New Home football controls second half to top Wellington, advance to first state semifinal
CANYON — The New Home football team continues to make history.
The Leopards, behind backup quarterback Brazos Beck and an opportunistic defense, controlled the second half to separate from Wellington in a 35-20 win in Friday's Region I-2A Division II final at Happy State Bank Stadium. The victory extends New Home's playoff run to the school's first state semifinal.
"Just proud. Proud of our kids, proud of their fight," Leopards coach Jon Ward said. "Just proud of how they believe. We talked at the beginning of the week about just over-believing almost, to a certain extent. I think they did it. It started with Monday when we were in the weight room, and we had a great week of practice.
"Again, it's a tribute to these kids. They did such a great job tonight."
Beck, filling in for the injured Caleb Cook, threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, adding a 22-yard rushing score. He did so on 10 completed passes, with speedster Jackson Raines breaking free on TD catches of 75 and 89 yards. To top things off, Beck intercepted a pass one play after his second scoring strike to Brody Emert gave New Home a 15-point cushion late in the game.
The teams went into halftime knotted at 14-14.
Wellington (12-2) ran for 196 yards but hampered itself with two lost fumbles. The Skyrockets couldn't find the same traction after the break, falling behind two scores and turning more to the passing game. The Leopards limited Wellington to 63 rushing yards in the second half and got another timely takeaway.
A 21-yard double-pass from Braylon Tarver to Bryant Tarver brought the Skyrockets within eight points, and they forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive. But as Wellington marched into New Home territory midway through the fourth quarter, linebacker Logan Addison forced a fumble that Raines returned 39 yards into the red zone.
"(Turnovers) are killers," Skyrockets coach Greg Proffitt said. "We pride ourselves on winning the turnover margin and taking care of the football and being clean and being disciplined. Tonight, the ball didn't bounce our way. Nothing really went our way. It went their way. They have a lot to do with that. That's a great football team. …
"Our kids played hard and just made too many mistakes when it's all said and done."
The Leopards (13-1) scored on their first two possessions after halftime, with Beck's 22-yard draw up the middle extending the lead to 28-14. The scamper converted a third-and-20, one of four TDs on third and fourth downs with at least 7 yards to go.
Wellington had allowed 29 points in its past eight games combined. It was New Home's defense that continued to shine Friday. The team hopes the trend follows to its semifinal against Albany, set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Sweetwater's Mustang Bowl.
"Defense has carried us through the playoffs," Ward said, "and they've continued to do that. They played their guts out. Coach (Stevan) Keys, our defensive coordinator, had another great game plan for those guys, and we slowed them down just enough, created some turnovers and we ended up with the victory."
REGION I-2A DIVISION II FINAL
New Home 35, Wellington 20
Wellington 8 6 0 6 — 20
New Home 7 7 14 7 — 35
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
NH — Brody Emert 20 pass from Brazos Beck (Ryder Starkey kick), 9:45
WEL — Miguel Rincon 11 run (Gumaro Rincon run), 2:58
Second quarter
NH — Jackson Raines 78 pass from Beck (Starkey kick), 8:31
WEL — G. Rincon 6 run (run failed), 1:25
Third quarter
NH — Raines 89 pass from Beck (kick failed), 5:48
NH — Beck 22 run (Emert pass from Brady Brown), 1:37
Fourth quarter
WEL — Bryant Tarver 21 pass from Braylon Tarver (run failed), 7:51
NH — Emert 16 pass from Beck (Starkey kick), 3:48
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs: (W) 23; (NH) 11
Rushes-Yards: (W) 55-259; (NH) 20-34
Passing: (W) 97; (NH) 307
Comp-Att-Int: (W) 9-13-1; (NH) 10-24-1
Punts-Avg: (W) 2-37.5; (NH) 3-37.3
Fumbles-Lost: (W) 5-3; (NH) 0-0
Penalties-Yards: (W) 4-40; (NH) 2-10
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Wellington, Gumaro Rincon 17-91, Nixon Folk 14-66, Carson Tarver 16-61, Miguel Rincon 5-28, Jordan Nation 2-12, Travon Lewis 1-1. New Home, Brazos Beck 8-19, Logan Addison 11-18, Brody Emert 1-(-3).
PASSING: Wellington, C. Tarver 7-11-1—69, Braylon Tarver 2-2-0—28. New Home, Beck 10-23-1—307, Brady Brown 0-1-0.
RECEIVING: Wellington, Nation 5-53, Bryant Tarver 1-21, Bra. Tarver 1-9, Folk 1-7, Enrique Jaimes 1-7. New Home, Jackson Raines 5-217, Emert 4-79, Nevin Mojica 1-11.
RECORDS: Wellington 12-2; New Home 13-1.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: New Home football beats Wellington in regional final
