The Ganado Indians met the Joaquin Rams in the State Semifinals at Woodforest Bank Stadium, the same place where the 2023 Indian’s season came to an end. However, the Indians found better fortune this time and came away with a 35-14 victory over the Rams, marking the first Semifinal victory in program history. Joaquin was a run-first offense, but the Indian defense had been stout against both the run and pass throughout the playoffs, so the Rams would have to be perfect in their execution. Joaquin took the field on offense to kick off the contest but was met with a stonewall early, as they were forced to punt before reaching midfield.
Following the punt, Ganado’s offense was caught off-guard by the Rams’ defense and had to kick a punt of their own. The Joaquin offense took the field near midfield but the drive would quickly go awry: After one play, Cain Hayden would strip the ball-carrier and take it back 57 yards to the endzone to give the Indians the first points of the game. After the defensive touchdown, the Rams would continue to come up empty-handed on offense, netting only one first down through their first three possessions.
Another punt from the Rams gave the Indians the opportunity to extend their lead to two scores, which is exactly what they did. Several chunk plays and a huge connection from Bryce Ullman to Austen Pena put the Indians just inside the 10 of Joaquin. Then, Bryce Ullman capped off the drive with a nine yard touchdown run and made it a 14-0 game just before the end of the first quarter.
The Rams began to find a groove in the second quarter, moving from deep in their territory up to midfield in a handful of plays. Then, the Rams would convert on fourth down just outside the redzone, but would be forced into another one, which they would fail to convert. A promising drive for the Rams was derailed by negative plays and penalties, and the Indians took over with a chance to make it a three-score game.
It wouldn’t come to be for Ganado, and they were forced to punt after failing to pick up a first down. On their next drive, Joaquin would finally find the breakthrough in the form of a 79 yard rushing touchdown from their workhorse, Elijah Hardison.
After the touchdown, the Joaquin crowd was roaring, and the Indian sideline had to find a way to quiet them down. The Ganado offense would set up in Ram territory after the kick and would make quick work of the drive. Consecutive first downs moved the Indians inside the redzone, then Ullman could hit Hayden in the endzone from 13 yards out to tack on more points for Ganado. In the waning minutes of the first half, both teams would exchange punts before the whistle for halftime blew.
Out of halftime, the Indians made quick work of their first drive: Runs of 35 and 22 yards from Logan Bures put the Indians at the Joaquin 8, where Ullman and Hayden would then connect for another touchdown and make it a 28-8 game.
Joaquin wouldn’t find any rhythm on their first offensive possession out of halftime and would punt it after a big loss on third down. However, the Rams’ defense would get a big stop on the next drive, as the Indians’ fourth down attempt would fall incomplete on the Rams’ side of the field. The Rams’ offense would string a couple of positive plays after forcing the punt, picking up several first downs, and moving into Indian territory. The Rams converted on their first fourth down attempt of the drive, but on their next fourth down, Ullman and the Indian defense would stuff it and the Rams would turn it over on downs on the Ganado side of the field.
Ganado would continue to hit chunk plays against the Joaquin defense. Logan Bures then capped off the drive with a short rushing touchdown and extended the Indian lead to four scores. With a couple of minutes left in the contest, the Rams sought consolation points to lessen the damage inflicted by Ganado. The Rams drove down the field in the dying minutes of the game and found the endzone after Joaquin quarterback Justyn Brown hit receiver Max Gravin in the endzone of the short touchdown pass. After the Ram touchdown, the score read 35-14 in favor of Ganado with less than 12 seconds of clock left, which the Indians opted to run down.
The final whistle sounded and the Indians would claim their first semifinal victory in school history and exorcise the ghosts of last year’s semifinal loss. After the game, Coach Josh Ervin spoke about his defense throughout the playoffs, “We’re getting back to the fundamentals, the coaches have done great in making their gameplan and the guys are going out there and executing.”
Cornerback Austen Pena talked about the defense, “We’re bringing a lot of energy, we’re not scared and we’re going to hit as the other team as hard as we can.”
Ervin talked about the school’s first state championship appearance, “I’m so happy and my heart is full for the guys, but we’re not done yet.” Pena added “We’re super excited and we can’t wait to show the world who we are.”
The Indians have one final date this season against the consensus #1 team in the state, the Stamford Bulldogs, who will be making their eighth state title appearance.
The 2A-DI State Championship game will be played Thursday, December 19, at 11 a.m. in AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
