Not Friday.
Not with Stratford clicking on all cylinders in round three of the playoffs.
Sparked by the play of junior quarterback/linebacker Bryce Braden, No. 4-ranked and unbeaten Stratford smothered New Deal under with a 40-point first half and used that onslaught of scoring to cruise for a 53-16 victory in a Class 2A Division I regional semifinal played on a chilly Friday night at Dick Bivins Stadium in Amarillo.
The Stratford Elks moved to 13-0 on the season and will meet Hawley (11-2) in the state quarterfinals at 6 p.m. next Friday on Lowrey Field at Plains Capital Park in Lubbock.
The New Deal Lions ended their season at 9-5 and briefly led 7-6 in the first quarter before Stratford reeled off 34 unanswered points.
“This took a really good effort by our defense to start with and I think just a little bit of efficiency in the run game in the first half,” Murphy said. “Gosh, we made some mistakes, but I was really pleased the way our kids responded. And hats off to our defense, especially.”
Stratford’s physical and swarming defense in the first half limited New Deal to 34 yards on six possessions coming away with two interceptions and a fourth down stop setting the Elks offense up at the New Deal 23-yard line for a four-play touchdown drive.
Meanwhile, the Elks offense was churning out massive yards putting up 394 in the first half alone and finishing with 537 yards.
Stratford led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter, 40-9 at halftime and 47-9 following the third quarter.
In that game-deciding first half, Stratford’s 6-3, 225-pound junior QB Braden ran for three touchdowns, tossed a 12-yard TD pass to freshman Chase Lantelme and intercepted a pass playing a key role in the Elks’ 40-9 halftime lead that was never in jeopardy in the second half.
Braden scored on runs of 16, 8 and 1-yard, rushing for 142 yards and throwing for 88 yards and a TD. Braden led the Elks to touchdown scoring drives on their final possessions of the first half. However, he did not play a down in the second half as a precautionary measure for an injury, Murphy said.
“Bryce is special, a very physical runner,” Murphy said. “He’s a semi-truck coming through there and it’s hard to stop him. What he does best for us is run the offense and doesn’t get enough credit for that. He’s a smart kid.”
New Deal head coach Matt Hill said Braden “is a special athlete but where he is really good is defensively. He hurt us tonight when he intercepted the ball and made some big tackles. You know I think that’s where people maybe miss on him is he is an awesome offensive player and he is what he is so you better lineup and be ready to play. But defensively he a difference maker over there.”
New Deal was stymied throughout the game by Stratford’s ball-hawking defense coming away with five turnovers and producing pressure on passing downs.
New Deal finished with 109 yards of offense led by running back’s Slade Martin’s 68 yards rushing.
In other words, this was all Stratford all game.
“I think for us it was recognizing formations and that goes back to Bryson and our backers in the first half,” Murphy said. “When you play really good athletes, guys with that kind of speed, you just need to be really sound and we were.”
Murphy was asked what it is about the Elks and November football success.
“I don’t know, I guess the cold air feels good to them,” Murphy said. “It’s quite a tradition. We were talking about the number of seasons we have been able to play in this after Thanksgiving Day round and in the past 24 years I think it’s been all but six years. That’s a credit to the community. That’s a credit to Coach (Brad) Thiessen and Coach (Eddie) Metcalf back in the day and Coach (Matt) Lovorn. It’s just a tradition that it’s fun to be part of. We are really lucky we get to do it.”