Carthage + West Orange-Stark Battle for 3A D-I Region III Crown

Class 3A Division I Region III

Final

Carthage Bulldogs (12-1)

vs.

West Orange-Stark Mustangs (11-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday

C.A Thomas Multi-Purpose Center, Beaumont

Coaches

• Carthage: Scott Surratt
• West Orange-Stark: Cornel Thompson

Last week

• Carthage: won 49-6 vs. Silsbee
• West Orange-Stark: won 18-16 vs. Jasper

Next week

• Winner faces La Grange (12-0) or Gonzales (9-4) in a 3A D-I state semifinal.

Playmakers

Carthage

• QB Blake Bogenschutz, Sr., 6-1, 180 (committed to UTSA; 197 of 335, 3,327 yards, 48 TDs, 3 INTs; 284 rushing yards, 7 TDs)
• RB Tevin Pipkin, Sr., 5-10, 165 (178 carries, 1,663 yards, 17 TDs; 16 catches, 203 yards, 1 TD)
• WR/S Terian “Tee” Goree, Sr., 6-2, 170 (committed to North Texas; 74 catches, 1,497 yards, 25 TDs; 4 INTs, 1 sack)
• WR O’Keeron Rutherford, Sr., 6-5, 181 (committed to North Texas; 52 catches, 798 yards, 13 TDs)
• OT/DT Mario McCain, Sr., 6-0, 220 (98 tackles, 19 for loss, 8 sacks, 2 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 23 QB pressures)
• OG Adrian Goodacre, Sr., 6-4, 318 (committed to ULL)
• OG Griffin Bankhead, Sr., 6-3, 301
• C Cade Clinton, Sr., 6-3, 230
• OT Dillon Husar, Sr., 6-0, 230
• WR/CB Keldrean Strong, Sr., 6-0, 155 (17 catches, 279 yards, 2 TDs; 39 tackles, 2 INTs, 10 pass breakups)
• TE/DE Jarrod McLin, Soph., 6-3, 220 (60 tackles, 8 for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 3 fumble recoveries, 20 QB pressures)
• LB James Marshall, Sr., 6-0, 190 (106 tackles, 9 for loss, 1 sack, 4 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery)
• RB/S Bryian Bolton, Jr., 5-10, 170 (40 carries, 391 yards, 6 TDs; 56 tackles, 2 INTs)
• RB Tredarion Jackson, Jr., 5-10, 180 (91 carries, 529 yards, 2 TDs)
• DT Javontay Brown, Sr., 5-9, 190 (69 tackles, 12 for loss, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery)

West Orange-Stark

• QB Dillon Sterling-Cole, Soph. (131 of 207, 2,226 yards, 26 TDs, 4 INTs; 113 carries, 498 yards, 11 TDs)
• WR/S Deionte Thompson, Jr., 6-2, 174 (committed to Alabama; 34 catches, 629 yards, 4 TDs; 5 INTs)
• WR Will Johnson, Sr. (39 catches, 745 yards, 13 TDs)
• ATH Chase Rutledge, Jr. (94 carries, 494 yards, 5 TDs; 8 catches, 98 yards, 1 TD)
• RB/DB Chris James, Sr. (committed to Iowa State; 108 carries, 685 yards, 8 TDs; 15 catches, 156 yards, 2 TDs)
• S Johnny Shaw, Jr., 6-1, 185 (committed to Texas)
• WR Dwain Boullard, Sr. (8 carries, 77 yards, 1 TD; 25 catches, 388 yards, 7 TDs)
• RB John Scott, Sr. (57 carries, 315 yards, 2 TDs)
• WR Chris Horn, Sr. (15 catches, 202 yards)
• WR/DB Tre Spencer, Jr. (10 catches, 208 yards, 2 TDs; 2 INTs)
• LB Tavin Terrell, Sr. (2 INTs)

Just the facts

• Carthage and West Orange-Stark will meet for the first time Friday in Beaumont.
• Carthage and West Orange-Stark have reached four state championship games apiece.
• Carthage is 3-1 in state title games. The Bulldogs lost the 1991 Class 4A championship game, then won three consecutive Class 3A Division II crowns from 2008-10.
• West Orange-Stark is 2-2 in state title games. The Mustangs went to three consecutive 4A championship games from 1986-88, winning the first two and losing in 1988. West Orange-Stark lost the 4A D-II title game to Ennis in 2001.
• Carthage averages 46.8 points per game and allows 18.9.
• West Orange-Stark averages 36.3 points per game and allows 10.4.
• Carthage averages 491.4 total yards per game: 263.2 passing, 228.2 rushing.
• West Orange-Stark averages 391.0 total yards per game: 214.8 passing, 176.2 rushing.
• Carthage is 9-0 vs. 3A competition with an average score of 48.7-10.7.
• West Orange-Stark is 9-0 vs. 3A competition with an average score of 38.8-8.7.
• Carthage averages 7.2 yards per carry, 9.3 yards per pass attempt, and 16.3 yards per completion.
• West Orange-Stark averages 5.4 yards per carry, 10.3 yards per pass attempt, and 16.7 yards per completion.
• Carthage has outscored its opponents 386-74 during an eight-game winning streak.
• West Orange-Stark has outscored its opponents 380-85 during a 10-game winning streak.
• Carthage has outscored its three playoff opponents 142-26. Half of those 26 came on the final play of the Bulldogs' last two games.
• West Orange-Stark has outscored its three playoff foes 120-32.
• Both teams have played Jasper and Silsbee.
• Carthage won 41-26 at Jasper on Oct. 25, while West Orange-Stark beat Jasper 18-16 last week in a 3A D-I Region III semifinal in Humble.
• Carthage beat Silsbee 49-6 last week, while West Orange-Stark won 27-0 vs. Silsbee in a Nov. 8 home game.
• Carthage senior tailback Tevin Pipkin became the second player in Carthage history last week to reach the 5,000-yard rushing plateau for his career. Pipkin, who entered the season with 3,352 career yards, now has 5,015 and trails only Kris Briggs (1995-98) for the school record (5,130).
• Carthage senior receiver Terian "Tee" Goree, who already owns the school single-season touchdown catch record, is 37 yards shy of Jalen Claiborne's single-season receiving yardage record of 1,534 set in 2010.
• Carthage senior quarterback Blake Bogenschutz owns school records in virtually all passing categories except single-season yardage (3,860) and single-season completions (242).
• West Orange-Stark has two high-major safety recruits in the 2015 class. Junior safety Johnny Shaw is committed to Texas, while two-way standout Deionte Thompson is committed to Alabama. Senior Chris James is committed to Iowa State as a cornerback, according to the Beaumont Enterprise.
• Friday's game will feature seven players committed to D-I FBS schools: Carthage's Blake Bogenschutz (UTSA), Adrian Goodacre (ULL), Tee Goree (North Texas), and O'Keeron Rutherford (North Texas), plus West Orange-Stark's Chris James (Iowa State), Johnny Shaw (Texas), and Deionte Thompson (Alabama).
• Shaw was a standout at Center as a sophomore in 2012 before transferring to West Orange-Stark during the summer.

Key matchup: West Orange-Stark's defensive front vs. Carthage's offensive line. West Orange-Stark has thrived on defense for a long time, and the last couple of seasons have been no different.

None of the Mustangs' last 10 opponents has scored more than 16 points, while West Orange-Stark has won every game after a 1-1 start. In fact, 10 of 11 foes have failed to score more than 16 points. Port Neches-Groves' 37-34 Sept. 6 home win is West Orange-Stark's only loss of the season and the only time the Mustangs yielded more than two touchdowns.

That defense faces a Carthage offense that has scored at least 39 points in every game.

The Bulldogs have proven in recent weeks that the enormous regular-season passing statistics did not come at the price of an anemic running game. Carthage's ground attack has averaged 279.0 rushing yards per playoff contest, highlighted by a 337-yard output two weeks ago against defending Division II champion Navasota in the Bulldogs' 44-14 rout.

Senior quarterback Blake Bogenschutz' 48-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio certainly stands out, but the Mustangs must find a way to slow down the Dawgs on the ground. If Carthage gets going in both phases of its well-balanced offense, West Orange-Stark is probably in trouble.

Don't be surprised if: Carthage's defense plays a significant role in the outcome of the game.

That could mean positively or negatively for the Bulldogs, who have enjoyed a surprisingly stingy defense for two months. The defensive success came after a shaky start to the season that saw Carthage allow 34.0 points per game during a 4-1 stretch to the season.

Since, Carthage has allowed only 74 points in eight games, an average of 9.3 points per game.

Another District 20-3A foe, Jasper, outgained West Orange-Stark 393-351 and outrushed the Mustangs 259-155. Jasper, which led West Orange-Stark twice in the fourth quarter last week, is the only team to score more than 14 points vs. Carthage in the last two months.

Carthage head coach Scott Surratt said his offensive line vs. West Orange-Stark's defensive line is indeed a key matchup, but added Carthage's secondary vs. West Orange-Stark's receivers as another important matchup. In addition to that, it's easy to see that West Orange-Stark's secondary -- which includes players committed to Alabama, Texas, and Iowa State -- going up against Carthage's big receiving corps led by North Texas pledges Tee Goree and O'Keeron Rutherford could be a pivotal matchup as well.

While both teams had trouble with Jasper, Carthage must be considered the favorite entering Friday's contest, though the proximity to home will definitely be in favor of West Orange-Stark. The 3A D-I Region III final could give fans a classic offense vs. defense matchup.