Strong start powers Coy Eakin, Stephenville past Austin LBJ for 4A DI football state championship

ARLINGTON, Texas — Stephenville couldn’t have planned a better start to its first appearance in a Texas high school football state championship game in nearly a decade.

The Yellow Jackets dominated defensively from the outset.

Stephenville’s defense recovered fumbles on the first four drives of the contest, sparking the Jackets to a wire-to-wire 38-21 win over Austin LBJ in a battle of unbeatens Friday afternoon at AT&T Stadium in the UIL’s Class 4A Division I Football State Championship game.

The victory places an exclamation-point finish on an undefeated season for Stephenville and marks the program’s sixth state championship in six trips to the state title game since 1993.

“We're just so proud of our football team and the way they have prepared all season. Today there in the first half, I thought the war dogs went out and put a ton of pressure on LBJ,” Stephenville head coach Sterling Doty said. 

“The (pass rush) made that quarterback, who is a great player, make quick decisions and they put the ball on the ground because of it. Our guys were able to go out and execute it perfectly and we're able to grab the momentum there in the first half.”

“We're all family, so it wouldn't have mattered,” Stephenville senior wide receiver Coy Eakin said. “But I mean, it's really nice to go out on (top) being a (state champion).”

Even with an all-around stellar defensive performance, though, no player from either sideline stood out as much as Eakin, the state’s leader in both receiving yards and touchdowns.

Eakin was a virtually unguardable presence downfield when he lined up out wide and also frequently took handoffs out of the backfield.

The Yellow Jackets senior wide receiver got his team on the board first with a leaping one-handed catch along the sideline in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown catch.

“Well, I ran a slant-and-go and then Ryder (Lambert) threw the ball over and then they had like triple coverage. I just went for the ball and came out with it,” Eakin said. “It was really a team effort all around (though). It wasn't just one long play.”

Eakin struck again twice more during a sensational first half.

He scored on a 7-yard touchdown run on a third-and-goal situation to give the Jackets a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The star senior then caught a deep pass over the middle and broke a few tackles en route to a 43-yard touchdown catch and run with 2:21 remaining during the second quarter.

Stephenville carried a 24-7 advantage into the locker room at halftime after Austin LBJ scored on senior quarterback Oscar Gordon’s, a Texas Southern commit, 33-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Noah Baker 77 seconds before half.

Eakin, however, was quick to help the Yellow Jackets tack on to their lead after the break too.

Stephenville scored on its first drive of the third quarter when LBJ’s Baker intercepted a pass near the goal line, and Eakin punched the ball free to set up fellow senior receiver Kallan Kimbrough for the Jackets’ fifth fumble recovery and a bizarre touchdown.

“Our guys are taught to play through the whistle, and Coy and all 11 offensive guys did that, you know. We got the ball out and Kimbrough was in the right spot because he was hustling and turned around and got in the box,” Doty said.

“And then offensively, if you get the ball in the hands of No. 2, great things happen.”

Eakin, who began the offseason in a position battle for the starting quarterback job, and Stephenville senior QB Ryder Lambert were perfectly in sync from start to finish.

Lambert completed 16 of 29 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns, while Eakin was named Offensive MVP after finishing with nine catches for 187 yards and all three of the Yellow Jackets’ receiving scores, each game highs.

He also added 32 yards and the game’s only rushing touchdown on nine carries, as well as his forced fumble offensively and a late interception defensively.

“Me and him have always been good friends all the way through grade school, so it wasn’t really a shock. It was really a team effort as a whole,” Eakin said. “We started (playing) together in flag football when we were 6-years-old. That’s when we all met each other, and this has been our goal since then and it finally came true.

“It shows that we worked for it, and I feel like we deserve that as a team because we worked our butts off every day in practice.”

Austin LBJ’s offense actually outgained the Jackets in terms of yardage.

Gordon was steller operating out of the shotgun, throwing for a game-high 372 yards and three touchdowns on 30-of-48 passing. 

Five Jaguars’ receivers tallied four or more receptions, while four wideouts also accounted for 75+ receiving yards led by junior Noah Baker’s four catches for 78 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

LBJ, however, was pressured into passing downfield on 61.5% of its snaps offensively after falling in a 17-0 hole during the first quarter.

“When you get down early, you have to start trying to get the ball downfield,” Fenner said. 

“Plus, to not be able to run the football early just triggered the early turnovers and we had to try to get the passing game going and they were physical upfront. We weren't getting the creases in the gaps that we needed, but once you get down 17-0, it's time to start getting the ball out in space.”

Austin LBJ’s shortcomings offensively, though, can be largely attributed to Stephenville’s smash-mouth style of play upfront defensively.

The Jackets’ front seven controlled the line of scrimmage early on, which allowed them to blow up several plays in the backfield and force the Jaguars into making throws on the run outside of the pocket.

That ultimately led to six takeaways for the Yellow Jackets, who were also excellent in situational defensive settings.

Stephenville made two goal-line stops on fourth down and goal — once on a run up the middle stuffed at the goal-line during the first quarter and again on a quick pass attempt to the front right pylon during the fourth quarter — that prevented the Jaguars from fully clawing their way back into the game.

Senior linebacker Reese Young, who was voted the game’s Defensive MVP, led the Jackets defensively with a game-high 10.5 tackles and a fumble recovery.

“That's just a tribute to our defensive front seven and then just a great mentality there in the back with our coverage,” Doty said.

“We knew we had to keep it on and keep fighting,” Yellow Jackets’ senior linebacker Reese Young said. “We knew they were going to fight back.”

The season-ending defeat dropped Austin LBJ to 15-1 this season and marked its first loss since a Dec. 11, 2020 state semifinals loss to Lindale (31-28). 

It also ended a magical postseason run for the Jaguars, who became the first Austin ISD team to play for a football state championship since 1973.

“LBJ has always had that culture in athletics of success. And so to take it to this level, or to this stage, I think it's promising for us in the future because that's what we want to do,” Fenner said. “We want to establish ourselves as a premier program, so our goal is to get back here and to win it.”

Stephenville, meanwhile, improved to 16-0 overall with the win and became the fourth Texas high school football team to finish the season as an undefeated UIL state champion joining the Strawn Greyhounds (1A/Six-Man DII), Shiner Comanches (2A DI) and Franklin Lions (3A DII).

It also represents the Yellow Jackets’ first football state championship since 2009 and the program’s sixth overall title.

“We've got the five championship teams with us. We've got the trophies inside our green room and we’ve just stayed focused on our daily process,” Doty said. 

“At that point between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they showed up ready to go work and the motto this year was ‘Leaders lead,’ and here they are. They set the standard for that every single day. When it wasn't right, they challenged guys. When it was right, they lifted the guys up. It all comes down to our great staff and our leadership.”