NEW CANEY – Woodville Eagles football defeated the Tidehaven Tigers 28-21 in New Caney Thursday night, needing a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to win the Class 3A Division II state semifinal and punch their ticket for Arlington.
It wasn’t as easy as they made the previous four playoff games look – winning those by an average of 32 points – but taking down the defending state runners-up presents a challenge.
A fourth-quarter drive of 11 plays will be remembered in Tyler County for a long time. The Eagles had moved the ball to the Tidehaven 17-yard line with two minutes to play in a tie game.
Woodville coach Ty Robinson said he had a power run called to obtain the short yardage on fourth-and-one, but a penalty moved the line of scrimmage back five yards.
Now needing six yards from the 22, quarterback Luke Babin (9-for-14, 122, TD) took the snap, faked the handoff, and rolled to his right. He found Dustin Barlow on a flat route. Barlow grabbed the pass and had the yardage for the first down but continued beyond the sticks. The junior running back would not be denied, proceeding through Tigers on his way to the end zone.
“We had to come up with something, so we were like, ‘What is a play that we haven’t thrown at them and they haven’t seen?’” Babin said of the final touchdown. “We had a lot of options on the play. I faked it and booted out. He (Barlow) was right there. I was like, alright, there’s the first down. He got it and broke a few tackles and scored. Everybody was like, ‘We are going to win this game.’”
Eagle senior Caleb Johnson secured an interception off a tip with just one minute remaining. That allowed the offense to kneel the ball three times and punt. The Tigers’ final heave was caught, but stopped 40 yards short of the end zone, resulting in a long-awaited Eagle celebration.
“I’m really proud of my boys,” Woodville coach Ty Robinson said. “We’ve blown everybody out up to this point, so we really haven’t had to play a full game since we played Newton back in mid-October. (Tidehaven) jumped out on us 14-7 at halftime and I didn’t like our body language. We looked like we were beaten; we looked like we were defeated. We went in and had a little reality check at halftime. I’m so proud how they came out and how they reacted to adversity and found a way to win at the end of the game.”
When asked what the conversation included at halftime, Robinson joked that he shouldn’t say, for fear of losing his teaching certificate. He later explained that body language, character and grit were topics of discussion. He attributed the slow start to his athletes being a bit overwhelmed on the big stage.
Tidehaven got the scoring started on their first drive of the contest. An 11-play march went 83 yards, lasting nearly five minutes of clock.
Moving again, the Tigers were nine plays into a possession, deciding to go for it on fourth-and-long. Quarterback Kale Russell (14-for-22, 237, 81 yards rushing) scrambled to find a receiver, and was hit by Woodville’s Corey McDaniel causing a fumble. Tayvion Hunter scooped the ball and sprinted 68 yards to even the match at 7-7.
The Tigers would answer with another long drive, this time 52 yards in nine plays. The time of possession was squarely in favor of Tidehaven, with another four minutes ticking off on the go-ahead score.
Woodville had 17 plays in the first half for 75 total yards, while Tidehaven held it for 36 plays and 201 yards.
Momentum shifted after the band break. The Eagles received the ball and traveled 63 yards on just four snaps to tie it 14-14. The fast-paced offense needed just 1:09 to get in.
Early in the fourth period, Tidehaven scored on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line. A direct snap to massive running back Jachen Duran (17-57, 3 TDs) gave the Tigers a 21-14 advantage.
Woodville took 49 seconds to knot it once more. Hunter (9-79, 2 TDs), who didn’t get a carry in the first half, broke loose and shook two tacklers on his way to a 44-yard touchdown run to set up the game-winning drive. With the defensive score, it was his third trip to the end zone.
“I’m so happy for our town, I’m so happy for our community, and I’m so happy for our school,” Robinson said. “That crowd was unbelievable. The dadgum thing was nearly packed, and I am so happy for our community. It’s never happened, and hopefully now, this creates a new expectation where we want to be.”
The Eagles (13-2) will now play the reigning state champs the Gunter Tigers (13-2) at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 19, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Going into Thursday’s game, the Eagles are up against a team looking for a third consecutive state title. All told, there are four in the program’s history. This season, Gunter has had a slight advantage in scoring, with 43.9 points per game, on average, versus 39.8 for the Eagles.
In light of the game, Woodville ISD announced that all its campuses will be closed on Thursday, as well as Friday. WISD’s administration said they want all of the students, as well as faculty and staff members, to be able to attend the game. At press time, a parade send-off is planned for Wednesday at 11:15 a.m., with a route to begin with the team departing from the Eagle Summit, and to receive well-wishers along U.S. 190 from the Woodville Methodist Church to the Tyler County Courthouse.
Tickets can be purchased online through the Seat Geek platform, and WISD is encouraging anyone who purchases online to use the school code “3AD2V24” in order to get a discounted rate. WISD will receive a portion of the proceeds when buyers use the code. All tickets are general admission.
The district’s superintendent, Lisa Meysembourg, weighed in on the team, and said she thought that it would be impossible to get everyone back to school on Friday with their minds focused on anything besides the game.
“We are so very proud of our boys on our team and our coaching staff,” Meysembourg said.
For Robinson, last Thursday’s victory, and the Eagles’ playoff run, in general, has been the summation of eight years of hard work.
“We’ve had a lot of great teams and a lot of great players,” the coach said. “In 2016 (Robinson’s first year at Woodville), those kids completely bought into what we were doing. With us accomplishing what we’ve done this year, it is a testament to the foundation those guys laid back in 2016.”
