Tomato sauce

PULL HIM DOWN! — Above: Kilgore's Deadrick Lacy (41) tries to bring down Jacksonville quarterback Ryan Black. Right: Steven McBryde (5) completed 10- of-16 passes for 184 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the Bulldogs' 35-7 win at Jacksonville on Friday night, officially clinching a 4A playoff berth. JACKSONVILLE — Over the years, the Kilgore High School Bulldogs and Jacksonville High School Indians have played some very good, competitive football games, many of which went down to the final seconds.

Friday night here at the Tomato Bowl was not one of them.

Kilgore put its passing game to work, got another great night from the offensive line and from tailback Frank Reddic, and a smothering defensive performance, and defeated Jacksonville 35-7, officially clinching a spot in the UIL Class 4A playoffs.

The Ragin' Red is now 7-2 on the season overall, 3-1 in District 14-4A, and finishes the regular season this Friday at home against Nacogdoches. The night began with Kilgore, Lindale and Whitehouse in a three-way tie for the district lead, but Nac upset Whitehouse, 27-23, and the Dragons might have put themselves in great position to claim the district's new fourth playoff spot with that win.

Photo by Dr. Jeff Davis Also in the district last night, Lindale held off Henderson, 31- 23.

Kilgore fans packed the visitors' stands at the Tomato Bowl and saw just a dominating exhibition of football by the Bulldogs, really from the opening kickoff. The amount of passes Kilgore threw — starting quarterback Steven McBryde was 10- of-16 for 184 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — was a surprise, but a good thing, coach Mike Vallery said.

"To win and to be a good football team," Vallery said, "you have to have balance, a good running game and a good passing game. We were able to do that tonight, and show people that when we want to throw it, we can do it. We've got to be able to do that to get better, and to win games."

After forcing Jacksonville to punt its opening possession, Kilgore wasted no time. Offensive coordinator Chris Vallery called three straight running plays to Reddic, picking up 17 yards down to Jacksonville's 25-yardline, and then after Ken Smith was thrown for a 5-yard loss, the Bulldogs struck. On third down and 13, McBryde hit Xavian Sanders across the middle — Sanders made a very good catch for a 30-yard touchdown with 7:15 left in the quarter. Sanders had a good night, making five catches for 66 yards and two scores.

Photo by Dr. Jeff Davis GHOULS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN — Members of the Kilgore High School Hi-Steppers dance team (right) got into the Halloween spirit for their halftime show on Friday night. Jacksonville did pick up its first first down of the game on the next offensive series, but did little else — a third-down fumble put the Indians (2-7 overall, 1-3 in district play) in a fourthand 12, forcing them to punt.

Kilgore continued its offensive balance, calling Reddic's number from time to time on a drive that began at its own 18, but also letting McBryde and the receivers work. Andrew Ector caught a 12-yard pass on third-and-6, then another on third-and-13 that put Kilgore in scoring position at Jacksonville's 29, a 27- yard catch.

Sanders was the next thirddown target, making a 10-yard catch to keep the drive alive at Jacksonville's 19, and on the next play, the offensive line — Jeff Watson, John Swanson, Vince Cano, Colby Rosen, and Tyler Waddle — helped Reddic break free for the 19-yard score. Reddic would finish with 120 yards on 25 carries, and two touchdowns.

Jacksonville's only score of the night culminated its next possession, a 22-yard run by Kendrick Hatton with just over five minutes left in the half that narrowed Kilgore's lead to 14-7.

McBryde's lone miscue of the game was a deep pass picked off by Jimmy Gray that gave Jacksonville the ball back with 1:51 left. But KHS defensive end Tyler Dennis threw Jacksonville quarterback Ryan Black for an 8-yard loss on first down. When that happened, Kilgore's coaching staff called a time out. The Bulldogs defense was able to force Jacksonville to punt, and Kilgore got the ball back with 1:12 left in the half.

As the Bulldogs did against Whitehouse to win the game the week before, McBryde and the offense put together a great offensive series to score before the half. He completed a pass to Will Mixon for 7 yards, then to Reddic for 18 yards down to the Jacksonville 14.

With the clock winding down quickly, Reddic picked up 9 more yards down to Jacksonville's 5, and then McBryde spiked the ball to stop the clock with 16 seconds left.

On third-and-1 from the 5, McBryde's fade pass into the left side of the end zone was caught by Sanders, his second touchdown of the night, with 13 seconds left in the half. Jacksonville's Xavier Jones was stopped on first down as the first-half clock expired.

The first possession for Kilgore in the second half was nothing short of masterful — a 98-play, 7:20 drive that ended with a Ragin' Red touchdown.

Good running and ball protection by Reddic and by Ken Smith got the Bulldogs out of the shadow of their own end zone, and then following a holding penalty, on second-and-16 from their own 33, McBryde and Ector hooked up again, this one bigtime: a 47-yard pass play on the KHS sidelines that Ector almost broke for a score. He was shoved out of bounds, finally, at the Jacksonville 20.

McBryde found Sanders for a 17-yard pass on third-and-13 to keep the drive alive and set up first-and-goal at the Indians' 7, and two plays later, Reddic had his second touchdown of the night, a 2-yard run with 4:40 left in the third quarter. Kicker Ryan Bustin's extra point was good (Bustin was 5-for-5 on the night) and KHS led 28-7.

The final Bulldogs' score was led by backup quarterback Ken Smith and by tailback Courtney Maddox and fullback Brandon McCarty, who each carried the ball on the 11-play, 61-yard drive. Smith had three runs, each totaling 11 yards, on the drive, and Maddox did the honors, scoring from 1 yard out with 4:20 left.

This week in 14-4A, KHS hosts Nac, Whitehouse hosts Henderson, and Lindale hosts Jacksonville.