The Texas Tigers completed their quest for revenge on the Terrell Tigers in round one of the playoffs after taking the victory 51-28 Friday, Nov. 10, 2023.

Texas struck first in the first quarter after multiple runs on the ground from the running back pair of sophomore Tradarian Ball and junior Javari Johnson. Johnson made the final blow with a short run for his first rushing touchdown of the night, giving Texas the lead 7-0.

The Texas defense came out firing, and played the entire first half lights out. Defense forced a stop fast, bringing the Texas offense back onto the field. 

Leaping over the defender at the goal line, junior quarterback David Potter fell just short of a touchdown, but put Texas in great position for a field goal. 

Junior kicker Franklin Delk took advantage of the field position and split the uprights, tacking three more points onto Texas’ score.

Going into the second quarter, Terrell began moving the ball downfield. Terrell’s senior running back Chase Bingmon broke free for the first time after struggling to get any motion in the first quarter. 

With 11:22 left in the quarter, Bingmon ran for a touchdown. Senior cornerback Timothy Austin for Texas blocked Terrell’s extra point attempt and junior safety Kendrevion Boyce recovered. The blocked kick put the score at 10-6.

“I feel like the defense worked their hardest tonight,” Austin said. “I gave it my all and left everything out on the field.”

Texas struck back swiftly after Ball weaved through three defenders to break across the goal line for a touchdown. After sophomore safety Markus Hall forced a fumble, Johnson ran back another touchdown for Texas, putting the score at 24-6.

Potter topped off the half with a dime to the back corner of the endzone for a touchdown, putting the score at 31-6 in favor of Texas going into halftime.

The Terrell offense came out blazing in the third quarter, putting the Texas defense on their heels.

Bingmon rushed for another touchdown right out of the gates with 11:11 remaining in the quarter. Terrell tried their luck on a two-point conversion, however, Texas managed a stop, leaving the score at 31-12.

Terrell scratched off another touchdown after senior quarterback Alijah Stafford completed a long pass to sophomore receiver Xiren James. Terrell’s two-point conversion attempt worked out in their favor this time around, closing the gap a little further to 31-20.

Bingmon did the last of his offensive damage with 6:07 remaining in the third after rushing his third touchdown of the night. Terrell faked a field goal point-after-attempt and snuck the ball into the endzone for a two-point conversion, making the score 31-28. 

With the gap tightening, Texas answered and came up big with a touchdown run of their own from Johnson with 1:04 remaining in the quarter. Due to a botched snap, Texas couldn’t get the extra point through the uprights, but still put another possession between themselves and Terrell.

Johnson scratched off his fourth and final touchdown of the night to open the final quarter of round one with 8:54 remaining, stretching the lead to 44-28.

 The Texas defense strapped back down in the fourth quarter, making multiple big plays and coming up with multiple stops to keep the offense on the field to run the remainder of the game. 

The defensive line pressure on the quarterback forced a fumble, recovered by senior Trystan Powell to set the Tigers on their final scoring drive of the game. 

After his running back deaded the ball at the 1-yard line, Potter jetted from the pocket for a quarterback keeper touchdown, giving Texas the ultimate lead of 51-28 and avenging last year’s round one loss. 

“I’m just excited,” Head Coach Gerry Stanford said. “We’ve had a really good week of preparation, these kids worked so hard this week and I’m proud.”