FINAL FIVE: Pickle’s thoughts from the Bi-District DCTF Road Tour Game of the Week between Corsicana and Denton Braswell

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History was made

With a dominant 49-28 win over Corsicana, the Denton Braswell Bengals walked off the field with the programs first ever playoff victory. The Braswell football program began just four seasons ago in 2016. In a truly miraculous fashion this program went from a 3-7 record to an 8-2 record claiming a share of the district 7-5A DII district championship in just one year. Head coach Cody Moore has laid a strong foundation during his small tenure as head coach. “A lot of teams would be satisfied with that improvement, but our guys aren’t.”  Moore has not only laid this foundation on the field but in building leaders within his team. “Each of our senior classes have continued to get better and better as the years go on.” After the final buzzer sounded and hands were shaken, the Bengals all rallied around their coach as he hoisted their newest golden football up into the air to signify that their progression is far from over.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How about those Bengals!?<a href="https://twitter.com/BengalLifestyle?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BengalLifestyle</a> is playing with all kinds of confidence, and <a href="https://twitter.com/ashley_pickle12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashley_pickle12</a> saw that firsthand!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForeverTexas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForeverTexas</a> <a href="https://t.co/JlNqUW1NHo">pic.twitter.com/JlNqUW1NHo</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports Southwest (@FOXSportsSW) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSportsSW/status/1195733464294649856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Corsicana is LOADED with rising stars

While the scoreboard did not lean in favor of Corsicana, this is a team you will want to keep an eye on in the coming years. Under the direction of first-year head coach Hal Wasson the Tiger’s squad has a number of rising stars on the offensive side of the ball. The largest of which is sophomore running back Anthony Young. The young play-maker is nothing short of explosive when he gets the ball in his hands. His speed is illusive, he is capable of weaving his way through traffic and he provides guaranteed yardage gain. Barring injuries, Young was not able to get a full season under his belt but if he can stay healthy and continue to gain experience in the back field, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Braswell quarterback Greyson Thompson is the definition of a leader

This being the fourth year of the Braswell program, now senior quarterback Greyson Thompson has been with the program from day one. When speaking to Bengals head coach Cody Moore earlier this week he expressed how much he has enjoyed watching Thompson grow. “He’s everything you want. He’s a fierce competitor while at the same time a great leader. I have loved watching him grow and mature over the last four years. It has been exciting for me.”  I was able to listen to coach Moore give his pregame speech to the team. When the senior walked up to the huddle to take a knee in what possibly could have been his last game ever as a Bengal, Moore looked at his team leader and said, “I’m proud of you.”  In his senior season Thompson threw for 2,685 yards which toppled his previous season passing records by over 1000 yards in the regular season. “His confidence has grown immensely, and it has made a huge difference in his game this year.”  Thompson not only showed off his impressive arm in the first round of the playoffs but showed clear signs of leadership and that he has the respect of his teammates on and off the field.

Defense wins championships

While most eyes tend to follow the explosiveness of the Braswell offense, their defense was not to be over-looked in this first round battle. Denton’s defensive line was able to break free in the trenches and disrupt action in the pocket.  In the second half the Bengals’ secondary showed their maturity by recognizing that if they took away the threat of Tiger’s running back Anthony Young they would spend far less time on the field. On the other sideline, while ultimately the Corsicana defense was not able to contain the explosiveness of the Bengals’ offense, there was a bright spot for the entirety of the matchup. Corsicana’s defensive line fought extremely hard on each and every snap to get their hands-on Bengals’ quarterback Greyson Thompson. While the defensive side of the ball was not able to play at a high enough caliber to completely shut down the fast-moving tempo of Braswell’s offense power, they absolutely gave them a run for their money in this area.

Looking forward

Securing this bi-district championship means the Braswell Bengals are headed to an Area matchup round against an opponent they have seen before, the Red Oak Hawks. During week one of the regular season these two teams met up in Denton where the Bengals secured their first win of the season with a score of 48 -27. The Hawks finished the regular season as 6-5A DII champions with an 10-1 record, the sole loss coming from Braswell. Red Oak handed Everman a 55-24 loss to claim the bi-district titles and advance to the area round with a hope to take revenge on Braswell. This matchup will take play at 7:00 p.m. Saturday November 23rd at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. 

For a full list of Texas High School Football Playoff game times and locations be sure to check out our PLAYOFF CENTRAL page, which is the hub for all things TXHSFB Playoffs!

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