begins this week.

Lambert's Yellow Jackets, the defending Class 4A Division I champion, opens its season at Midlothian Heritage on Friday. Teten's Lions also are on the road, taking on Fort Worth Christian.

Lambert, standing 6-foot-1, threw for 4,275 passing yards and 52 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He helped lead the Yellow Jackets last year to a 16-0 record.

In three fewer games, Teten logged 4,066 passing yards and 42 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11 quarterback led the Lions as they went three rounds deep in the Class 3A Division II playoffs, finishing 9-4 overall.

The Erath County signal callers enter their respective senior years confident.

“It’s kind of nerve-wracking, but I think we’re pretty pumped,” Teten said.

Growing as passers

Lambert’s days behind center started long before he put on pads: His first reps came during flag football in elementary school. Even then, Lambert knew that was the spot he wanted to play.

“It’s been the goal from the start,” Lambert said.

Lambert used flag football, Pop Warner leagues and middle school ball to hone different areas of his game. He regularly saw strides in mobility, strength and other areas of his game during those years, thanks largely to his discipline — what he considers his best quality.

“Hard work is what I key in on,” Lambert said. “If you work hard then it will pay off in the end.”

Teten started throwing the ball at a similar age. He played quarterback at the youth level before he wanted to give something else a try toward the end of elementary school: wide receiver.

Quickly, though, Teten learned he was better suited for the pocket.

“I couldn’t catch the ball worth crap,” Teten said. “I gave that up. I went back to quarterback and stayed there.”

Other than his brief (and less-than-stellar) switch to receiver, Teten has been a quarterback through and through. More than a decade of experience has allowed him to up his football IQ and presence in the pocket.

“I think reading the defense and being able to check routes and seeing what they can and can’t cover, just seeing their issues (is my strength),” Teten said.

New-look offenses

Both quarterbacks come into the year with great experience — and success. But both will be tasked with adjusting to receiving corps that look significantly different than in 2021.

At Stephenville, the Yellow Jackets graduated their four leading receivers in Coy Eakin, Reece Elston, Kallan Kimbrough and Kyle Ward.

Dublin will be without Cooper Hubble and Christian Ramirez, who were first and second on the team in receiving while both earning all-Big Country selections.

Still, both signal callers think they will be able to pick up where they left off.

Stephenville returns Tytus Ward on the slot, and Payton Poston — a key defensive back last year — is moving to receiver. Lambert feels comfortable with those two guys and the entire unit.

“It’s hard to replace them, but we have faith in the guys coming back,” Lambert said. “We’re just going to trust in them and try to do the same things that we did last year.”

Poston added, “We’re all just one big family. We work every day and we get after it. It really helps.”

Though Dublin graduated Hubble, the Lions return Dalan Rasberry, who caught 54 passes for 931 yards and 9 touchdowns.

The connection between those two — and Teten’s other targets — has been evident in the first few weeks of fall practice.

“I think our bond is very close,” Teten said. “7 on 7 helped a lot, and in the locker room, we all stand together. We hang out between classes, so I’d say we’re very close.”

Rasberry added, “I love this guy so much. We can give each other a look and know what we’re going to do. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in Texas and in the nation, actually.”

Building on 2021

Though Lambert admitted he has become increasingly accurate during his career, that's a big emphasis for him. With the new corps of receivers, Lambert wants to become even more precise, thus making the adjustment easier.

“You can never be too accurate,” Lambert said. “I just want to put it perfectly for them.”

Between defending the state title and holding the preseason No. 1 ranking in 4A Division I, the Yellow Jackets’ expectations are high again.

Lambert’s goals during his last year of high school include finishing with straight As and earning a scholarship to play quarterback in college. But before that, he wants to earn another ring.

“Our No. 1 goal, as a team, is to win state again,” Lambert said.

Though Teten said he’s proud of his development and continued growth in football IQ, there’s an area he hopes he can sharpen in his last year at Dublin: mobility.

“I don’t have a lot of rushing yards, but I want to increase those numbers and get better at scrambling,” he said.

After an impressive playoff run a year ago, the Lions want to extend that this year. And before that, they hope to win a competitive district (5-3A Division II) that includes Eastland, Jacksboro, Millsap, Merkel and Comanche.

The Lions tied for second in the district in 2021, but Teten wants to finish his high school career on top.

“We want to go further than we did last year,” Teten said.

Representing Erath County

Teten and Lambert are familiar with each other.

The two played on basketball and baseball teams together during their youth and consider themselves friends.

They don’t see each other regularly anymore, as they attend different high schools that play at different levels. Still, the two applauded each others’ careers to this point.

After all, their journeys from small-town football to being two of the state’s best quarterbacks were somewhat similar.

“It’s very cool,” Teten said. “We rooted them on at state last year and we hope they do the same for us.”

Lambert added, “It shows that people in smaller schools can play too. It’s cool.”

breakout

Let the games begin

The Texas high school football season kicks off this week, with some games scheduled for Thursday.

That includes Cooper at Shotwell Stadium, taking on Keller High. On Friday, Abilene High is at Shotwell, facing longtime rival Odessa Permian. Wylie is at Brownwood, a matchup between two former district foes.

And Texas Leadership Charter Academy launches into its 11-man era, playing at Water Valley.

Several Abilene-area schools are highly regarded, including 4A D-1 Stephenville (No. 1 in Dave Campbell's Texas Football), 3A-D1 Jim Ned (No. 5), 3A-DII Early (No. 15), 2A-D1s Hawley (No. 5), Coleman (No. 9) and Cisco (No. 10), 2A-DII Albany (No. 1), 1A-D1s Westbrook (No. 1) and May (No. 3), and 1A-DIIs Benjamin (No. 1), Jayton (No. 3), Strawn (No. 5) and Throckmorton (No. 8).

Go reporternews.com for season previews, schedules and more for high school football.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Stephenville’s Lambert, Dublin’s Teten primed for strong seasons