Canadian‘s Hayze Hufstedler breaks free for a touchdown against rival Childress on Friday night. [Alan Hale/ For Press Pass Sports]
The Canadian Wildcats made a statement Friday night in a big way with a 63-13 beating of District 3-3A Division II rival Childress on CharlIe Johnston Field at Fair Park Stadium.
The one-sided victory extends a couple of eye-opening streaks for the Wildcats who finish the regular season at 9-1 overall and a perfect 6-0 in District 3-3A Division II. Canadian won its eighth straight outright district championship dating back to 2013, while extending its impressive district win streak to 44 straight that goes back to 2012.
Childress struck first, scoring on its opening drive when Collin Bishop delivered a dart in the back of the end zone to Devron Sims on a fourth and seven.
From that point forward the Wildcats seized momentum scoring 56 unanswered points into the fourth quarter behind dynamic running back Hayze Hufstedler, and a strong defensive performance.
After the Bobcats touchdown, Hufstedler quickly answered with a 22-yard touchdown run on the Wildcats next drive, tying the contest, 7-7.
A few minutes later into the first quarter, Hufstedler was at it again. Deep in their own territory, a snap went over Bishop’s head and into the end zone. Bishop tried to scoop the ball but it was Hufstedler who made the recover that gave Canadian a 14-7 lead.
Hufstedler would punch in another second quarter score as the Wildcats took a 28-7 lead into half, however, the third quarter is where the bruising back left his mark. Hufstedler broke free sprinting away from the Bobcat defense for a 90-yard scamper followed by a 40-yard TD run on the ensuing possession, extending the lead at 42-7.
Hufstedler ended his tremendous performance piling up 211 yards on only 16 carries with four rushing scores to go with his defensive TD. He also hauled in four catches for 60 yards. The Wildcats didn’t just do it on the ground. Out of Canadian’s 537 yards, 267 came through the air by senior quarterback Joshua Culwell. Culwell completed 16-of-28 yards with three touchdowns to go with those 267 passing yards. Receiver Twister Kelton caught all three touchdown tosses, making six for the game for 187 yards.
Canadian now focuses on the Class 3A Division II playoffs. The Wildcats will face Coahoma (7-3) in a bidistrict matchup at 7 p.m. Thursday at Younger Field in Tulia.
Childress (7-2, 4-2) is the No. 3-seed out of the district, and will meet Abernathy (7-3) in a bidistrict game at 7 p.m. Friday at Floydada.
Canadian 63, Childress 13
Canadian 14 14 28 7 — 63
Childress 7 6 — 13
Spearman sinks Tulia
Spearman secured second place in District 3-3A Division II taking a convincing 42-14 win against Tulia at Younger Field on Friday.
The Lynx finish the regular season at 9-1 overall and 5-1 in district, and will now play Lubbock Roosevelt (7-3) in the bidistrict round at 7 p.m. Friday at River Road.
Quarterback Jack Wilkerson took command of the offense against the Hornets (4-6, 1-5). The senior was 11-of-20 for 192 yards with two touchdown passes, while rushing for 41 yards and a score. Division I prospect Brennen Thompson showed off his prolific speed catching five balls for 127 yards with two TDs, and added 76 yards on the ground with another score.
District note
Friona knocked off Highland Park 56-12 to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot out of District 3-3A Division II. The Chieftains (6-4) will face Idalou (8-0) in a bidistrict matchup at 7 p.m. Friday at Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldogs Stadium in Plainview.
Spearman 42, Tulia 14
Spearman 6 22 7 7 — 42
Tulia 14 — 14
District 2-3A Division I
Dalhart downs River Road
The Dalhart Golden Wolden Wolves made sure to not muddle its playoff seeding by handling River Road 42-6 on Friday night at Wildcats Stadium.
The victory secures Dalhart (7-3, 3-1) the No. 2-seed out of District 3-2A Division II. The Golden Wolves will move on to face Lamesa in a Class 3A Division I bidistrict contest against Lamesa at 7 p.m. Friday at Peoples Bank Stadium in Wolfforth.
Despite the loss, River Road (4-6) is also in the playoffs thanks to a Littlefield 26-0 shutout of Muleshoe. The Wildcats play at Shallowater at 7 p.m. Thursday at Todd Field in Shallowater on Thursday.
Class 2A
District 4-2A Division II
Wellington linebacker Mason Folk (2) and a teammate bottle up Wheeler’s Hesston Marshall (8) at Powell Field in Wellington on Friday. [Tom Carver/ Press Pass Sports]
Wellington leaves no doubt in district clash
The No. 3-ranked Wellington Skyrockets soared to a 38-7 win against rival Wheeler on Friday night at Powell Field in Wellington.
The Skyrockets finish off the regular season a perfect 9-0 and claim the outright District 4-2A Division II championship with a 5-0 mark. Wellington now sets its focus toward the 2A Division II playoffs where they’ll meet Gruver (2-8) in a bidistrict game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Happy State Bank Stadium in Canyon.
Wheeler ends the regular season at 8-2, and will play Sunray (5-5) at 7 p.m. in Panhandle.
Friday night as they took out Wheeler 38-7 at th in the 4-2A District title game.
Wellington’s Marc Ramirez was impressive rushing for 112 yards on 18 carries with two rushing touchdowns and caught a TD pass. But it was the Skyrockets defense that was the story holding the No. 5 Mustangs to 95 yards of offense, including limiting the talented Hesston Marshall to 14 yards.
District note
Clarendon beat Shamrock 37-12 to claim the No. 3-seed in the district. The Irish are the four-seed.
Wellington 38, Wheeler 7
Wheeler 7 — 7
Wellington 14 12 12 — 38
District 3-2A Division II
Vega claims outright district title
The Vega Longhorns got it done in dominating fashion Friday defeating Sunray 41-7 at Longhorns Stadium.
On the offensive end it was the usual suspects for Vega leading the charge. The backfield duo of dual-threat QB Ryan Grawunder and Riley Tiemann combined to score on five of the six touchdowns on the night for the Longhorns. Grawunder completed 5-of-9 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown as well as finishing the night on the ground with 13 carries for 69 yards and another score. Tiemann was a bulldozer racking up three touchdowns on 15 carries for 66 yards.
Carlos Castellanos was a bright spot for the Bobcats in the loss. The running back finished his night with 83 yards on the ground on 15 carries.
Vega (8-2, 4-0) comes out of District 3-2A Division II undefeated after their win Friday and claims the No. 1-seed in the playoffs. The Longhorns will face off in Class 2A Division II bidistrict round against Shamrock (5-5) at 7 p.m. in Borger Friday night.
Sunray (5-5, 2-2) will get Wheeler (8-2) in bidisrict at 7 p.m. Friday in Panhandle.
Vega 41, Sunray 7
Sunray 7 — 7
Vega 14 7 7 13 — 41
Stratford rolls over Booker
After a loss in Week 10 to Vega the Stratford Elks let out some frustrations in their 62-13 victory over the Booker Kiowas Friday night.
The Elks compiled 608 total yards rushing in the victory with eight different running backs given opportunity to run in this one with three of those amassing over 100 yards on the game.
Alberto Guerroro led his team with 141 yards on only 6 carries with two scores, he was followed by Slate Anderson’s 120 and a touchdown, and Zane Burr put up 106 as well and finished the night with three scores.
Stratford (5-5, 3-1) goes into the playoffs as a dangerous No. 2-seed. The Elks will play Clarendon (7-3) on Thursday at Borger in a Class 2A Division II bidistrict meeting.
Stratford 62, Booker 13
Stratford 14 21 20 7 — 62
Booker 13 — 13
District 1-2A Division I
Panhandles offense continues to impress
The Panhandle Panthers blew away Sanford Fritch 68-6 at home in rout to collecting the outright District 1-2A Division I district title Friday night.
Panhandle’s powerful offense continues to flat out dominate. Against Sanford-Fritch the Panthers put up 40 in the first quarter alone. Signal caller Wesley Jones put up 5-of-11 passing for 113 yards and three scores in the first quarter. The rest of the game was spent on the ground where the Panthers thrive. Landyn Hack had himself a night with 6 carries for 174 yards and three scores. He was backed by Jayse Edwards who grinded out another 114 yards on 4 carries for 2 scores.
The Panthers (8-2, 4-0) open the Class 2A Division I bidistrict round against Hale Center (6-4) at 7pm Friday in Tulia.
District note
Olton doubled up Farwell 42-21. The Mustangs claimed second out of the district, Farwell will be third. West Texas High earned the fourth and final spot beating Boys Ranch 49-6.
Panhandle 68, Sanford-Fritch 0
Sanford-Fritch 0 6 0 0 — 6
Panhandle 40 14 7 7 — 68