Corpus Christi Miller 54, Lampasas 49

November 21, 2020

Class 4A Division I Region IV Area Playoffs

Farris Stadium, San Antonio

In a late night Saturday special that had the eyes of the entire state watching, the 4A Division I Area Playoffs between Corpus Christi Miller and Lampasas more than delivered as Miller upset the state’s second ranked team at Farris Stadium in a game that featured star-power, plenty of big plays and momentum shifts all night long.

Things started fast for the favored Badgers who marched right down the field on the game’s opening drive scoring less than two minutes into the game on a seven-yard scoring run from Jack Jerome to go up 7-0. Miller looked a bit shaky on their first two plays, but the Bucs settled in after a third and long conversion and QB Andrew Body ripped off a 43-yard touchdown run to tie the game.

Miller’s defense came up with a big play on their next drive as Lonnie Adkism caught a tipped pass from Lampasas QB Ace Whitehead, giving the Bucs the ball back at midfield. On the next play, Adkism hauled in a 50-yard scoring strike from Body to give Miller the 14-7 lead.

Miller forced a three and out on Lampasas’ next drive and the Bucs landed another big shot as Body ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run to go up 21-7 late in the first quarter.

Lampasas finally answered on their next series as Jerome tip-toed down the sideline for a 25-yard touchdown run to cut the Corpus Christi Miller lead to 21-14 late in the first quarter.

The Badgers’ special teams came up with the next big play after forcing a Miller three and out when they blocked the Miller punt, setting themselves up on the eight-yard line. Two plays later, Jerome scored his third touchdown of the night from six yards out to tie the game at 21.

Miller wasted zero time taking the lead back as Body hooked up with Adkism on a slant route for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of their next drive.

After forcing a Lampasas three and out, Miller went on an 80-yard scoring drive, capped by an eight-yard touchdown run from Body to put the Bucs up 33-21 with 4:30 left in the second quarter.

Lampasas cut the lead to five as Whitehead and Ethan Moreno connected for a 17-yard touchdown pass on a screen play to make it 33-28 with 2:44 left in the second quarter. Miller again dialed up a response with less than a minute left in the first half when Body found freshman WR Damare Lister on a beautiful play design for an 18-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 40-28 right before halftime.

Miller seized total control of the game on the opening series of the third quarter, holding on to the football for nearly six minutes as Body accounted for his seventh touchdown of the night with a 10-yard run to extend the lead to 47-28 with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

Lampasas answered on their next drive with a Whitehead three-yard TD run to cut the Miller lead to 47-35 with 3:44 left in the third. Lampasas recovered the ensuing onside kick, but a penalty on the kickoff gave the ball back to Miller who would hang on to the ball until the end of the quarter as the wild scoring pace slowed just a bit.

Miller extended the lead back to three scores early in the fourth quarter on 4th and 8 when Body threw a 50/50 ball up and WR Adkism went up and made a play for a 19-yard touchdown reception to extend the lead to 54-35 with 10:42 left in the game.

Lampasas showed championship mettle when Whitehead turned the juice on for a 45-yard touchdown run to make it 54-42 with 8:14 remaining.

Miller moved to the Lampasas 30-yard line on their next drive, but the Badgers defense made a massive play to get back in it as Lampasas’ LB Joshua Carter pounced on a Miller fumble giving LHS the ball back with just over six minutes remaining.

Lampasas converted a 4th and 10 on the drive and with 4:54 remaining Whitehead linked up with Moreno once again, this time for a 27-yard touchdown and the Miller lead was cut to 54-49 and momentum was with the Badgers in a major way. Lampasas, whose defense had struggled all night, tried an onside kick, but Miller’s special teams were up to the task and pounced on the onside kick. The Lampasas defense held on the next series, forcing a Miller four and out and taking over on their own 42 with a ton of time left at 3:25 remaining.

Whitehead and the Lampasas offense marched down to the Miller five-yard line with less than a minute left, but on 4th and 1 with 47 seconds remaining, the Miller defense made the play of the night; as Whitehead tried to go left on a QB power play, the Miller defense got great penetration and blew the play up in the backfield to turn Lampasas over on downs.

Miller kneeled one time and escaped with an absolute heart-stopping, five-point win to end Lampasas’ hopes of a state title. Miller end up advancing to the regional finals before falling in a close game to Austin LBJ.