Raiders back in playoffs, get Hearne first

Photo by Mitch Lucas MAKE A PLAY — In this photo taken over the summer, West Rusk head football coach John Frazier (right) playfully hands the ball to tight end Braylon Williams, a senior for the Raiders. West Rusk (8-2) returns to the UIL Class 2A playoffs this year for the first time since 2000, and travels to Waxahachie Friday night to take on Hearne (5-4). The loser's season is over; the winner will advance to take on either Harleton or Daingerfield next week. The postseason isn't unchartered territory for the West Rusk High School football program, not at all -- it's just waters the Raiders haven't traveled in a while, like since the current group of seniors were in fourth grade.

But all that changes Friday night at Waxahachie, when the Raiders (8-2 overall this season), the runners up in District 19-2A, take on Hearne in a University Interscholastic League (UIL) Class 2A Division 2 bidistrict playoff game. Kickoff for the contest will be at 7:30.

The Raiders finished 9-2 in the 2000 season under coach Billy Davis, the last time they made the playoffs. This year's team has the best record since that time, and hopes for something more than just reaching the postseason.

The rebuilding journey really hasn't been that long for coach John Frazier, a one-time offensive coordinator at Troup and former Pine Tree High School assistant who just took over the West Rusk head football coaching and athletic director positions before last year. He improved the Raiders instantly, taking them from a 3-7 record in 2006 to a 6-4 finish last year, narrowly missing the playoffs in a district that, at the time, included Arp, Troup, Elysian Fields and then-defending-state champion Tatum. For the job he did, Frazier was honored by the popular David Smoak website, smoaky.com, which covers all things sports in East Texas.

Things have been even better than that for Frazier and the WR program in 2008. In fact, the Raiders won the first eight games of this season before falling to Troup at home two weeks ago, then lost to Arp (no shame in that — Arp is No.1 in 2A in the state) last week.The Raiders went into that Arp game, though, with the chance to win the district title.

"We definitely had that as one of our goals, winning the district championship," Frazier said Wednesday. "We didn't do that, but we did put ourselves in the position to play for it in the final definitely proud of the boys for being able to do that. I'm pleased with what we've done so far — we've got more to do."

And that starts with facing Hearne (5-4), a small town down around Franklin, south of Palestine. Frazier said don't look at Hearne's barely-over-.500 record: everyone's record's the same this week.

"They are extremely athletic," Frazier cautioned. "They run a spread (offense). Their pass-to-run ratio is probably 70-30, maybe even 80-20. We've got to play smart defense and make good tackles. They're very, very fast."

Hearne comes in having won three of its last five, and two and a 42-22 victory over Rosebud- Lott last week). Hearne last lost to Franklin three weeks ago.

While Hearne likes to pass the ball and run a wide-open offense, West Rusk's philosophy is to stomp a mudhole in the opposition and run it, not walk it, dry.

The Raiders have have over 3,600 rushing yards this season, including 1,721 by senior Daniel Thompson, whose dreadlocks give him the appearance of Ricky Williams in powder-blue. Thompson, who has had record-setting days this year (he set a school record with 264 rushing yards in a blowout over Elkhart a few weeks back), is a dynamic runner that can really hurt a defense — he averages right at 10 yards per carry.

Thompson's got a great supporting cast in the running game: Josh Patin, who has seven scores and 738 yards on the season; quarterback Josh Medford, with 349 yards and five TDs; Santos Gonzalez, who has 287 yards and four scores; Jorge Barrios, who's rushed for two TDs and 263 yards; and Beau Bower, with 113 yards and two TDs, as well.

Medford has only thrown the ball 28 times all season, completing 12 of them for three touchdowns (to tight end Braylon Williams, Patin and to Thompson). Dominique Smith could also see time at QB for the Raiders.

Defensively, West Rusk is not slouchy. The Raiders gave up over 200 yards rushing to Arp last week, but again, Arp is a pretty tall measuring stick. Even with allowing Arp 29 points, the Raiders are still giving up an average of just 11 points and 211 yards per game.

Chris Savala leads the team with 115 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery. Medford has 86 tackles as a defensive back, with five interceptions and a fumble recovery. Jonny Fauver has 81 tackles, four sacks, a pick and two fumble recoveries. Josh Patin has 48 tackles, six sacks, a pick, and a fumble recovery, and has scored two touchdowns on defense (one on a fumble recovery against Harleton and one on the interception). Felix Williams has just 27 tackles, but he's made them count. He's had eight sacks, three fumble recoveries, one for a touchdown.

The winner of the West Rusk- Hearne game will face the Daingerfield-Harleton winner in the area round next week.