Scoop & SCORE

The Texan football team jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first half and never looked back as Wimberley defeated the Navarro Panthers 35-14 to capture the Region IV title for the third time in the last four years and avenging their 24-22 loss in the district championship.

Receiving the ball to start the game, the Wimberley offense drove down the field into Panther territory.

Facing 4th and 18, senior quarterback Matthew Tippie hit Senior wide receiver, Ty Pruett, for the 36-yard touchdown pass as the Texans took an early 7-0 lead.

The Wimberley Code Red defense responded to the touchdown by forcing the Navarro offense to go three and out to make the Panthers punt.

On the next play, junior running back Moses Wray took the handoff and scored from 66 yards out as the Texans extended the lead at 14-0.

After trading possessions, the Navarro offense drove on the Texan defense into Wimberley territory despite starting at their four-yard line.

The Panthers failed to convert on third down but ended up going for it on fourth down due to the fact Navarro was set up on the Wimberley 25-yard line.

But the Code Red defense stood tall as the pass play from the Panthers fell short and gave the ball back to Wimberley.

After the fourth-down stop, the Texans struck again as Tippie found Pruett for another long pass this time for 75 yards as the Texans extended the lead to 21-0.

As the two teams traded possessions again, Navarro looked to climb back into the game down three scores.

But the Code Red Defense snuffed out the Panthers once again as the Texans forced a fumble which was recovered by Ethan Lancaster.

The Panther defense responded however as Navarro forced a fumble of their own and recovered the ball to give the Panthers a little bit of hope.

Again the Code Defense defense stepped up their game as Kaedon Gonce forced the fumble and Nova Rankin scooped up the ball and dove into the endzone for the score as Wimberley took a 28-0 lead.

The Panthers scored right before the half ended as running back Brody Whitson scored from 15 yards out to cut the deficit at 28-7.

Though the Panthers ended up scoring again in the third quarter following another Whitson touchdown run to trim the lead down to 28-14, Wimberley extended the lead once again as Tippie and Pruitt connected for the third time on a 47-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead back to a three-score deficit at 35-14.

The Code Red defense punctuated another phenomenal defensive performance in the second half by stuffing the Panthers on an epic goal-line stand, picked off two passes, and ended the game on another fourth-down stop to seal the Region IV title once again.

The victory over the Panthers ties the all-time series between Wimberley and Navarro at 7-7 with the Texans leading the playoff series between the two at 3-0.

The Texans will advance to the State Semifinal round of the playoffs where they will square off with the defending 4A D1 State Champions and the number one team in 4A D2 in the Carthage Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs are currently riding a 28 game winning streak with their last loss coming in 2018 in a State Semifinal game against Liberty Hill. Carthage is also 71-3 over the last five years having won three state titles in 2016, 2017, and 2019.

The State Semifinal game will be played Friday night in New Caney at Randall Reed Stadium at 7:30.

Box Score

Wimberley 35, Navarro 14

1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q F

Wimberley 14 14 7 0 35

Navarro 0 7 7 0 14

Scoring Recap

1st Quarter

Wim- Tippie 36 yard pass to Pruitt (Bruner Kick Good) 9:35

Wim- Wray 66 yard run (Bruner Kick Good) 6:59

2nd Quarter

Wim- Tippie 75 yard pass to Pruitt (Bruner Kick Good) 8:42

Wim- Rankin fumble recovery (Bruner Kick Good) 2:07

Nav- Whitson 15 yard run (Kick Good):26

3rd Quarter

Nav- Whitson 54 yard run (Kick Good) 1:31

Wim- Tippie 47 yard pass to Pruitt (Bruner Kick Good) 1:16

Top Stats Passing

Passing

Matthew Tippie 10 of 17 for 236 yards and 3 TD’s

Rushing

(Overall 19 carries for 135 yards and 1 TD)

Matthew Tippie 3 carries for 20 yards

Moses Wray 15 carries for 100 yards and 1 TD

Nathan Simpson 1 carries for 15 yards

Receiving

Moses Wray 3 receptions for 4 yards

Jaxon Watts 4 receptions for 66 yards

Ty Pruett 3 receptions for 166 yards and 3 TD’s

Special Teams

Jack Bruner 5 for 5 PAT’s

Defense Sacks

Kaedon Gonce 2 with one forced fumble

Fumble Recoveries

Nova Rankin - 1 for 1-yard scoop and score (TD) Ethan Lancaster

Ethan Lancaster

Interceptions

Nathan Simpson Canyun Staton

Canyun Staton