First day of UIL state championships gave something for all fans to enjoy

Photo by Zac Byrd

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For the first-time participants in Wednesday’s UIL football state championship games, players, coaches and supportive community members experienced the full spectrum of emotions. The day provided rides that even casual fans could enjoy.

On either side of Richland Springs’ record-setting ninth state championship, Blum and Post more than surpassed preseason expectations by simply making their first state championship games.

Blum’s first appearance proved everything the school wanted and much more, shocking the experts to upset McLean. As Shehan Jeyarajah found on the winning Blum sideline, Wednesday’s title didn’t just involve the 22 players on the roster and their families.

The 58-52 upset of the heavily favored defending state champs served as the icing on top of the largest cake the community had seen, much less tasted. The win bridged generations of community members, seemingly all of whom were in AT&T Stadium to witness the school’s first appearance in a title game.

Take David Stuart, who celebrated the golden anniversary of his football career at Blum by watching his grandson – Dylan Vardeman – toss a pair of crucial touchdown passes.

“It is tremendously special to get here 50 years later and to have a grandson who quarterbacked the team,” he said. “Tremendously special.”

The stereotypical small-town Texas images of storefronts plastered with “Closed, gone to the game” signs must have been in full effect in the tiny town of less than 500. Judging from the Blum fans in the stands – everyone, their relatives and their relatives’ relatives made their way to Arlington. Their passion, their faith in their team, helped bring an early Christmas present home.

“It’s unreal,” Blum coach Cooper Thornhill said. “This community deserves this. They’ve been knocking on the door for years now. They’ve had football for 50 years.”

Post’s first title game appearance brought its own fairy-tale start before Refugio’s defense took over the game. The Bold Gold, sparked by a defense that produced two early turnovers, led 7-0 after the opening quarter. If Post, which had won all 15 of its games this year after going 4-7 last year, was living a fairy tale, midnight came at the start of the second quarter.

Playing with the confidence you’d expect from a senior class that won more games than any class in Refguio’s history, the Bobcats held Post to less than 100 yards of offense in a 28-7 win.

As the final seconds of a painful loss ticked away, the dejected Lopes were lifted by raucous cheering from the throngs of community members who filled much of the stadium’s lower stands behind the bench.

“It was very important to us,” Post coach Michael Pittman said after his team received its runner-up medals. “We didn’t know how important it would be until we got here. We created a lot of buzz in our community and we’re grateful for the support.”

Though their first trip didn’t end the way they hoped it would, Pittman knows that the school’s first championship game appearance doesn’t have to be its last. Though key players such as Taytem Thetford graduate, quarterback Slayden Pittman and running back Ashton Jefferson return, forming a nucleus that’s gotten a taste of the promised land of Texas high school football.

“This experience was awesome and I’m extremely proud of our kids,” Pittman said. “This has given us something to look forward to next year, and something to work toward.”

And Wednesday’s emotional roller coaster gives fans a reason to come back Thursday, when three more games offer more chances to showcase the teams and their communities.

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