Friday, April 26, 2024
Jackson LeCluyse fires a strike to an open Matt Moore. Tolar High School played its Homecoming game against the Crawford High School Pirates at Rattler Stadium Friday, OCt. 1, 2021. The Pirates won the football game 19-7.
Matt Moore tucks in a Jackson LeCluyse pass for a first down.
Clayton Stembridge trips up Crawford's Luke Torbert inside the 10-yard line, keeping the Pirates out of the end zone.
Wyatt Jones scoops up a fumble in the Pirates' end zone and runs the opposite direction. A penalty negated the score.
Isaac Blessing sticks with a Crawford receiver to deny the Pirates yards.
Peyton Raines takes down Crawford's Luke Torbert on the six-yard, saving a potential Pirates touchdown.
You’d think you’d want a patsy for the Homecoming game.
But, no. This is Tolar.
“I've never had a fear mentality you know, we will play whoever, wherever, whenever you know, and so, why not?” said Tolar Head Coach Jeremy Mullins before the game.
The dark clouds parted over the soft and damp turf of Rattlers Stadium an hour before kickoff. You could feel the electricity. Fourth-ranked Crawford High School were in town. This clash of Texas Class 2A football titans has been the talk of the town.
“Well, you know, I didn't want there to be a seat empty when we beat Crawford on Friday night,” Mullins said, with a mischievous smile.
This tough Tolar football team went toe to toe with their vaunted foe. The Rattlers led 7-6 at halftime. A couple of costly penalties gave the visitors all they needed to turn the table on their feisty hosts.
Pirates win, 19-7.
An adoring crowd stuck with their lads in purple from kickoff to the final whistle.
Nervous? Sure.
About a dozen football moms gathered on one corner of the field, gripping each other’s hands in prayer.
“We just pray every football game,” Leah Stembridge said.
Confident? Absolutely.
“We’ll win,” Stembridge said.
That optimism is a shared sentiment in these parts.
“Everybody likes to pick their Homecoming game where you think you're gonna get a good chance (of winning),” Mullins said. “But it's always just confidence. I knew this year we're gonna have a good group that was part of it.”
This was the Rattlers’ second home game of the young season. They played Early High School in the second week, losing 35-16. Their next three games were victories on the road — Boyd, Comanche and Valley Mills — with a combined score of 173-94.
“Why not? Bring a big crowd to watch us win a big game?” the coach said.
Alas, a win was not to be.
The coach’s pre-game prognostication was spot on: “You’ve got to stop the run. We’ll find out early if we're slowing down their running game, and they're not eating up the whole quarter with the ball.”
Everything Mullins had to say about Tolar’s opponent dripped with respect.
“They've been doing this system since probably 1990,” he said. “These kids learned it somewhere in kindergarten … so that's a big part of it.”
What he did not mention was that the Rattlers are inspiring a similar commitment.
“It doesn't get any better,” he said. “Right here right now. Totally Texas.”
