GOLDTHWAITE – The Zephyr Bulldogs have captured three consecutive district championships, but a postseason victory had eluded them during that stretch – until Thursday night.
For the first time since 2017, the Zephyr Bulldogs earned a bi-district championship and playoff win by posting their third shutout in the last five outings, 46-0 over the Evant Elks.
“After you win a couple of district championships you get a little greedy, and we expected to be back in the playoffs, but we knew had to take the next step and that next step was to win a playoff game,” said Zephyr head coach Jeremy Phillips. “We were able to do that tonight, and hopefully we can continue this. This group of seniors has really stepped up and improved over the last five or six years and to be the leaders they are today means so much.”
District 13-A Division II champion Zephyr (10-1) yielded only 58 yards of total offense – 38 rushing and 19 passing – on 34 snaps, an average of 1.7 yards per play, with a pair of takeaways – fumbles recovered by CJ Byers and Trapper Schoenhals – against District 14 runner-up Evant (4-7).
“I’m super proud of the defense, they’ve been improving every single week,” Phillips said. “Things that early in the season were a weakness are now becoming a strength for us, and as a coach that’s always very rewarding and great to see.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs needed just 287 total yards – 164 on the ground and 123 through the air – to produce seven touchdowns.
Zephyr completed only 4 of its 9 pass attempts, but all four resulted in touchdowns. Wyatt Stevens hurled scoring tosses of 50 yards to Byers, 39 yards to Corben Gosnell, and 18 yards to Schoenhals, while Spencer Marwitz connected with Slade Butler for a 16-yard touchdown that ended the game with 34 seconds left in the third period.
Byers also led the Bulldogs ground game with 44 yards and a touchdown, while Reese Hamm contributed 42 yards and reached the end zone twice. Chayden Woodcock tacked on 41 yards to the Zephyr rushing total, while Shayden Pickett finished with 28 yards on the ground.
“They did some stuff that bothered us in the run game, some twists and stunts that we’re going to have to clean up for next week, but we made some big plays through the air, enough to get us the win,” Phillips said. “We just have to continue to improve on our blocking and I think we will. We have to because the team we’re playing next week is a whole different beast.”
In the Class A Division II Region IV semifinals next week, the Bulldogs tangle with District 15 champion and second-ranked Richland Springs (10-0), which received a first-round bye as both District 16 runner-up Calvert and third-place Buckholts forfeited this weekend due to a lack of players. A time, date and location had not been finalized Thursday night.
Phillips said of facing perennial power Richland Springs, “They’re fast and athletic, have that tradition, and they’re where we want to be. When they walk on the field they expect to win. I feel like we’re that kind of team right now, too, but we’re going to have to get some of the fundamentals corrected to stay on the field with them next week.”
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Other Thursday Night Playoff Scores
Coleman 40, Wolfe City 35
Peaster 33, Comanche 30 (OT)
