Damon Sisa capped a Most Valuable Player performance with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and Tony Williams iced it with a late pick-six as Houston ended the Patriots’ three-year reign atop Class 6A, 24-9, at the BlueCross Bowl. The Mustangs end the year 13-2 and will take a 12-game winning streak into 2024.
“It’s an unbelievable experience to be where I’m right now,” said Sisa, who finished with 30 carries for 179 yards and also intercepted a pass. “That was crazy. ... I’m about to get turnt today.”
If anyone deserves a Memphis-style celebration, it’s this group of Mustangs.
En route to winning the area’s first state title in any division since 2019 — and the first in the largest public-school class since Whitehaven did it in 2016 — Houston defeated undefeated Germantown in the quarterfinals and undefeated Brentwood in the semis.
Even still, Oakland (12-3) represented an entirely different challenge. Aside from its recent dominance, the Patriots boasted a sophisticated running attack led by backs Daune Morris and Ashton Jones. Houston coach James Thomas said in the run-up to the game that Oakland would line it up and dare his team to stop them.
With the exception of the first drive — Oakland went 57 yards on 14 plays and chewed eight minutes off the clock while taking a lead on Morris’ 8-yard run — Houston did just that.
Oakland managed just 202 yards on 53 plays and had only nine first downs. Houston also picked off three passes while holding the Patriots to its lowest point total in 60 games.
In five playoff games, the Mustangs allowed only 26 points. You know what defense does; it wins championships.
“Everybody has been doubting us from day one,” said senior linebacker Jose Joiner. “That made it personal for our defense. Every team we played, they said our defense wasn’t (special) but we felt like we would put our defense on the map. We were going to show everyone in the state that we were number one for a reason.”
Sisa, meanwhile, was thriving.
His touchdown capped a monster 17-play, 80-yard drive that also featured not one but two first-down carries by quarterback Chander Day on fourth down and put Houston ahead, 17-9.
“I tell you what, the weather obviously played a factor,” Thomas said of his team’s reliance on Sisa on a day when passing was a challenge for both teams.
“We dealt a little bit better with it ... we ended up making the plays that made the difference. We weren’t able to pass like we wanted to but the guys up front opened some holes. Just from watching film, we thought we could run the ball. We felt good about it.”
And it was only fitting that coordinator Tom Kliman’s defense would provide some points too.
That came with 1:16 to go, when Williams, a 6-1, 255-pound sophomore, fulfilled the dreams of big men around the country when he stepped in front of an Oakland pass and rumbled 27 yards for the touchdown that left no doubt who the best team was.
“Very unreal,” he said. “I thought they were going to run it than I just saw the ball. I had to get to it. As soon as I got it, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Houston’s other touchdown came in the first quarter immediately after Oakland had scored. Day engineered an 11-play, 80-yard drive and capped it with a 3-yard pass to Shawne Jones. Trotter Jones — a soccer standout who was drafted into the team several weeks ago after George Vezina was injured — tacked on the extra point that made it 7-6.
Houston never trailed after that.
“Kliman studies film for hours and hours,” Thomas said. “He takes it all on his shoulders and his staff was great. That man deserves all the... Click here to read full article
ARTICLE SOURCE:
