GAMES
RANKINGS
Second Baptist School knocks off defending State Champ Regents School of Austin, advance to State Semis
HOUSTON - For the past few seasons, Second Baptist School's road block to winning the program's first state championship since 1999 has come in the form of the Regents School of Austin.
The previous three meetings came in the TAPPS Division II State Semi-finals and heading into Friday's Regional Round, Second Baptist School held an 1-5 all-time record against the Knights. The last win coming in 2012.
Well - it's now a 2-5 all-time mark.
Second Baptist School defeated defending TAPPS Division II State Champion Regents School of Austin 26-16 on Friday at Brenham's Cubs Stadium to advance to the program's fourth-straight TAPPS State Semifinals.
"We just told our kids all week long that Turner [Murdock's] going to be taking a knee at the end of the game," Second Baptist School coach Terry Pirtle said via a phone interview. "They thought that they were going to win, we put in a good plan on offense and defense. The staff did a great job putting in the plan against a great team and our kids did a great job going and executing it."
The win for Second Baptist School (11-2) snapped the Regents School of Austin's 22-game winning streak, dating back to the 2019 TAPPS DII State Championship and ended their season with a record of 11-1.
Scoring 26 points against Regents School of Austin was no small feat for Second Baptist School. That marks the most points the Knights' defense has surrendered all year - the previous high was 21 against St. Michael's in September.
The 16 points Regents School of Austin scored was also a season low - the lowest since losing 36-15 to Central Catholic on September 21, 2018 - for an offense led by Vanderbilt-commit Drew Dickey, a three-star prospect, that scored 478 points this year heading into the meeting.
"Our coaching staff deserves a lot of credit," Pirtle said of the performance. "Our defensive staff put a great plan in. Our defensive line was tremendous tonight putting pressure on a Division I SEC quarterback and I think that was the difference in the game. I think he was off-schedule a few throws. We put in a new offensive scheme that we held on to until this game and it worked. So, kudos to our kids in believing in it and executing it. Our goal going into the game was having just seven or eight possessions.
"We got to that point where the clock was just draining off. We controlled the football and controlled the tempo of the game and I think that worked to our advantage tonight."
Varsity Football: UPDATE
TD EAGLES!!!
20-10
Early 4th Quarter pic.twitter.com/8k3TZPi39c
— SecondBaptistSchoolAthletics (@SBS_Athletics) November 20, 2021
Second Baptist School's success in 2021 can be pinpointed to the leadership of this senior class, Pirtle said and the fact that the teams has been a battle-tested group from the jump.
"They played a great team in Kinkaid in game one and they came up short but they just decided to go win eight games in a row after that," Pirtle said. "Went to Calhoun, played a state-ranked team on homecoming, and learned about themselves there that they could win a big game. Then, they learned a lot from the Fort Bend Christian game. You can't have turnovers and can't get penalties and all that stuff. You have to play well in the big games.
"They are determined to play well the rest of the year."
Being back in the TAPPS State Semi-finals for a fourth-straight season is not something that Pirtle takes lightly as does the senior class.
"It's nice, there's not a lot of programs that can say that they've done that and there's not a lot of programs still playing," he said. "It's an honor and we don't take that for granted. Our kids know what is expected to get back to that game. They know that. These seniors have experienced now a fourth year of it and a lot of them were big parts of those teams.
"They're an experienced group and their expectations are set high. They have done a tremendous job of leading this team."
Second Baptist School will face the winner of Fort Bend Christian Academy and St. Michael's next week in the TAPPS Division II State Semi-finals.
TAPPS Girls State XC Wrap: Legacy Prep girls win TAPPS 4A title, St. Agnes' Leah Kleke wins TAPPS 6A individual crown
HOUSTON - Charlotte Freeman may just be a freshman at Legacy Preparatory Christian Academy but she didn't run like one on Monday.
In a TAPPS 4A field that saw three of the top five finishers in the girls race being freshmen, Freeman was amongst the group posting a time of 13:21.0. Her and junior Aubrey Davis' (13:35.5), who finished 8th, helped lead Legacy Prep to 74 points, which was enough to win the TAPPS 4A State Championship.
Morgan Singletary (20th - 14:20.9), Hannah Grace Bryant (24th - 14:.31.8), Audrey Spiko (28th -14:47.3), Layla Faysal (43rd - 15:17.0) and Brooklyn Clark (60th - 15:51.2) rounded out the rest of the Legacy Prep championship crew.
Staying on the girls side, in Class 6A St. Agnes Academy took second overall as a team scoring 48 points, while Concordia Lutheran took 4th (129 points) and San Antonio Christian School finished 6th (194 points).
St. Agnes Academy was led by senior Leah Klenke, who posted a state championship-winning time of 11:29.9. Other Top 10 finishers included San Antonio Christian's Addison Applebaum took 9th overall (12:44.7), while Isabelle Luna - a freshman at St. Agnes Academy - took 10th (12:46.6). Concordia Lutheran was led by Ava Zindler, who took13th (12:57.3).
In TAPPS 5A, The Woodlands Christian Academy took 4th as a team, Fort Bend Christian Academy came in 6th, Regents School of Austin totaled up for 8th place, Frassati Catholic placed 10th and Lutheran South Academy took 19th.
The field was led by Frassati's Ashlyn Miller, who took ninth overall with a time of 12:57.3. She was followed by Regents School of Austin's Amelia Weenig, who is just a freshman, in 10th. Zoe Calimani was the leader for TWCA in 16th and Kyra Whitman was the top runner for FBCA in 17th.
In TAPPS 4A, St. Thomas Episcopal took 5th as a team, Bay Area Christian School took 8th overall, Cypress Christian came in ninth, Northland Christian took 10th and Logos Preparatory Academy came in 14th.
Freshman Marian Mann from Northland Christian took second overall in TAPPS 4A, posting a time of 12:48.0. Bay Area Christian was paced by Caroline Bonnecaze, who took 10th overall crossing at 13:40.2. St. Thomas Episcopal senior Margaret Close posted her teams' best time at 13:52.4. which placed her 12th overall.
In TAPPS 3A, Providence Classical High School in Spring brought home the state championship with their runners finishing all in the Top 15 led by Hannah Mann, who finished ninth overall with a time of 13:28.9.