Red Team Blows Past Blue 40-10 in Third Annual FCA Heart of Champion Bowl

TYLER -- After leading his team to a state-semifinal run in the fall, Elysian Fields senior quarterback Trevor Spear had one more chance to bask in the glory that is high school football in Texas.

Spear was a perfect 8-of-8 for 137 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Red team to a 40-10 win over the Blue team Saturday night in the third annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Heart of a Champion Bowl at TMF Rose Stadium.

The Elysian Fields grad, who will enroll at East Texas Baptist in the fall to play quarterback, made the most of the final prep game of his career by winning Offensive Most Valuable Player honors in a game that featured 88 senior players from East Texas schools.

"It's a blessing … all the athletes out here in East Texas," said Spear, who totaled 3,461 yards and 46 touchdowns in leading Elysian Fields to the Class 2A Division II state semifinals last season. "I thank God every day for giving me the abilities I have."

Spear, who split quarterbacking duites on the Red team with Van's Garrett Smallwood, connected with Longview's Colin Jeter for a 9-yard touchdown in the second quarter before hooking up with Tyler T.K. Gorman's Brandon Lacker for a 5-yard score in the fourth.

"I know I worked my butt off this week in the heat. It was hard … one time I wanted to just give up," Spear said.

Smallwood, who started the game at quarterback for the Red team, finished 9-of-13 for 94 yards. Jacksonville's D.D. Franklin had four receptions for 63 yards, and Justinn Spady of Longview had four catches for 57 yards to lead the Red team receiving corps.

"It feels good to put on the Longview helmet one more time after the playoff loss," said Spady, who will play at Texas A&M-Commerce. "I'm with my boys one last time."

The Red team played error-free football, while the Blue team committed three turnovers that led to 21 points, including Mount Vernon's Chase Whitaker's 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the fourth that accounted for the Red team's final score of the night.

Longview's Jalen Porter, the game's Defensive MVP, returned an interception 24 yards to set up Rusk running back Chaston Bennett's 1-yard touchdown to gave the Red team a 26-0 lead late in the first half.

The lone highlight of the first half for the Blue team occurred as time expired when Tyler Lee kicker Lumi Kaba blasted a 60-yard field goal to cut the Red lead to 26-3 at halftime.

The Red team held Blue to just 87 total yards in the first half.

"Our defense was so solid, we didn't have any idea we were that good," said Whitehouse's Brannon Beaton, who had two sacks that included a first-quarter safety. "We came out here and gave it all we got. Our offense came out, and it was just lights-out."

The Blue team was sparked on offense by Bullard quarterback Colton Mebane, who completed 8-of-12 passes for 86 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown to Tyler Grace's Lin Gillham in the fourth quarter for Blue's lone touchdown of the night.

Gillham had three catches for 47 yards, while San Augustine running back Tony Hubbard led the Blue team's ground attack with 70 yards on 10 carries.

Saturday night's game may have been the last time Henderson's Patrick "Monsta" Brown, who suited up for the Blue team, gets work regularly on offense. The offense and special teams star said he will most likely play defensive back when his career continues in the fall at SFA.

Brown won a state championship at Henderson in 2010, and after excelling at both receiver and kick returner, was asked to play quarterback midway through his senior season. Brown, who finished his career with nine punt returns for touchdowns, helped guide the Lions to the Class 3A Division II quarterfinals with 2,329 total yards of offense and 24 touchdowns in 2012.

"Honestly, it hurts me if this is my last time playing offense," said Brown, who had three catches for 32 yards Saturday night. "But I'll just do what (SFA) needs me to do, forget about the offense and do what I need to do on defense."

Brown was grateful to have at least one more chance to make his mark on the offensive side of the ball.

"Even though we did lose, we played football like we came out here to do," he said. "Win or lose, we just came out here to have fun with a bunch of good people. I had a good season, it's just making memories tonight in meeting new people out here."

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Red 40, Blue 10

FCA Heart of a Champion Bowl

Tyler's TMF Rose Stadium

Red           12   14    0   14   --   40
Blue             0    3    0     7   --   10

First Quarter
RED--FG Luc Swimberghe 42, 6:40.
RED--Safety, Brannon Beaton sacked Shelby Rogers in end zone, 5:31.
RED--Marcus White 3 run (Swimberghe kick), 2:55.
Second Quarter
RED--Colin Jeter 9 pass from Trevor Spear (Swimberghe kick), 8:25.
RED--Chaston Bennett 1 run (Swimberghe kick), 1:14.
BLUE--FG Lumi Kaba 60, :00.
Fourth Quarter
RED--Brandon Lackner 5 pass from Spear (Swimberghe kick), 11:09.
RED--Chase Whitaker 35 fumble return (Swimberghe kick), 10:48.
BLUE--Lin Gillham 26 pass from Colton Mebane (Kaba kick), 8:22.

                                          RED                  BLUE
First Downs                             16                       12
Rushes-Yards                     32-58                31-100
Passing Yards                        231                    123
Comp.-Att.-Int.                 17-22-0              13-24-2
Punts-Avg.                         4-41.0                2-48.5
Fumbles-Lost                          3-0                     3-1
Penalties-Yards                     3-25                   2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Red, Marcus White 12-41, Chaston Bennett 4-12, Trevor Spear 5-11, Jalen Seahorn 5-4, Buck Wilson 1-4, Garrett Smallwood 5-(-14). Blue, Tony Hubbard 10-70, Buddy Ivery 3-15, Shelby Rogers 4-13, Blake White 2-10, Ty'Aundra Taylor 3-7, Colton Mebane 2-4, Caleb Williams 1-(-8), Patrick "Monsta" Brown 6-(-11).
PASSING--Red, Spear 8-8-0--137, Smallwood 9-13-0--94, Wilson 0-1-0--0. Blue, Mebane 8-12-1--86, White 3-5-1--34, Rogers 2-7-0--3.
RECEIVING--Red, D.D. Franklin 4-63, Justinn Spady 4-57, Colin Jeter 3-69, Micky Morris 2-17, Bennett 2-6, Wilson 1-12, Lackner 1-5. Blue, Lin Gillham 3-47, Brown 3-32, Haden Bryant 3-15, Ethan Callahan 1-24, Victor Hawkins 1-9, Hubbard 1-1, Ivery 1-(-5).