Bearcats bounced by Newman Smith BY BILL SPINKS
HERALD DEMOCRAT

PLANO — It wasn’t supposed to end like this for Sherman. But it did.

While Carrollton Newman Smith’s players across the way were celebrating their first playoff victory in 26 seasons Friday night, Bearcats coach Gary Kinne was left consoling each of his 26 seniors on the high-crowned playing surface of John Clark Stadium in a 56-35 loss in the Class 4A Division I bi-district round.

“There’s no words for the seniors; I’m very proud of them,” said Kinne afterward. “They set the bar high here the last two years, and it’s going to pay great dividends for these juniors that are coming up.”

The Bearcats (8-3) ended their season exactly as they did a year ago, with a runner-up finish in District 9-4A and a pair of bitter losses to close things out. The Cats lost to Denison, 43-28, last Friday in the 111th Battle of the Ax.

Newman Smith’s 56 points equaled Ennis’ 2000 total for the second-most points ever scored against Sherman in a playoff game, behind Waco’s 59-0 win in the 1927 Class A state semifinals.

The Bearcats stayed within 26-21 in the third quarter after junior Zac Whitfield’s 67-yard run with 8:26 remaining, but from there on out it was all Newman Smith as they broke the game open with 23 consecutive points scored.

“Their offense is a really good offense,” said senior Robert Fallon. “Our defense played a good game and our offense played a good game. We just weren’t prepared enough, it seems. We didn’t come out with all engines firing, and they did, so they had the upper hand on this one.”

The Bearcats couldn’t find a way to stop the Trojan triumvirate of quarterback Aldo Quiroga, wide receiver Al Lasker, and running back Randall Joyner in the second half as Newman Smith broke open a 20-14 game.

“We felt like we had a chance at halftime,” Kinne said. “We were down six and we were getting the ball. We needed to come down and take the lead, and we just sputtered the first drive. We lost the momentum right there.”

Quiroga was 15-of-21 for 241 passing yards and rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns. Joyner was a force on both sides of the ball, with 122 rushing yards and three touchdowns offensively and two interceptions defensively; and Lasker, a cousin of former Arkansas and New York Giants safety Greg Lasker, caught eight passes — all eight for first downs — and 139 yards.

The Bearcats had 470 total offensive yards, but the difference in the game was in turnovers. While the Trojans (9-2) had none, Sherman quarterback Madison Carter, who entered the game with only one interception thrown all year, was picked off three times — twice by Joyner, and once by Jeremy Stallworth for a 27-yard pick-six that slammed the door shut.

“We bogged down a few times and just couldn’t quite get over the hump,” Kinne said. “We scored some points, but just not enough against these guys. They’re very talented.”

Senior Dylon Beamesderfer, a converted quarterback who caught the season’s first touchdown way back in the season opener against Lake Dallas, had two early TD catches from Carter against the Trojans. Whitfield ran for 173 yards to reach quadruple digits for the season and added a late scoring pass catch from backup Thor Long, who rounded out the Cats’ scoring with a 4-yard run with 1:37 left and was 7-of-8 in mop-up passing duty for 126 yards.

Sherman led in the second quarter, 14-10, after Beamesderfer’s big-time 42-yard catch from Carter in which he bounced off a tackler, stiff-armed another, and dove for the pylon at the 8:41 mark.

But after an exchange of punts, a strong punt return by Newman Smith’s Lasker with a late-hit penalty tacked-on gave the Trojans excellent field position, and they cashed in with Braxton Bearden's 9-yard run with 3:13 left to regain the lead for good.

With 55 seconds left, Newman Smith got the ball back on downs on the Sherman 47, and Quiroga moved the Trojans into field-goal range. Trojan kicker Philippe Ichter — who finished with three field goals, all with a 15-mph wind at his back — drilled a 31-yarder on the final play of the half for a 20-14 halftime lead.

“I’m proud of everyone on this team; we had a great season,” Fallon said. “I’m going to miss all of them; they’re all my brothers and I love them all.”