Grayson Rigdon, Strawn storm past Motley County in battle of undefeateds for 1A/Six-Man DII Texas high school football state championship

ARLINGTON, Texas — Despite facing a fellow unbeaten squad and one of the top six-man football teams across the state, freshman Grayson Rigdon and Strawn were given far more time than they needed to finish the job that began for the Greyhounds’ seniors three years ago.

The Greyhounds didn’t need to wait until the fourth quarter to put their opponents away, or for the start of the second half to gain some separation in their state title game showdown against Motley County.

Instead, Rigdon and Strawn just needed a 12-minute scoring spurt to reel off 36 unanswered points against the Matadors and they never looked back. 

Rigdon led the way accounting for 426 yards and nine total touchdowns to help the Greyhounds run away from Motley County and invoke a 73-28 mercy-rule victory in the UIL’s Class 1A/Six-Man Division II Texas high school football state championship on Wednesday evening at AT&T Stadium.

“I had a lot of open field, good reads and good blocks,” Rigdon said. 

“This is always a tough way to end your season, losing a football game,” Motley County head coach Mike Bigham said. “These boys did things for us and our program that established something in a little bitty town out in West Texas that we take a lot of pride in for a lot of years to come,” 

The win marks the Greyhounds’ fifth state championship in seven all-time state title game appearances. 

It also represented Strawn’s first state title game appearance since 2018 when Rigdon’s brother, senior running back/linebacker Griff Rigdon, was beginning his varsity career with the Greyhounds’ current crew of veteran leaders.

“Strawn is my home. I’ve been here 19 years and it’s really important to me. I can’t tell you how much these guys mean to me,” Strawn head coach Dewaine Lee said. “When these guys were in 8th grade, we sat down in the spring and I said, ‘We’re going to win the state championship with these guys.’ We weren’t just high-fiving laughing about it; we got to work.”

On both sides of the ball, the Rigdon brothers dominated.

Grayson Rigdon proved to be a dual threat offensively during a solid performance as a passer and rusher.

Rigdon threw for a game-high 159 yards and four touchdowns while completing six of seven passes. He also ran 17 times for 226 yards and four rushing TDs, both game highs, and caught a 45-yard touchdown reception to account for 90.8% of his team’s cumulative offensive yardage to earn the game’s Offensive MVP award.

Where Rigdon separated himself, though, was the second quarter.

He helped the Greyhounds score five of six touchdowns in a 12-minute, 40-second stretch beginning with back-to-back 47- and 20-yard TD passes which gave Strawn its first lead which was never relinquished.

Rigdon also unleashed a 41-yard touchdown throw halfway through the second quarter, and earned rushing scores on 38- and 79-yard rushing TDs before taking a 50-22 advantage into halftime.

“Our kids did what we could do against them, we just didn’t make plays when we needed to,” Bigham said. “We just missed some opportunities early in the ball game to capitalize on some things that might’ve made a better outcome out of it. We played a very good football team and we got beat by a very good football team tonight.”

Grayson and Griff Rigdon were also prominent forces defensively for Strawn with the former tallying a game-high 16 tackles and the latter recording three tackles a pass deflection and 50-yard interception return.

Greyhounds’ senior defensive lineman/running back Lorenzo Garcia, who chipped in with 77 total yards and a pair of touchdowns offensively and a tackle defensively, was voted the Defensive MVP by media members.

Strawn’s defense quickly shut down any hopes Motley County had of climbing back into the contest.

The Greyhounds dominated in the takeaway department after setting themselves up for easy scores with long interception and fumble returns. They limited Motley County to a 6-of-12 passing clip, jarred five fumbles loose and held the Matadors to a 12.5% success rate on third- and fourth-down conversion attempts.

“We changed our defense up and when we changed it, we did some things they had never seen us do. I think it gave them problems.”

Senior running back Jake Richards provided most of the spark for Motley County by running for a team-high 132 yards and both the team’s rushing touchdowns and catching two passes for 48 yards and a receiving score.

The season-ending defeat drops the Matadors to 14-1 overall and gives Motley County its second state title game loss in the last three years after falling to Richland Springs 62-16 in 2019.

“There aren’t many coaches that stay somewhere long enough to see what happens. I’ve never moved. I’ve had chances to leave over the years, but I love ‘em,” Bigham said. 

“When you get to be with them the whole time from when they’re little, and see them end up on a stage like we did today, that’s awesome and it’s the most rewarding. I wish we would have won it, but I love my boys and I love their families. I’ve been in Motley County for 16 years and it’s just been getting better every year.”

The Greyhounds, however, seemed right at home in its sixth state championship game appearance in the last 19 years. Strawn also added its fifth state title in program history to complete a dominant run through the postseason. 

The team outscored its opponents 372-113 and triggered six-man’s 45-point mercy rule in all five of its playoff wins, setting the stage for a new generation of Greyhounds on the gridiron to continue Strawn’s winning tradition.

“Winning the state championship is not success in our book,” Lee said. “We were 4-6 about six years ago, and I want them to prepare and work their tails off just like we did with that bunch.That was a success to us because everybody stayed and worked their butt off.”