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WACO — Fort Worth All Saints closed out an undefeated season on a high note, getting four touchdown passes from Gavin Beard to go with several big plays from its defense to repeat as TAPPS Division II champions with a 34-16 victory over Houston Second Baptist on Friday night at Waco ISD Stadium.
Friday’s contest was a rematch of last year’s Division II title game, a 21-3 victory by All Saints, with All Saints outscoring Second Baptist 34-6 over the final three quarters to lock up the win.
“We’ve been a slow-starting team all season long and our guys didn’t panic when we trailed early,” said Fort Worth All Saints head coach Aaron Beck. “We knew our guys were going to make the plays to get us going and we weren’t going to give up the lead once we got it.”
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FW All Saints trailed 10-0 after the first quarter, with Second Baptist taking advantage of a turnover on downs and a fumble to get both scores to power the early deficit.
All Saints began its comeback on its opening drive of the second quarter, as Beard connected with Hattan French on a 21-yard scoring play to cut the lead to 10-7 with 8:16 left in the first half. The drive covered 75 yards on 11 plays, with Beard adding a key fourth-down conversion run to keep the series going.
Second Baptist kept the lead going into the half, but saw the FW All Saints defense turn the game around on a strip sack turnover by Gavin Richardson early in the third quarter.
The turnover led to a 9-yard touchdown catch by Hudson Reasor from Beard, giving All Saints the lead at 14-10 just two minutes into the third quarter.
“Our defense has been outstanding all year and that play helped turn the game our way,” Beck said. “All year long, we’ve had different guys come up with big plays when it matters most.”
The All Saints offense kept the pressure on with its last series of the quarter, as Reasor hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass from Beard to push the lead to 21-10 going to the fourth quarter. Reasor had an outstanding game with three receiving touchdowns, while Beard finished the game with 244 yards passing.
Second Baptist rallied early in the fourth quarter to stay in the contest, getting an 18-yard touchdown pass from Canon Toon to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 10 minutes remaining.
However, All Saints would pull away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to help secure the win. That included a 37-yard interception return for a score by Dean Watkins, with the other score coming on a 24-yard catch by Reasor for Beard.
The Watkins play highlighted a defense that finished with five sacks while forcing Second Baptist to turn the ball over four times on fourth down in the second half.
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