- WACO - To say Friday night’s Class 3A Division I quarterfinal between the Navasota Rattlers and the Chapel Hill Bulldogs was entertaining would be an understatement.

The Rattlers and the top-ranked Bulldogs thrilled and delighted the crowd at Floyd Casey Stadium, keeping them on the edge of their seats in a wild affair that was finally won by the Bulldogs, 56-46.

The game was tied heading into the final quarter, and the Rattlers grabbed their first lead with 10 minutes and 11 seconds left, but Chapel Hill scored the final 15 points to pull out the victory.

“It was a dogfight back and forth,” Navasota head coach Lee Fedora said. “I am proud of our kids and the way they played.”

This was the fifth consecutive trip to the quarterfinals for the Rattlers, and unfortunately it was the fifth time they saw their season end in this round. This time it ended with an 11-2 record.

The Bulldogs improved to 13-0 and advanced to next week’s semifinal round where they will face West Columbia, who earlier in the evening eliminated La Vernia, 28-7.

Chapel Hill, which came in averaging 524 yards of offense per game, rolled up 597 against the Rattlers, including 428 on the ground.

“They’ve got some great athletes on their offense and it was tough on our defense,” Fedora said.

It would have been easy for the Rattlers to hang their heads and pack it in after Chapel Hill scored 13 points in the first 39 seconds of the game following a pair of Rattlers’ turnovers.

Instead the Rattlers continued to battle, managing to draw even by halftime thanks to a pair of defensive touchdowns — an interception return by Solomon McGinty and another by Jaylyin Minor.

“When you get turnovers and score off turnovers it is big,” Fedora said. “Our kids kept competing.”

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, setting up a wild final 12 minutes.

Chapel Hill struck first in the final frame when Deaveron Dean fell on loose ball in the end zone after teammate Jay Regan coughed it up at the 1-yard line.

The Rattlers wasted no time answering, as Kadarius Baker hit Austin Collins with a pass that Collins hauled in, turned on the jets and went 66 yards to pay dirt. The extra point was no good, however, leaving the Rattlers down by one.

Navasota’s defense came up with its third score of the night 19 seconds later when Autra Maxey scooped up a fumble and raced 26 yards for a touchdown, handing the Rattlers their first lead of the night.

Having missed the previous extra point, the Rattlers went for two, running a trick play on a pass to Maxey. He bobbled the pass, but eventually secured it, only to have it squirt loose as he dove for the end zone, leaving the Rattlers with a 46-41 lead.

After the Bulldogs returned the ensuing kick to midfield, they went on a 10-play scoring drive, with Reagan capping it with a 1-yard run.

Navasota was forced to punt the ball away, giving the ball to Chapel Hill with under 3 minutes remaining in the game.

The Rattler defense had a chance to get the ball back when the Bulldogs faced a third-and-3 from their own 35. But Reagan broke through the line and raced 65 yards for the score that put the game out of reach at the 1:30 mark.

Navasota’s offense finished the night with 272 yards. Baker threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns, completing 15 of his 26 pass attempts. Collins had three receptions for 99 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while McGinty had five receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown.

The Rattler weren’t able to muster much on the ground, finishing with 14 rushes for minus-15 yards.

- NAVASOTA - The old saying goes, “the third time is the charm.” The Navasota Rattler football team will be looking to change that saying Friday night as it takes on the Chapel Hill Bulldogs in the Class 3A Division I Region 3 quarterfinals at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco at 7 p.m.

It is the fifth consecutive season the Rattlers have made the quarterfinals, with their first four trips ending in defeat to a team that either went on to win the state championship or finish as the runner-up.

Navasota (11-1) hopes the fifth trip to the quarterfinals will be the charm, but they know it won’t be easy, as they face the Bulldogs (12-0), who have been ranked No. 1 all season and enter the game as a 10-point favorite according to the Harris Ratings.

“That just tells you about Region 3,” Rattler head coach Lee Fedora said. “When you think about Region 3 in 3A Division I, every year when you get to that quarterfinals you are usually facing the No. 1 team in the state.

“You always have to believe that for that ultimate goal that you want, you have to beat the best if you are going to be the best. It just so happens that every year we have caught it in the quarterfinals.”

The Bulldogs are also the team that ended the Rattlers’ season last year, 42-13, in a game that was close, but got away from the Rattlers when they turned the ball over three times in the second quarter, leading to 21 straight points for Chapel Hill.

“I am one that hates watching that film from last year because that was a disappointing way that it turned out,” Fedora said. “I put the film on for our kids before practice [Tuesday] and I was showing them that in the second quarter it was 7-7.

“We were in the ballgame and we were getting stops when we need to and we were moving the football. Then we gave up sacks, we throw an interception they return to the 1 and then they score. We fumble the kickoff and they score and then we fumble into the end zone and they score and the next thing you know it is 28-7 and I saw out kids just lay down a little bit.

“I think this group this year has been there, done that and they have handled adversity well.”

Navasota reached the quarterfinals with a dominating 44-3 victory over Huffman-Hargrave last week. The Rattlers scored on their opening possession and never looked back.

“I was proud of our kids,” Fedora said. “We came out with 100 percent intensity and from the get-go we started that gas pedal and stayed on top of it and it just kept going from there.”

Chapel Hill had a much tougher game last week against La Vega. The Bulldogs needed a late goal-line stand and a 93-yard touchdown run from Andrew Tucker with less than a minute remaining to pull out the 27-20 victory.

Tucker’s jaunt capped a night where the Bulldogs rushed for 230 yards, which was well under their average of 323 rushing yards per game. Tucker averages 10 yards per carry and has 10 touchdowns, but he is far from being their only threat.

Senior Jay Reagan has carried the rock 111 times for 925 yards and a team-high 16 touchdowns. Three other Bulldogs have at least 44 rushing attempts on the season.

“They are a running football team that can run it at any time and can break it at anytime,” Fedora said.

The Bulldogs can also pass the ball as well, having thrown for an average of 200 yards per game. Senior quarterback Avery Saenz has thrown for 1,154 yards and 13 touchdowns with no interceptions, despite suffering a fracture in his lower right leg in the third game of the season, forcing him to sit out until the final regular-season game.

In his absence, senior wide receiver Anthony Kincade filled in, completing 74 of 107 passes for 1,201 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

“If you stop the run they can also throw the football,” Fedora said. “I think it shows what a talented group Chapel Hill is in the fact that their starting quarterback gets hurt early and they still find ways to win and be undefeated.”

The Chapel Hill defense has been stingy this season, holding teams to an average of 297.9 yards per game, but will face a Navasota offense that has been rolling, averaging 427 yards and 40 points per game.

The winner of Friday’s game will advance to the semifinals to face the winner between West Columbia and La Vernia who meet at 6 p.m. Friday at the Berry Center in Cypress.

The Navasota-Chapel Hill game can be heard live on Navasota News 1550 KWBC with the pregame set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

- SHENENDOAH  - It didn’t take the Navasota Rattlers long to show the Huffman-Hargrave Falcons they were in for a long night Friday.

Navasota scored in its first possession, then added four more scores in the first half to build a 32-point cushion at the half, on the way to a dominating 44-3 victory at Woodforest Bank Stadium in the Regional Round of the Class 3A Division I playoffs.

The victory lifts the Rattlers (11-1) into the regional quarterfinals for the fifth straight season where they will face top-ranked Chapel Hill, which defeated La Vega, 27-20. Chapel Hill eliminated Navasota from the playoffs last season in the quarterfinals, 42-13. Huffman, which finished second in 22-3A ends its season at 9-3.

“I don’t think I will have to get our kids geared up,”Navasota head coach Lee Fedora said. “They know it is a big ballgame. We just have to keep playing our type of game and get ready to face the No. 1 team inthe state.”

The Rattlers put the wraps on a Falcon offense that came in averaging 338 yards per game, holding them to 104 in the first half and 135 on the game. The halftime yardage total was inflated by a 52-yard run on a fakepunt.

“I was very proud of our kids,” Fedora said. “Look at what our defense did, holding them to three points. It was a fake punt that got them down there. Then we held on and stood strong and made them kick a field goal.”

Meanwhile the Navasota offense rolled up 398 yards by the half, totaling 546 for the game. Kadarius Baker threw two touchdown passes in the first half, one of 73 yards to Austin Collins and one covering 97 yards to Solomon McGinty. Xavier Creeks rushed for a pair of touchdowns — 1 yard and 41 yards — as the Rattlers took control early.

“We only had 30 snaps [in the first half] but everything we were doing was working,” Fedora said. “Our offensive line, you have to give them credit, they were not allowing any penetration and they did a great job.”

Baker, who continues to state his case as the top quarterback in the Brazos Valley, finished the night completing 16 of 20 passes for 290 yards with two touchdowns. On the season he has thrown for 37 touchdowns with just two interceptions.

“Kadarius did what he had to do,” Fedora said.

When Baker wasn’t cutting up the defense with his passing,Creeks was doing it with his legs. The junior tailback finished the night with 134 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries.

While the offense for Navasota was sharp, the story on the night was the defense, which seemed to know where every play was going and managed to get to the spot before the Falcons could.

The secondary picked off Huffman quarterbacks twice— one by Creeks and one by Collins — and shut down a passing attack that was Huffman’s bread and butter all season long.

Starting quarterback Preston Townley, who had thrown for 2,670 yards and 29 touchdowns coming in, only managed 22 yards passing before he was knocked out of the game early in the second quarter. His backup, sophomore Cole Harrell, completed just 5 of 14 passes for 45 yards.

In the second half, the Rattlers wasted no time adding to their lead. Navasota got the kick to start the half and went 72 yards in just nine plays. Creeks concluded the drive with his third score of the night, this one from 6-yards out.

Cesar Barron, who kicked five extra points on the night,concluded the scoring with a 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

- NAVASOTA - The great Yogi Berra, once quipped, “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” For the Navasota Rattler football team the saying holds true for a second consecutive week of the Class 3A Division I playoffs.

After facing the Sealy Tigers last week in the first round of the playoffs, the same team Navasota faced in the first round of the 2010 playoffs, the Rattlers again face a familiar foe.

This time it is the Huffman-Hargrave Falcons, a team the Rattlers defeated at this same juncture of last year’s playoffs.

The Rattlers (10-1) and the Falcons (9-2) will battle at Woodforest Bank Stadium in Conroe, Friday at 7:30 p.m., in the area round of the playoffs. Last season the Rattlers defeated the Falcons, 43-26.

“They are a disciplined team and they are not going to fall apart,” Fedora said of the 2011 Falcons. “They are going to keep competing. They are going to throw the ball around like crazy and if you don’t cover well they are going to find those spots and hit it.”

The Rattlers are coming off a 40-13 victory over the Sealy Tigers. In that victory the Rattlers got off to a fast start, scoring on the second play of the game then used a 14-point fourth quarter to extend a 10-point halftime lead and take control.

“I was proud of our kids,” Fedora said. “It was an outstanding game against a good opponent and I was very proud to get the win. Our kids really stood up to the occasion.”

When the Rattlers and the Falcons faced off last season, Navasota carried a one-point lead into the half thanks to an 89-yard kickoff return by Tevin Creeks just before intermission. The return sparked the Rattlers as they outscored the Falcons 22-6 over the final 24 minutes of the game.

Huffman stayed in the game last season thanks in large part to quarterback Cole DeBerry, who completed 24 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a team-high 73 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Berry has graduated, but the Falcons possess another strong-armed quarterback in junior Preston Townley who has thrown for 2,670 yards and 29 touchdowns so far this season.

Townley’s favorite target is senior Kade Hardy, who has 53 receptions and a team-high 11 touchdown receptions.

“He is a great quarterback and you can tell he makes great reads and their receivers do a great job,” Fedora said. “It is going to be a test for our defense. We are going to have great pass rush and wrap up and we have to have great play in our linebacker and secondary.”

Navasota counters with a strong quarterback of its own in junior Kadarius Baker who has completed 154 passes for 2,497 yards and 35 touchdowns. In 233 passing attempts, Baker has been intercepted just twice.

“What impresses me the most about Kadarius is he has thrown 35 touchdowns and only two interceptions,” Fedora said.

Junior receivers Solomon McGinty and Austin Collins have combined for 111 receptions for 1,846 yards and 25 touchdowns.

The winner of Friday’s game advances to face the winner of the Chapel Hill vs. La Vega game in the Division I quarterfinals. Last season Chapel Hill defeated Navasota, 42-13 in the quarterfinals.

Friday’s Navasota game can be heard live on Navasota News 1550 KWBC with the pregame slated to start at 7:05.

- DESOTO - The state-ranked Desoto Eagles, champions of District 11-5A, stamped their ranking without doubt as one of Texas’ elite football teams Friday night at their Eagle Field by ushering the A&M Consolidated Tigers from the 2011 playoffs.

The Eagles did it in convincing fashion, a 54-10 walloping of the Tigers, who advanced to the Bi-District round as the third-place club in 12-5A.

DeSoto, who won the right to host the runaway event by virtue of winning the coaches’ coin flip. In that match, Coach Claude Mathis, who formerly coached at Somerville, won the flip over Coach David Raffield, whose club ended the season with a 5-6 record.

DeSoto, which now is 10-1, wasted little time in putting points on the scoreboard. The Eagles, which used an interception as a catalyst for a TD, starting a scoring avalanche on their first six possessions to race in front of the Tigers 27-0 in the first quarter, then stretching their lead to 40-0 by halftime. In the first half, DeSoto had rolled to 308 total offensive yards while the super-quick Eagle defense held Consol to 64. The Eagles didn’t miss the 500-yard total offensive mark by much for the entire game. The Tigers had some pretty good gainers in the final half to register an offensive output of something approaching 200 yards.

The Eagles more than doubled Consol in first downs – 26-12 and completed 18 of 30 passes. Conversely, Consol could complete but four of 16 aerials, and two of those were intercepted. The first one was turned in by Jalen Mills, who has committed to play for the LSU Tigers. The second pick couldn’t be blamed on Consolidated quarterback Jacob Bronowski, since the ball was tipped by the would-be receiver, who couldn’t hold on. That one came with eight seconds to go in the opening half. The Tigers also lost a fumble.

DeSoto, which has one of the fastest teams in the state, featuring overall speed from backs, as well as the defense, didn’t have to punt until well into the third period. That kick was a beauty, rolling to the lip of the Tiger goal line, about six inches away, putting Consol into a deep hole.

The quick-striking Eagles set up the first score with a 38-yard pass from quarterback Raheem Wilson to running back/receiver Devin Rushing, after starting the successful drive from their 48. Dontre Wilson had received to start the game, returning from the six to the 48. Devin Rushing scored from the two, zipping in to his right a minute and 48 seconds deep in the game. A two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving it 6-0.

Thirteen seconds later, Wilson hit Rushing on a 35-yard payoff pass after the Eagles recovered a fumble on the Tigers’ second possession. Bryson Echols booted the extra point, stretching the lead to 13-0.

At the 7:28 mark of the first period, the Eagles completed a 46-yard drive when Rushing scored from the five. Echols kicked the extra point, making it 20-0.

The Eagles, who scored on their first six of eight possessions, struck again, stretching the lead to 27-0 when Ricky Daniels scored from 18 yards out after hauling in a Raheem Wilson pass with 4:47 to go in the first quarter, and after Echols nailed the extra point.

In the second period, DeSoto scored again on Marcus Williams’ four-yard run. Echols kicked the extra point, lifting the Eagles to a 34-0 lead.

A pass to Ridge Jones stretched the lead to 40-0, the halftime score.

Marcus Williams ran in another score on a three-yard run, and Echols’ kick made it 47-0 in the third quarter.

Consolidated got on the scoreboard in the third period when defensive tackle J.J. Bynum, Texas Tech-bound, rammed in from the Eagle two. The big fellow got his moment of glory as a running back in the final game of his high school career. His score came with 21 seconds remaining in the third. Justin Zimmerman booted the extra point. The scoring run was set up on a 46-yard pass from Bronowski to receiver Justin Benden, and completed a 69-yard drive, the most impressive one of the night for Consol.

A 36-yard pass from Bronowski to Benden put the ball on the Eagle seven. With fourth-and-goal from the six, Jeff Steines booted a 23-yard field goal with 6:07 to go in the game. At the time, it was 47-10, but DeSoto scored one more time with 3:33 to go. It came on a Desmon White-to-Kyle Collins pass play. The kick made it 54-10.

- WALLER - Last season when the Navasota Rattlers and the Sealy Tigers met in the first round of the playoffs, the Rattlers took a 10-point lead into the half, then failed to score in the third quarter before pulling away with a solid fourth quarter.

This year the Rattlers again led by 10 at the half. This time, however, they wasted no time pulling away. Navasota used a 14-point third quarter to increase its lead Friday night, on its way to handing the Tigers a 40-13 defeat in the Class 3A Division I bidistrict round of the playoffs at Waller ISD Stadium.

The victory moves the Rattlers (10-1) into the area round of the playoffs where they will face the either Silsbee or Hufman-Hargrave, who meet Saturday night. Sealy, meanwhile, ends its season at 8-3

“I am very proud of our kids,” Rattler head coach Lee Fedora said. “I thought our kids fought hard. That was a great team we played tonight and our kids came out on top.”

In the deciding third quarter, the Rattlers scored on both of their possessions, marching 53 yards in just five plays for one score and 75 yards in just three plays for their other.

They also shored up the defense in the second half, holding Sealy quarterback Ricky Seals-Jones to just 14 rushing yards, after allowing him to gain 117 in the first half.

“The Seals-Jones kid is phenomenal,” Fedora said. “You saw several times where it looked like we had him down and he broke free. He is a great athlete. We prepared all week for a guy like that.”

The Rattlers jumped on top early in the game, needing just two plays to do so. After gaining nothing on the first play of the game, Kadarius Baker went up top, finding Solomon McGinty behind the defense.

McGinty hauled in the pass at the Sealy 25 and the outraced everyone to the end zone for the first score of the night. Cesar Baron’s extra point made it 7-0 Rattlers less than a minute into the game.

It was the first of two touchdown passes on the night for Baker who finished the night 6-for-8 passing for 148 yards. He also rushed for 23 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with a stinger in the third quarter.

Navasota added to its lead at the 3-minute mark of the first quarter when Baron connected on a 20-yard field goal after the Rattlers stalled at the Sealy 3-yard line.

Sealy put together back-to-back solid drives deep into Navasota territory the next two times it had the ball, but came away with points on just one of the drives.

The lone score of the half for the Tigers came on a 1-yard run by Jowan Davis, capping a 12-play 65-yard drive.

Seals-Jones led the Tigers on another drive into Rattler territory, but it stalled at the Rattler 6-yard line. A 23-yard-field goal attempt by Erik Hernandez was short, but the Rattlers were flagged for offsides, giving the Tigers another shot.

They came up empty again, however, when they ran in Austin Pratt to try a 20-yard field goal, which was wide right.

Sparked by the stop, the Rattler offense drove 80 yards in just six plays for a touchdown, the score coming when Baker hooked up with Austin Collins from 44 yards out.

After hauling in the pass at the 25, Collins made a move that left Seals-Jones in his wake, then got a crushing block from Jared Sauls as he waltzed into the end zone, giving Navasota a 17-7 lead at the half.

Sealy got the ball to start the second half, but was forced to punt. A short punt into the wind gave the Rattlers the ball at their own 47, and five plays later Baker went in from 2-yards out.

The next time the Rattlers got the ball, they went 75 yards to increase their lead. Jacob Malek, who took over at quarterback, hit McGinty for a 70-yard gain to the Sealy 5, when he rolled left and then lofted a perfect pass to the wide-open receiver.

Two plays later, Malek crossed the goal line, putting the Rattlers ahead by 24, and in the process, deflating the hopes of the Tigers.

The Rattlers added a safety in the fourth quarter when Josh Thomas forced Seals-Jones out of the back of the end zone when he lost the handle on the snap from center.

Malek capped the scoring for the Rattlers with a 9-yard run that came after a Jerbrell Lipscomb interception that gave the ball to the Rattlers at the Sealy 19.

Sealy added a late touchdown on Davis’ second scoring run of the night, but by then, the victory was well in hand for the Rattlers.