Old High's season ends with 35-21 loss to Decatur

DENTON – The record book will show Decatur picked up two wins against Wichita Falls High in the 2022 season.

It won’t show just how close Old High came to beating the Eagles twice instead.

For the second time this season, Decatur had a handful of plays go its way against the Coyotes, allowing the Eagles to take a 35-21 victory and end Old High’s remarkable season in the Region I-4A Division I final at Collins Stadium.

“When you get this far in the playoffs, it comes down to one or two plays,” WFHS coach Grant Freeman said. “You either make the plays or you don’t. This group has taken us on a ride this year, and they fought to the end. I couldn’t be prouder.”

The Coyotes’ deepest postseason run since 2013 ends in the same round with a 9-5 overall record. Decatur (11-3) advances to play Region II-4A Division I champion China Spring (13-1) next week with details for that game still pending.

What was a defensive battle in the first half Friday, with it tied 7-7 at halftime, turned into a shootout in the third quarter.

Decatur and WFHS traded big plays with the Coyotes striking first on a 45-yard TD pass from John Ledesma to Caden Justice – the second time the duo hooked up for a score – giving Old High a 14-7 lead at the 10:24 mark of the third quarter.

Decatur responded on the ensuing drive by converting a third-and-10 at their own 25 into a 44-yard pass from Preston Escobar to Landon Felts. Three plays later, Escobar was in the end zone after a 27-yard run, tying the game, 14-14, with 7:55 left in the third.

It took two plays for the Coyotes to return to the end zone.

Senior tailback Cameron Gould snuck out of the backfield on a wheel right down the Decatur sideline. The Eagles’ coverage was just late in getting to him with Ledesma hitting Gould in stride. Gould broke one tackle and sprinted to the end zone, completing the 79-yard play for a 21-14 lead with 6:56 remaining in the quarter.

A bruising return of an Old High pooch kick set the Eagles up at the Coyote 49, and they needed just five plays to retie the game on a 19-yard run by Escobar.

The trading of touchdowns ended there, but it was the turf monster, not the Decatur defense, stopping the Coyote offense.

On third-and-2 from their own 38, Ledesma handed the ball to freshman tailback Eric Powell who slipped while trying to accelerate, falling to the turf for a loss of three yards.

The Coyotes got a great 54-yard punt from Patricio Maldonado, and a penalty during the return pushed the Eagles back to their own 9 with 1:53 left in the high-scoring third quarter.

Up to this point, the Coyotes had bottled up Oklahoma Sooner commit Nate Palmer for just 47 rushing yards, but the dynamic running back finally broke loose.

Palmer went up the middle for an 83-yard touchdown run, giving the Eagles a huge momentum shift along with the 28-21 lead. Palmer finished with 161 of the Eagles’ 319 rushing yards.

The Coyotes never recovered, going 3-and-out on their next drive. Decatur put the game on the ensuing drive courtesy of a 1-yard run by Devin James with 7:26 remaining.

The final nail was put in the Coyotes’ season when Lane Hesteande made a toe-tapping interception on the Coyote sideline with 4:41 remaining in the game.

“That’s a dang good team right there. But we’re a dang good team, too,” Freeman said. “When you get this far in the playoffs, to Round 4, good teams lose.”

The city of Wichita Falls is different when the Coyotes are in contention.

The drop to Class 4A Division I proved to be a key ingredient to this season’s success. Instead of being one of the smallest programs by enrollment in Class 5A, Old High is the largest in Class 4A.

Aside from Rider in Week 1, every other team on the Coyotes’ schedule took the field with similar participation numbers. It can’t be stated enough how much of a disadvantage Old High faced in Class 5A.

Regardless, the Coyotes entered the 2022 season as underdogs. They were picked to finish third in their district behind Decatur and Springtown by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine and the TRN Sports media and coaches preseason polls.

Yet this team was one play away from winning the District 4-4A Division I title in October.

On Friday, the Coyotes were a handful of plays away from claiming the Region I-4A Division I championship.

“We might have started this season underrated,” Freeman said, “but we didn’t finish it underrated.”

Of course, there is the elephant in the room. Only one season of Wichita Falls High football remains.

But despite losing a strong senior class, the Coyotes have instilled confidence that their final run in the “Red and Black” should be a memorable one.

Decatur 35, WFHS 21

WFHS   0   7   14   0   -21

Decatur   7   0   21   7   -35

FIRST QUARTER

D – Nate Palmer 1 run (Eleazar Aldape kick), :49

SECOND QUARTER

W – Caden Justice 26 pass from John Ledesma (Patricio Maldonado kick), 10:31

THIRD QUARTER

W – Justice 45 pass from Ledesma (Maldonado kick), 10:24

D – Preston Escobar 27 run (Aldape kick), 7:55

W – Cameron Gould 79 pass from Ledesma (Maldonado kick), 6:56

D – Escobar 19 run (Aldape kick), 4:52

D – Palmer 83 run (Aldape kick), 1:07

FOURTH QUARTER

D – Devin James 1 run (Aldape kick), 7:26

TEAM STATS

First downs: (W) 14; (D) 23

Rushing: (W) 25-121; (D) 48-319

Passing: (W) 14-20-1—215; (D) 13-15-0—127

Punting: (W) 3-40; (D) NA

Fumbles: (W) 0-0; (D) 1-0

Penalties: (W) 4-41; (D) 9-64

INDIVIDUAL STATS

RUSHING: (W) Cameron Gould 12-67, Jordan Mitchell 4-27, John Ledesma 5-25, Eric Powell 4-2; (D) Nate Palmer 24-161, Preston Escobar 10-87, Devin James 11-76, Landon Felts 1-3, Team 2-(-4).

PASSING: (W) Ledesma 14-19-1—215, Gould 0-1-0—0; (D) Escobar 13-15-0—127.

RECEIVING: (W) Gould 2-94, Caden Justice 3-70, Zage Gravitt 3-31, Jae’Den Williams 4-20, Powell 1-0; (D) Felts 2-68, Palmer 8-37, Luke White 2-13, Kyler Crow 1-9.

RECORDS: WFHS 9-5, Decatur 11-3.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: WFHS Coyotes vs. Decatur Eagles 2022 high school football playoff