Gunter stifles Holliday, eliminates Eagles from playoffs again

FRISCO – There were no plot twists, new characters introduced or shocking endings.

The script for the fourth 3A Division II state quarterfinal between Gunter and Holliday in the past five years read much like the previous handful of Tiger-Eagle clashes.

The screenwriters may have taken the night off, but Gunter’s swarming defense didn’t as it was unyielding in securing a 31-7 victory inside The Star.

The No. 1 Tigers (13-0) will face Canadian (12-2) at 6 p.m. next Friday at Abilene Christian in the semifinals after the Wildcats thumped Wall 45-10. Meanwhile for the fifth time in six seasons, the No. 2 Eagles (13-1) have yet another quality campaign ended by the perennial powerhouse Tigers.

“When I came into high school, they were the standard, and we’ve been trying to reach that for four years now,” Holliday quarterback Peyton Marchand said. “They’re just fast, they stay low and hit hard. They do all the little things right.”

The difference in this game was Holliday’s failure to move the football resulted in short fields for a powerful Gunter offense.

Tyrese Polite had the Eagles’ best play of the night when he reversed field for a 71-yard run that set up Marchand’s 5-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, making it a 10-7 ballgame.

However, the Tigers scored right before half on Ivy Hellman’s 17-yard touchdown catch and were never threatened after that. The lengths of Gunter’s four touchdown drives were 34, 36, 41 and 60 yards.

Holliday managed only three first downs and 138 total yards in suffering its first loss of the year. Take out Polite’s long run, and the Eagles' other 32 carries went for 40 yards.

“We never could flip the field on them besides the one play. We never were able to make them have an 80-yard field,” Holliday coach Frank Johnson said. “They only had to go 40 or 50 yards. I was really proud of our defense for being as stingy as it was. It doesn’t look like it with the score, but it really was.”

You might think Holliday would despise seeing Gunter after repeated double-digit defeats. After all, the Eagles have suffered only 12 losses in the past six seasons. They are 70-5 against everyone else and 0-7 against the Tigers since 2017.

But in talking to players and coaches after the game, that’s far from the truth.

“I’m not sure if it’s a rivalry for them, but it sure is for us. I know everybody on our team loves playing those guys,” Marchand said. “It’s a great challenge and competition, it’s a fun game. You hate to lose, but we love playing them.”

Frank Johnson said he’d almost rather face Gunter in district again like in 2018-19. The Eagles didn’t win district titles those years, but Johnson thought they had a more competitive quarterfinal match those two times after seeing them in October.

“I’m not happy about the outcome, but I still want a chance at those guys every year,” Johnson said. “They’re always so good. I thought this year we might be able to smash them some up the middle, but we couldn’t. We tried a little bit of passing, and we couldn’t protect (Marchand).”

Jaxx Johnson, who played on varsity all four years, was one of a handful of seniors who added to the program’s legacy. The Eagles have won 26 games the past two seasons with the only blemish being Gunter.

“It means the world. It’s one of the best programs in the state,” Jaxx Johnson said. “Being a part of teams to help build it back up to what it once was, it feels amazing. I just hope they can get over that hill.”

While there was no question who the better team was Friday night, there is a question of whether Frank Johnson will return for an 11th season leading the Eagles. We’ll know the answer soon.

“I’m going to make a decision quick. I owe that to the kids,” Johnson said. “I either need to be on or off, I don’t need to be in between and drag it out.

“I want to make a decision, and if I do retire, I want the next guy to come in and start his program and make the changes he wants to make. If I decide not to retire, I’m going to be all in and start working on next year.”

Frank Johnson may or may not be around Holliday in 2023, but you can be sure Gunter will be. The region still goes through the Tigers. And there’s still a gap for the Eagles to make up.

CLASS 3A DIVISION II STATE QUARTERFINALS  

Gunter 31, Holliday 7 

Holliday               0              7              0              0              --7  

Gunter                 3              14           7              7              --31 

FIRST QUARTER  

G – Preston Tarpley 27 field goal, 8:03

SECOND QUARTER  

G – Ethan Sloan 4 run (Tarpley kick), 10:07

H – Peyton Marchand 5 run (Parker Smith kick), 9:00

G – Ivy Hellman 17 pass from Walker Overman (Tarpley kick), 0:50

THIRD QUARTER  

G – Cannon Lemberg 39 pass from Luke Dodd (Tarpley kick), 2:35

FOURTH QUARTER  

G – Ashton Bennett 1 run (Tarpley kick), 9:31

TEAM STATISTICS  

First downs: (H) 3; (G) 15

Rushing: (H) 33-111; (G) 50-235

Passing: (H) 3-7-1—27; (G) 9-11-0—102

Punts: (H) 10-39.2; (G) 4-39.2

Fumbles: (H) 0-0; (G) 0-0

Penalties: (H) 3-24; (G) 6-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS  

RUSHING: (H) Tyrese Polite 6-77, Collin Hays 4-20, Jaxx Johnson 4-6, Landry Huchton 1-5, Steele Skinner 2-4, Kaison Yow 4-4, Asa Greathouse 3-2, Creed Jackson 1-1, Peyton Marchand 8-(-8); (G) Walker Overman 12-93, Ethan Sloan 15-79, Ashton Bennett 8-36, Brayden Hinton 5-17, Ivy Hellman 7-15, Luke Dodd 1-2, team 2-(7-).

PASSING: (H) Marchand 3-7-1—27; (G) Overman 8-9-0—63; Dodd 1-2-0—39.

RECEIVING: (H) Jackson 2-26; Yow 1-1; (G) Cannon Lemberg 3-48, Hellman 3-24, Sloan 3-20, Dakota Lowery 1-10.

RECORDS: Holliday 13-1; Gunter 13-0.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Holliday Eagles vs. Gunter Tigers 2022 high school football playoffs