Hawley manhandles Refugio, wins first football state title
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ARLINGTON – Mitch Ables can remember watching Hawley’s current group of seniors playing youth football on a nearby field during breaks in watching film Saturdays many years ago.
Fast forward to Thursday morning, and those seniors put on a show on high school football’s biggest stage.
Austin Cumpton ran for 151 yards and four touchdowns, while Rodey Hooper threw for 279 yards and three more as the Bearcats blasted Refugio 54-28 to win the Class 2A Division I state title.
“I remember watching them out there loving and playing the game of football with each other,” Ables said about their youth football days. “Just to see them to grow into the men they’re becoming. They’re going to make good husbands and good fathers one day.”
And for now, they’re state football champions, too – the first in Hawley history.
The Bearcats (16-0) forced four turnovers – converting all four into touchdowns, including Hez Parker’s 50-yard interception return for score in the second half.
Sweet redemption
Hawley, which lost to Shiner 47-12 in the program’s first state title game appearance last year, cashed three turnovers into TDs while getting another on one of two fourth-down stops in rolling to a 34-13 halftime lead.
That loss to Shiner, the Bearcats’ only defeat the past two seasons, motivated them to get back and win it all.
“They’ve been talking about this for 365 days,” Ables said. “… In our locker room, there’s a big picture of AT&T (Stadium) up there that we look at it every day. When we lost last year, these guys put in their mind, and everybody put in their mind, that we were going to come back and win it this year.
"(I’m) super proud of them.”
Making up for lost time
Cumpton, who missed last year’s state championship with two fractured vertebrae in his upper back, made the most of his second chance. The senior – the game’s Offensive MVP – scored his team’s first three TDs – the first after recovering a fumble. He set up another Hawley TD with a fumble recovery.
“It feels amazing,” Cumpton said. “Coach brought me in as a little ol’ freshman. I had an amazing career. I couldn’t ask for anything better.
“To go out with a win your senior year, words can’t even describe what it means. … It’s a dream come true, and I thank all of these guys.”
Ables wasn’t surprised with Cumpton’s final game in a Hawley uniform.
“I knew Austin, just the man he is and the heart he has,” Ables said. “I was sitting there thinking about this the other day when he wasn’t playing last year. I knew it ate at him and ate at him. He had a chip on his shoulder and said, ‘I’m going to do this this year.’
“He’s been unbelievable this year. Anytime you’ve got somebody who puts the ball in the end zone over 40 times is an extremely good football player.”
Hez huzzah
Parker, a senior linebacker, was named the game’s Defensive MVP. He had 4.5 tackles, including a sack, forced a fumble to go with the pick-six.
“It’s a blessing to play like that, go out (as) defensive MVP,” Parker said. “I couldn’t do it without my front D-line and the buys back there (in the secondary) helping me out the whole time.”
Hooper, receivers shine
Hooper, a senior quarterback, completed 14 of 18 passes, including TD passes of 74 and 66 yards to Diontay Ramon and Kason O’Shields, respectively.
Ramon, who moved to running back in Cumpton’s absence the final three games of the season last year, had a game-high 150 yards on six receptions, including an 11-yard TD pass to go with the 74-yarder.
“We saw on film all year long that quarterback dropping in dimes, and those receivers coming up with every contested ball,” Refugio coach Jason Herring said of Hooper and his receiving corps. “So, I knew that was going to happen. The difference in the game, in my opinion, was you can’t turn the ball over, and we turned it over. Period.
"And they just absolutely crushed us rushing the football.”
Eziyah Bland led Refugio with 163 yards and a TD on 17 carries. Jordan King ran for a TD and caught a 35-yard pass from Kelan Brown for another.
Brown completed 7 of 12 passes for 121 yards and one score. Kaleb Brown also had a TD run for the Bobcats, who were trying to win their first state title since beating Post 28-7 in 2017.
Refugio (15-1) was making its 11th state championship game appearance – winning four.
Cisco beat the Bobcats 56-36 for its first state title in 2013.
Turnovers fuel Hawley start
Cumpton ran for three touchdowns, and Hooper threw the long TD passes to Ramon and O’Shields as Hawley rolled to a 34-13 halftime lead.
Three of Hawley’s four TDs were set up by turnovers, and another came after a fumbled snap on a fourth-down play gave the Bearcats the ball at the Refugio 21.
Cumpton recovered two fumbles in the half, while Chandlin Myers picked off a pass.
The Bobcats turned the ball over on their first five possessions, two on fourth-down stops.
Parker strip-sacked quarterback Kelan Brown on a second-and-9 play from the Bobcats’ 37. Cumpton recovered the ball at the Refugio 20.
Cumpton scored from 7 yards three plays later. Hooper was sacked on the PAT.
The next time Refugio had the ball, Myers tripped up Kaleb Brown on a fourth-and-1 play at the Hawley 37.
Zander Willis stripped Cumpton on a first-and-10 play from the Bobcats’ 20, and Refugio’s Kaleb Brown recovered the fumble at the 21 to stymie the drive.
The Bobcats ended up turning the ball over downs. Kelan Brown fumbled the snap on fourth-and-1 from the Refugio 30. He fell on it for an 11-yard loss, giving Hawley the ball at the Bobcats’ 21.
Two plays later, Cumpton scored from 14 yards out, and Hooper threw to Myers for the two-point PAT and a 14-0 lead with 10:28 left in the second quarter.
Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, Myers picked off a Kelan Brown pass, giving the Bearcats the ball at their own 31.
Hawley cashed in the turnover, with Cumpton running for another 14-yard TD. The pass failed on the PAT, but the Bearcats led 20-0 with 7:11 remaining in the half.
It appeared Refugio would finally answer. Eziyah Boyd ripped off two 21-yard runs, the second down to the Hawley 18. After a 9-yard game by Kaleb Brown, Diego Stovall stripped the ball from Boyd. Cumpton nabbed his second fumble recovery at the Bobcat 9.
This time, Ramon turned a short pass from Hooper into a 74-yard TD.
Hooper threw a pass to Will Scott for the two-point PAT and a 28-0 lead with 2:30 to go in the half.
Refugio managed to hold on the ball for a complete drive and got a 3-yard TD run by Kaleb Brown with 2:00 left in the half.
Two plays after the kickoff following the TD, Hooper threw a 66-yard TD pass to O’Shields, who was all alone along the sideline. No one was within 20 yards of him, and he raced untouched for the score and a 34-7 lead.
Refugio closed within 34-13 just before the half. Jordan King caught a 35-yard TD pass from Kelan Brown with 20 seconds left in the quarter.
Bearcats play keep away
Leading by 21 points to start the second half, Hawley just needed to eat clock, protect the ball and, most likely, get some points.
The Bearcats took the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards on 14 plays. Hooper capped it with a 11-yard TD pass to Ramon.
The drive ate up the first 8:11 of the half.
“That was huge, and it kept their offense off the field most importantly,” Ables said.
What slim chances the Bobcats had of a comeback soon vanished. Parker picked off Kelan Brown’s pass on the Bobcats first play from scrimmage after the Ramon TD and ran untouched for a 50-yard pick-six.
“It’s crazy, honestly,” the 5-foot-8 Parker said. “I miss all those in practices. They either go off my fingers or I’m too short and can’t catch it.
“He threw it to me. I caught it. Refugio is pretty fast. I thought I was going to at least get to the 20. Diontay had a good block, and it carried me into the end zone.”
Herring, whose team could be explosive offensively when it held on to the ball, said his team’s potent offensive meant little if it didn’t have the ball.
“Tonight, the best team won,” Herring said. “There’s no doubt. We didn’t have an answer for their passing game. We didn’t have an answer for their rushing game. They ran the ball and kept our offense off the field.”
Breaking it down
∎ Turning point: Realistically, Hooper’s 66-yard TD pass to Kason O’Shields pretty much sealed the win with 1:12 left in the first half. It gave the Bearcats a 34-7 lead, and they hung on for a 34-13 halftime lead.
Whatever shot Refugio had at a comeback died, slowly, as Hawley drove 73 yards on 14 points for a TD on the opening drive of the second half. The Bearcats ate up 8:11 on the drive, and then Parker returned a pick 50 yards for a TD on the Bobcats first play of the half for the death blow.
∎ Players of the game: Austin Cumpton, running back, Hawley – The senior ran for 151 yards and four TDs on 31 carries. He also recovered two fumbles, both setting up TDs; Rodey Hooper, quarterback, Hawley – The senior completed 14 of 18 passes for 279 yards and three TDs.
∎ Key stat: Hawley’s defense fed the offense, forcing four turnovers – all leading to TDs. The Bearcats also got two fourth-down stops in the first half – one leading to a TD.
“I’m proud of those guys,” Ables said of his defense. “They’re a bunch of blue-collar, hard-working guys who are under sized in some spots. They just get after it. They fought their tails off tonight.”
∎ Coach Ables said: “I told myself this playoff season I was going to take time and just look in the bleachers, because last year I didn’t. I said I wanted to take a mental note of this. Everything kind of slowed down this year. I was able to turn around and look at that crowd. It was unbelievable. There was four times the population of our town sitting up the bleachers. It was just cool to see, and at the end of the game, I made these guys turn around. I said, ‘Check that out guys. There’s a lot of people who have your back and a community and a family that loves you.”
∎ Coach Herring said: Herring isn’t happy the 2A games are played so early in the week – and far from Refugio, nearly a six-hour drive barring traffic and bad weather.
“We put in all this work, and we get two days to practice. It’s just not the same for everybody, when we have to spend a day traveling and everybody else gets to sleep in their bed and practice at home and get up.”
∎ Impact: Hawley (16-0) wins the Class 2A Division I state football title – its first in program history. The Bearcats made their first state championship appearance last year, losing to Shiner. Refugio (15-1) was seeking its first state title since beating Post 28-7 in 2017. Refugio was making its 11th state championship game appearance – winning four.
CLASS 2A DIVISION I CHAMPIONISHIP
Hawley 54, Refugio 28
Refugio | 0 | 13 | 8 | 7 | − | 28 |
Hawley | 6 | 28 | 14 | 6 | − | 54 |
FIRST QUARTER
HAW − Austin Cumpton 7 run (pass failed), 7:38
SECOND QUARTER
HAW − Cumpton 14 run (Chandlin Myers pass from Rodey Hooper), 10:28
HAW − Cumpton 14 run (pass failed), 7:11
HAW − Diontay Ramon 74 pass from Hooper (Will Scott pass from Hooper), 2:30
REF − Kaleb Brown 3 run (Alex Placencia kick), 2:00
HAW − Kason O'Shields 66 pass from Hooper (pass failed), 1:12
REF − Jordan King 35 pass from Kelan Brown (kick blocked), 00:20
THIRD QUARTER
HAW − Ramon 11 pass from Hooper (run failed), 3:41
HAW − Hez Parker 50 interception return (Ramon pass from Cumpton), 3:28
REF − Eziyah Bland 10 run (Kaleb Brown run), 1:10
FOURTH QUARTER
HAW − Cumpton 10 run (kick failed), 7:00
REF − King 3 run (Placencia kick), 2:34
TEAM STATISTICS
Categories | REF | HAW |
First downs | 17 | 19 |
Rushes-Yards | 38-224 | 37-178 |
Passing | 121 | 279 |
Comp-Att-Int | 7-13-2 | 14-18-1 |
Punts | 0-0 | 1-25.0 |
Fumbles-Lost | 4-2 | 1-1 |
Penalties-Yards | 7-57 | 5-25 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Refugio, Eziyah Bland 17-163, Jordan King 8-73, Kaleb Brown 7-16, Chai Whitmore 1-8, Ernest Campbell 2-6, Kelan Brown 3-(minus 42). Hawley, Austin Cumpton 31-151, Diontay Ramon 2-24, Rodey Hooper 1-2, Keagan Ables 1-1, Abbi Siller 2-0.
PASSING: Refugio, Kelan Brown 7-12-2−121, Team 0-1-0−0. Hawley, Hooper 14-18-1−279.
RECEIVING: Refugio, Campbell 3-33, Isaiah Avery 2-35, King 1-35, Whitmore 1-18. Hawley, Ramon 6-150, Kason O'Shields 3-92, Ables 2-16, Chandlin Myers 2-13, Will Scott 1-8.
RECORDS: Refugio 15-1; Hawley 16-0.
Big week for the Big Country
Hawley’s state title was the fourth for Big Country teams. Albany beat Mart 41-21 for the Class 2A DII title Wednesday night. It’s Faith’s first state title in five title game appearances and 37 years as the Lions’ head coach.
“I’m a big Coach Faith fan, and I was rooting my tail off for them,” Hawley coach Mitch Ables said. “It was good to see him finally get his. That’s a good football team. We do play pretty good football in the Big Country.”
One of the Lions’ two losses this season came against Hawley, 26-14. Albany was without starting quarterback Cole Chapman and running back Coy Lefevre in that game. Both were injured and also missed the following week’s 31-28 loss to Comanche.
Then there was Westbrook, which defended its Class 1A DI state title with a 69-24 victory over Abbott, while Benjamin wrapped up perfect season with a 68-20 victory over Loraine in all-Big Country 1A DII finale.
It was the first state championship game appearance for both Benjamin and Loraine.
Westbrook played in its first state title game last year – just like Hawley.
“My hat’s off to those six-man schools as well,” Ables said. “We watched that on our phones on the way up here. It’s a crazy game to watch. It’s fast paced, up tempo. I’m just proud to be part of the Big Country and bringing a title home.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Hawley manhandles Refugio, wins first football state title
