East Bernard Cruises Past Elysian Fields, 52-8, Into State Championship Game

[By Anthony Hawthorne, Special to ETSN.fm]

WACO -- The Elysian Fields Yellow Jackets heard all the hype about the undefeated East Bernard Brahmas this week.

It was all true.

A combination of two early turnovers, an unstoppable East Bernard offense and a dominant defensive front were too much for the Yellow Jackets, who fell in their attempt to reach their fourth state title game, losing 52-8 at Floyd Casey Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets finished an Cinderella-esque playoff run with a record of 11-4 after beating Hughes Springs and Arp in consecutive, both teams that beat Elysian Fields in the regular season.

The Brahmas advance to play Corsicana Mildred next Thursday night at 8 p.m. for the Class 2A Division state championship at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

TCU commit Ty Slanina led an East Bernard offense that dominated from the start, racking up 373 yards without a penalty or a turnover.

Lining up at quarterback, receiver and running back, Slanina threw for 67 yards and ran for 34 and 2 touchdowns. Cedric Perkins picked up 73 yards and scored twice, Joc Richardson added 54 yards and a score while Garrett Polak had 57 yards and a score.

“Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. Tonight we were the bug” Elysian Fields coach Erin King said. “They’re awfully good, the best team we’ve seen all year. I’d put them in a different category than everybody else. Very physical.”

The Yellow Jackets offense had trouble throughout moving the ball against a stout Brahmas defense, led by Jordan Darr, who was constantly in the backfield chasing down quarterback Trevor Spear. The Yellow Jackets running game, which had led the way through two upset victories over both Arp and Hughes Springs, was shut down, averaging just 2.6 yards per carry.

Playing in his final game, Spear went 7 for 21 for 104 yards and an interception while rushing for 44 yards. Fellow senior Lonzo Macon had five catches for 46 yards.

“These 13 seniors, we’re very proud of them. Those kids came in and we went 5-5, 4-6, 8-3 and now 11-4. They’ve done a great job with this program,” King said.

The Brahmas (14-0) took advantage of two early miscues by the Yellow Jackets to take control of the game and never look back.

After a bad snap forced the Yellow Jackets into a third-and-23, a deep pass by Spear was picked off by Trevor Long over the middle. Long returned the ball to the 15-yard line. Two plays later, Slanina took it in 6 six yards out, putting the Brahmas up 7-0 and setting the tone for what was to come.

A Justin McGuire strip and recover of a Spear scramble on the next possession set up a 30-yard field goal from Derrick Rucka, pushing the lead to 10-0.

Polak would get both of his scores on consecutive possessions, catching a 57-yard pass from Grant Aschenbeck, and scoring from 4 yards out on the ground. Slanina would score from 10 yards out and Richardson would add one before the half to push the lead to 38-0.

The Brahmas added two scores in the second half, both coming on the ground from Perkins, before the starters were removed from the game.

East Bernard 52 Elysian Fields 8

Class 2A Division II State Semifinal
Floyd Casey Stadium, Waco

Elysian Fields          0     0    8  0 -- 8
East Bernard          17  21  14  0 -- 52

First Quarter
EB – Ty Slanina 6 Run (Rucka Kick) 8:00
EB – Derrick Rucka 30 FG 4:36
EB – Grant Aschenbeck Pass 57 Garrett Polak (Rucka Kick) 3:13
Second Quarter
EB – Garrett Polak 4 Run (Rucka Kick) 9:00
EB – Ty Slanina 10 Run (Rucka Kick) 6:48
EB – Joc Richardson 7 Run (Rucka Kick) 3:15
Third Quarter
EB – Cedric Perkins 4 Run (Rucka Kick) 9:00
EB – Cedric Perkins 48 Run (Rucka Kick) 6:31
EF – Colby Simmons 1 Run (Spear 2-PT) 2:38

EF                   EB
First Downs                10                   14
Total Yards                185                 373
Rushes-Yards            31-81             46-249
Pass Yards                 104                 124
Comp-Att-Int             7-21-1              4-6
Penalties-Yards         5-37                  0
Fumbles-Lost             1-1                   0
Punts-Avg                  5-36                1-52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Elysian Fields, Trevor Spear 12-44, Tanner Davis 6-14, Christian Smith 1-1, Colby Simmons 7-31, T.J. Clark 2(-12), Lonzo Macon 1-1, East Bernard, Grant Aschenbeck 1(-5), Joc Richardson 8-54, Ty Slanina 5-34, Garrett Polak 8-57, Cedric Perkins 10-73, Nick Mica 6-27, Justin McGuire 5-6, Jack Delmar 3-6

PASSING: Elysian Fields, Trevor Spear 7-21-1--104. East Bernard, Grant Aschenbeck 1-3 57, Ty Slanina 3-3 67.

RECEIVING: Elysian Fields, Lonzo Macon 5-46, Christian Smith 1-1, T.J. Clark 1-20, Zane Barge 2-27, East Bernard, Garrett Polak 1-57, Trevor Long 2-20, Nick Mica 1-45.