Brenham, Dayton to battle once more in regional finals... And so we meet again.

[dayton]

By SAM KHAN JR.
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 1, 2009, 11:40PM


When Dayton and Brenham met in the Class 4A Division II Region III championship game last season, they couldn't have been more different.

Dayton had two of the state's best players — quarterback Cody Green and receiver A.J. Dugat — and was the prohibitive favorite to win the region (which it did).

While Brenham had its own pair of stars (twins Kendrell and Kendrick Washington), the team was filled with young players in prominent roles and was not expected to reach the heights that it did after finishing tied for second in its district.

One year later, the teams are meeting again at the same place, in the same round and with the same stakes — but with plenty of similarities this time around.

The defending regional champion Broncos (11-2) and the Cubs (11-2) will meet at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jack Rhodes Stadium in Katy.

Coming into the postseason, neither team was the obvious pick to win Region III. Dayton finished second in District 19-4A and doesn't have Dugat and Green to rely on any more. Brenham, the area's second-ranked Class 4A team and District 18-4A co-champion, had a difficult road to this point that included state-ranked foes Port Neches Groves and Angleton.

Then came each team's respective regional semifinal battle. Both struggled in the first half and had halftime holes to climb out of. Brenham had the biggest deficit, down 21-0 at the half to Angleton.

[b]Making plays[/b]
Brenham coach Glen West just asked his defense to stop the Wildcats once and they would go from there.

They did that, then got another stop. Meanwhile, the offense went to work to pull Brenham out of its three-touchdown hole. Even when things got tough — like when quarterback Ty Schlottmann was knocked out of the game after a hard hit — guys stepped up.

Whether it was a fake field goal, which the Cubs successfully executed on their final touchdown drive, or a key defensive stop, like Jeremy Hall's leaping interception on Angleton's last offensive possession, Brenham made every big play it needed to get its 32-28 come-from-behind win.

“It's why you love high school football,” Brenham coach Glen West said. “ You just have to keep fighting.”

[b]Getting creative[/b]
Dayton also had to fight tooth and nail. With the coaches' communication headsets not working in the first half and only one working in the second, head coach Jerry Stewart sent offensive coordinator Jeff Nations upstairs to the press box to help communicate and get the Broncos back on track.

After struggling to put points on the board in the first half, they put the ball in the hands of jack-of-all-trades Payton Ploch as often as possible in the second.

Ploch started the season as the team's quarterback before moving to receiver. On Saturday, his hands (eight catches, 78 yards), arm (3-for-3 passing, 70 yards) and feet (13 carries, 59 yards) helped complement the passing attack provided by sophomore quarterback Andres Herrera and the speed of running back Xavier Frank and receiver Gamal Fowler to guide the Broncos to 10 fourth-quarter points in the 17-16 comeback victory.

Meanwhile, the defense allowed no points in the second half.

“People underestimated us a lot,” Dayton coach Jerry Stewart said. “We've been (to the regional championship) three times in the last three years. The kids play hard, play well and we're real proud of them because they just don't quit.”

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[liltex]

I like some parts of the article.Yes the Defense has been Great but to say in general we are not the same without Cody & AJ well comparing year to year stats@ this date the 2 differant teams offensive numbers are not that far off.The differance actually is the special teams accomplishments.The punt/kickoff returns for tds in 2008 vs.2009.The +'s this year-Offense is multi-talented no big stand out stats for 1 or 2 players like last year,but 3 times more weapons to score points.And last but not least the best kicking PAT/FG kicker in the entire state w/a freshman that's 100% perfect w/79 points in 13 games.You can make a case for others kicking longer FG's but you can't argue w/percentages.In a defensive struggle this kid's leg may be the differance.I actually wanted Dayton on 4th down w/seconds left on the clock to kick a FG against the Ricebirds but it worked out ok.Go Broncos.Chatting w/Wildcatsrule @ SS & they are much like Dayton w/a better defense and not quite the same offense as last year.