Tyler Bishop Gorman + Tyler Grace Renew TAPPS Rivalry Friday at Clyde-Perkins Stadium

TAPPS Division II District 2

Tyler Bishop Gorman Crusaders (3-3, 1-2)

vs.

Tyler Grace Cougars (5-1, 2-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday

Clyde-Perkins Stadium, Tyler

Coaches

• Bishop Gorman: Coby Gipson
• Grace: Mike Maddox

Last week

• Bishop Gorman: lost 51-25 at Dallas Parish Episcopal
• Grace: won 48-0 vs. Dallas Shelton

Next week

• Bishop Gorman: vs. Cedar Hill Trinity Christian
• Grace: at Carrollton Prince of Peace

Playmakers

Tyler Bishop Gorman

• QB Tristan Saint, Sr., 6-0, 185 (104 of 159, 2,056 yards, 20 TDs, 6 INTs; 37 carries, 268 yards, 2 TDs)
• WR Collin Parks, Sr. (44 catches, 864 yards, 6 TDs; 22 carries, 155 yards, 4 TDs)
• WR Connor Hobbs, Jr., 6-4, 190 (36 catches, 734 yards, 9 TDs)
• RB Taylor Hurst, Sr. (41 carries, 368 yards, 5 TDs; 4 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD)
• WR Josh Riegel, Jr. (10 catches, 200 yards, 2 TDs)
• LB Tyler Bate, Soph.
• DB Noah Kemp, Sr.

Tyler Grace

• QB Chandler Nutt, Jr., 6-1, 185 (41 of 79, 579 yards, 8 TDs, 4 INTs; 103 carries, 758 yards, 14 TDs)
• ATH Johnny Spitzer, Jr., 5-11, 165 (24 carries, 159 yards, 2 TDs; 26 catches, 319 yards, 6 TDs)
• RB/LB Zach Tatman, Jr., 6-0, 195 (47 carries, 280 yards, 4 TDs)
• DL Andrew McCarty, Sr., 6-2, 185
• LB Michael Fedell, Sr., 6-0, 200
• DL Landon Ashbreck, Jr., 5-10, 200
• DB Layton Sisemore, Jr., 5-8, 160 (23-yard INT return TD vs. Dallas Shelton)

Just the facts

• Tyler Grace won last year's meeting 61-0 at Tyler Bishop Gorman.
• Tyler Bishop Gorman senior quarterback Tristan Saint averages 387.3 total yards of offense per game.
• Bishop Gorman averages 39.2 points per game and allows 28.2.
• Grace averages 37.7 points per game and yields 24.8.
• Bishop Gorman scored at least 45 points in its three wins, but allowed 51 and 59 in two of its three losses.
• Bishop Gorman averages 494.8 total yards per game: 345.8 passing, 149.0 rushing.
• Bishop Gorman's Collin Parks and Connor Hobbs have accounted for 77 percent of the Crusaders' 2,075 receiving yards.
• Tyler Grace junior quarterback Chandler Nutt scored on half of his eight carries in last week's 48-0 rout of Dallas Shelton. Nutt scored on touchdown runs of 2, 23, 11, and 14 yards.
• Tyler Grace is 3-0 against public schools this year with wins against San Augustine (1A), Mineola (3A), and Kemp (2A).
• Bishop Gorman is 1-0 against public schools with a win against Beckville (1A).
• Tyler Grace and Bishop Gorman have about 275-300 students apiece, which would make them medium-sized Class 2A schools if they competed in public-school UIL competition.

Key matchup: Bishop Gorman's run defense against Tyler Grace's quarterback-driven ground attack. Grace experienced a huge blow early in the season with game-breaking senior running back Kade Clayton suffered a season-ending knee injury during the Cougars' 35-13 win against Mineola in the second game of the season.

But junior Chandler Nutt has stepped up to lead the Cougars on the ground ever since. The quarterback has run for 127.6 yards per game and all 14 touchdowns in Grace's last five games.

Bishop Gorman must be prepared to defend Nutt's ability to run, which is complemented by juniors Zach Tatman and Johnny Spitzer, who combined to average about 75 rushing yards per game. The Crusaders have struggled against strong rushing attacks from Arlington Oakridge and Dallas Parish Episcopal, teams that each eclipsed the 50-point mark against Bishop Gorman.

Don't be surprised if: Friday night's game provides an interesting contrast in styles. Grace has shown the ability to throw the ball, as evidenced by about 100 passing yards per game. But the Cougars' strength is no doubt the running game with Nutt, Tatman, and Spitzer.

On the other sideline will be a Bishop Gorman team posting monster passing numbers. Senior quarterback Tristan Saint is 1 of 3 East Texas quarterbacks -- along with Whitehouse's Patrick Mahomes and Carthage's Blake Bogenschutz, both of whom have committed to Division I FBS college programs -- with at least 2,000 passing yards. Saint boasts an impressive 20-6 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio and has two of the region's top receivers statistically in senior Collin Parks and junior Connor Hobbs. In fact, Parks and Hobbs rank second and third, respectively -- trailing only Carthage's Terian "Tee" Goree -- on the region's receiving yardage list.

Which team's style wins out Friday night? Grace enters the contest as the favorite, especially after last year's dominating shutout victory. But Bishop Gorman has the type of offense that could keep the Crusaders in the game if Grace can't create early separation.