ARLINGTON, Texas — When Jayton senior running back Bode Ham found out that he was one score away from breaking the all-time Class 1A State Championship touchdown record, he knew his next possession had to be special.
Having already met the previous record of 12 total touchdowns, Ham secured a nine-yard rushing touchdown with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter to solidify not only himself, but his teammates in history in a 99-54 victory over Richland Springs at AT&T Stadium on Wednesday.
“I came off the field, and I was cramping a little bit. But somebody told me that I tied the rushing record,” Ham said. “When I found that out, I knew I had to go back in. I’m thankful that I got to carry it one more time to make that record.”
Ham accounted for all 13 of the Jayton Jaybirds’ touchdowns, cementing the program as back-to-back 1A Division II state champions for the first time in over five decades.
“Bode is as gifted as they come,” Jayton head coach Josh Stanaland said. “I’ve never coached an athlete as gifted as he is.”
The Offensive MVP rushed for 10 touchdowns and threw for another three for a combined 548 yards of offense. He rushed for 430 yards and was just 11 yards shy of breaking a second record for most rushing yards.
Oh, and he was also named the Defensive MVP with eight total tackles, three-for-loss, and one pass break-up.
Despite Ham’s sweep of the spotlight, his teammates shared tears of joy with him in the postgame press conference.
“When they knew that Bode was close, they wanted Bode to have that football,” Stanaland said. “These guys were emotional for their teammate getting to do that.”
Jayton opened up its campaign with two consecutive 51-yard touchdown rushes, each drive lasting less than 15 seconds.
Richland Springs didn’t make it easy for the Jaybirds to come away with a mercy rule win like last year, though. The Coyotes matched their opponents’ initial stride in the first quarter, trailing by just 10 points heading into the second while Jayton averaged nearly 20 yards per play.
That deficit would only grow as the game continued, and Richland Springs’ hopes of a lead faded every time Ham touched the ball. He even capitalized on a second being added back to the clock thanks to a Coyote timeout, finding senior Colt Gentry for a 32-yard touchdown pass heading into halftime.
“I’ll tell you what, Jayton is good, I think I underestimated, and I hate to admit that,” Richland Springs head coach Harley Ethridge said. “Is [Ham] going to play [at the] next level? I think he probably can.”
Richland Springs began to slow down the Jayton offense in the second half, limiting the Jaybirds to 9.5 offensive yards per play in the third quarter and 7.2 in the fourth.
The Coyotes’ push to the finish wasn’t enough to stop Ham from reaching a newfound goal that he was determined to complete with the help of his team.
“My teammates, I can’t thank them enough. I just want to thank them,” Ham said.
BOX SCORE
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jayton | 26 | 27 | 32 | 14 | 99 | |
| Richland Springs | 16 | 14 | 16 | 8 | 54 |
| Jayton | Richland Springs | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yds | 605 | 390 |
| Pass Yds | 118 | 294 |
| Rush Yds | 487 | 96 |
| Penalties | 2-10 | 9-84 |
| 1st Downs | 19 | 13 |
| 3rd Downs | 3-7 | 4-14 |
| 4th Downs | 2-4 | 4-7 |
| Total Plays | 48 | 60 |
| Avg Yds/Play | 12.6 | 6.5 |
| Avg Yds/Completion | 29.5 | 14 |
| Avg Yds/Rush | 12.5 | 5.1 |
| Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg) | 487 (12.5) | 115 (6.8) |
| Red Zone | 3-4 | 5-5 |
| Time of Poss | 16:16 | 22:47 |
| Turnovers (Def Pts Off) | 1 (7) | 1 (7) |
| Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| Sacks (Def Yds) | 2 (19) | 0 (0) |
| TFL (Def Yds) | 5 (24) | 1 (2) |
Jayton Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | STANALAND | 1-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| 2 | HAM | 3-4 | 118 | 3 | 1 | 75 | 520.3 |
| PASS TOTALS | 4-9 | 118 | 3 | 1 | 44 |
Jayton Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | HAM | 28 | 430 | 10 | 62 | 15.4 |
| 13 | STANALAND | 3 | 32 | 0 | 22 | 10.7 |
| 0 | VARGAS | 5 | 25 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
| 1 | CHISUM | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 |
| TM | TEAM | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 4 RUSHERS | 39 | 487 | 10 | 62 | 12.5 |
Jayton Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG | TGT | C% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | BLEIKER,D | 2 | 86 | 2 | 51 | 43 | 3 | 67 |
| 20 | GENTRY | 1 | 32 | 1 | 32 | 32 | 3 | 33 |
| 0 | VARGAS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | HAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 RECEIVERS | 4 | 118 | 3 | 51 | 29.5 | 8 | 50 |
Jayton Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Stanaland | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Ham | 8 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | Vargas | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 6 | Scott | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Gentry | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 1 | Chisum | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | D. Bleiker | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Lee | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 38 | 32 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Richland Springs Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | DEEDS | 10-16 | 141 | 2 | 0 | 63 | 177.8 |
| 0 | ETHRIDGE | 7-15 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 67.9 |
| 17 | PERRY | 4-10 | 115 | 2 | 1 | 40 | 182.6 |
| PASS TOTALS | 21-41 | 294 | 4 | 1 | 51 |
Richland Springs Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ETHRIDGE | 12 | 63 | 0 | 17 | 5.3 |
| 18 | HUTCHINS | 2 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 7.5 |
| 8 | DEEDS | 1 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 17 | PERRY | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 15 | DEEDS,EVAN | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 RUSHERS | 19 | 96 | 3 | 17 | 5.1 |
Richland Springs Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG | TGT | C% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | WARD | 5 | 118 | 1 | 76 | 23.6 | 8 | 63 |
| 3 | NORRIS | 4 | 52 | 1 | 17 | 13 | 5 | 80 |
| 17 | PERRY | 4 | 47 | 1 | 30 | 11.8 | 8 | 50 |
| 6 | ROESLER | 3 | 40 | 1 | 21 | 13.3 | 6 | 50 |
| 0 | ETHRIDGE | 2 | 35 | 0 | 25 | 17.5 | 5 | 40 |
| 8 | DEEDS | 2 | -3 | 0 | 0 | -1.5 | 3 | 67 |
| 18 | HUTCHINS | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
| 15 | DEEDS,EVAN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 RECEIVERS | 21 | 294 | 4 | 76 | 14 | 40 | 53 |
Richland Springs Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Deeds | 9 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | Ethridge | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 16 | Ward | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Evan Deeds | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Norris | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | Perry | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Roesler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | I. McKinnerney | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Hutchins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 35 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
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