No. 1 Stephenville overtakes Rider late in 43-42 win

STEPHENVILLE – It seems unlikely the state legislature will ever allow gambling on Texas high school football. If they did, it might be beneficial to place a lot of money on every Rider game being decided by seven points or less.

The Raiders played their fourth consecutive contest decided by one score Friday at Memorial Stadium. And for the second straight week, Rider surrendered a fourth-quarter touchdown that led to defeat.

The Yellow Jackets scored on a 2-yard run by Tate Maruska with 3:28 remaining in regulation, pulling off a thrilling 43-42 homecoming victory. It was the only lead Stephenville (5-0), the No. 1 team in Class 4A Division I, held against the Raiders (3-2).

Rider led by as many as 21 points but couldn’t put the defending 4A DI state champs away. The Raiders pushed to the Stephenville 38 on their final possession of the game, but the Yellow Jackets hit quarterback Jack Pitts on fourth-and-7 from the 40, forcing a fumble they recovered with 56 seconds remaining.

Two plays later, Maruska sealed the win with a 6-yard run for a first down, allowing Stephenville to line up in victory formation.

Regardless of the final outcome, Rider coach Marc Bindel was happier with his team’s overall effort.

“After last week's loss to Lubbock-Cooper, the kids looked at how they were preparing for the games and the effort they played, and they made a change,” Bindel said. “They prepared hard, and they played with great effort tonight. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us, and sometimes that happens, but I told the team that I don't want them to change how they prepare when we start district.”

Many fans arrived at the game expecting to see two outstanding offenses. They were not disappointed. The Raiders’ offense scored touchdowns on six of its first eight drives and built a 21-0 lead with four minutes to play in the first quarter.

Stephenville’s offense sputtered early, turning the ball over on downs on its first two drives, but responded with seven of its final eight drives ending in points.

“We had some chances on offense in the fourth quarter from our passing game and the run game. We just didn't execute, but that's credit to Stephenville,” Bindel said. “We scheduled pretty tough for these types of games. We need to find out our strengths and weaknesses and what we're made of during crunch time and get better.”

Maruska was the backfield headliner, entering the contest with 1,057 yards rushing in four games. Still, many in attendance left impressed with the running ability of Rider’s Jordon Gibbs. The senior gained 206 yards on 24 carries and punished the Yellow Jackets each time he touched the ball.

“We didn't play him much against Decatur because he'd been having issues fumbling the football,” Bindel said. “We gave him another shot against Coronado, and from that game on, we've needed him, and he's stepped up. He's running angry and doing a good job taking care of the ball.”

Maruska was held far below his 264.3 yards per game average, with Rider’s defense holding him to 124 yards on 30 carries due largely to the play of junior defensive lineman Jailyn Gibbs.

Jailyn, no relation to Jordon, harassed Maruska throughout the game and terrorized Stephenville quarterback Ryan Gafford finishing with 2 ½ sacks.

“He's very underrated, and he is a problem defensively. He has great instincts,” Bindel said. “He's a great pass rusher but can play the run as well. He studies film, and he's fun to watch.”

While the Raiders did an outstanding job limiting Maruska, it was the arm of Gafford that hurt the Rider defense. The sophomore, who became the starting quarterback following an injury, put on a brilliant air show in the second half, completing 11 of 13 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

“We try to keep everything in front of us and make them grind for first downs, but their backup quarterback is pretty freakin’ salty,” Bindel said. “Either our offense or our defense has had superb nights the last few weeks. We just need to find a way to put it all together.”

The Raiders have an open week before beginning district play. Bindel believes the grind of the non-district schedule will pay dividends during the remainder of the season.

“It's disappointing to lose, but it's only going to prepare us for the next season,” Bindel said. “The preseason is over, and we got out fairly healthy, minus a couple of guys we're missing. Hopefully, we get into the next season, which is our district, and this will pay dividends playing these guys.”

Stephenville 43, Rider 42

Rider21 7 7 7 -42

Stephenville 7 10 14 12 -43

FIRST QUARTER

R – Jordan Gibbs 75 run (Kenji Johnson kick), 11:46

R – Gibbs 5 run (Johnson kick), 8:04

R – Kaden Jones 68 pass from Jack Pitts (Johnson kick), 4:00

S – Payton Poston 36 pass from Ryan Gafford (Diego Chavarria kick), 0:51

SECOND QUARTER

S – Topher Foster 50 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 8:36

R – Tyrone Morgan 2 run (Johnson kick), 3:19

S – FG, Chavarria 24, 0:08

THIRD QUARTER

S – Tristian Gentry 39 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 11:10

R – Morgan 23 pass from Pitts (Johnson kick), 7:28

S – Gentry 5 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 5:33

FOURTH QUARTER

R – Baylor Wilson 22 pass from Pitts (Johnson kick), 10:14

S – Poston 65 pass from Gafford (kick failed), 9:17

S – Tate Maruska 2 run (run failed), 3:28

TEAM STATS

First downs: (R) 19; (S) 23

Rushing: (R) 40-288; (S) 43-156

Passing: (R) 9-17-0—164; (S) 16-24-0—316

Punts: (R) 2-31; (S) 1-13

Fumbles: (R) 2-1; (S) 1-0

Penalties: (R) 5-35; (S) 4-15

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: (R) Jordan Gibbs 24-206, Tyrone Morgan 10-62, Tobias Oliver 1-27, Jack Pitts 2-1, Kenji Johnson 2-(-3), Team 1-(-5). (S) Tate Maruska 30-124, Ryan Gafford 11-41, Team 2-(-9).

PASSING: (R) Pitts 9-17-0—164. (S) Gafford 16-24-0—316, Tristian Gentry 0-1-0—0.

RECEIVING: (R) Kaden Jones 1-68, Xavier Banks 1-31, Oliver 3-25, Morgan 2-20, Baylor Wilson 2-20. (S) Payton Poston 4-138, Topher Foster 3-68, Gentry 3-50, Wyatt Kreutz 4-43, Tytus Russell 1-12, Maruska 1-5.

RECORDS – Rider 3-2, Stephenville 5-0.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Rider Raiders at Stephenville Yellow Jackets 2022 high school football