Published: November 29, 2009 12:09 am      

GCS advances to TAPPS six-man state title game

WACO — Greenville Christian School turned up the heat in the third quarter to down Bracken Christian of Bulverde 52-24 in a six-man football state semifinal playoff game on Saturday.

The 11-1 Eagles advanced to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ state championship game for the seventh time in school history. Bracken Christian finished at 10-3.

GCS will face district rival Dallas Covenant in the Division I state finals at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday at Bearcat Stadium in Moody, Texas. GCS nipped Covenant 30-28 in a district game on Oct. 31 in Dallas. Covenant was No. 1 in the state rankings at that time with GCS No. 2. Now GCS is No. 1 and Covenant is No. 2 in the rankings compiled by sixmanfootball.com.

Covenant won its semifinal, 54-8 over Our Lady of the Hills from Kerrville.

GCS won state titles in 2008, 2007 and 2004 and was a state finalist in 1998, 2001 and 2006.

GCS led only 14-8 at halftime but got a big return by Jake Brooks on the opening kickoff of the second half to set up the first of three GCS touchdowns in a five-minute span. Brooks picked up a short, rolling kickoff and bolted 40 yards down to the Warriors’ 5-yard line.

GCS coach Larry Uland called Brooks’ return a “big, big play.”

“It certainly gave us some push right there,” he said.

Tanner Barnes scored on the next play, a 5-yard run that put the Eagles up 22-8 following Nick Nelson’s conversion kick.

Andrew Wombaker partially blocked Bracken’s next punt, setting the Eagles up for a two-play, 40-yard drive.

Quarterback Jake Schumann, who was 10-of-19 passing for 133 yards, fired a 32-yard strike to Kelton Pitts for a first down.

Schumann went back to Pitts for a 17-yard touchdown pass on the next play. Pitts gathered in the pass from Schumann though it was tipped at the line of scrimmage and broke a couple of attempted tackles on his run to the end zone. Nelson’s kick pushed the Eagles’ lead to 30-8 with 7:05 left in the third period.

Bracken Christian, forced to gamble because of the 22-point deficit, failed to pick up a fourth and three from its 30 after Schumann nailed runner Grady Achilles for a 4-yard loss.

Barnes capped a quick three-play drive with a 3-yard run and after Nelson’s kick the Eagles held a commanding 38-8 lead with 4:52 still left in the third quarter.

The two teams traded a pair of touchdowns before the game ended.

Bracken Christian drove 60 and 49 yards for touchdowns capped by touchdown passes of 10 and 12 yards from quarterback Eli Achilles to receiver Grant Granato.

GCS went 59 yards in six plays for a touchdown collected by Barnes on a 25-yard pass from Schumann.

Brooks set up the Eagles’ final touchdown with a fumble recovery at the Bracken 31. Schumann completed the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Barnes.

GCS went up 8-0 in the first quarter, taking its first drive 40 yards in five plays. Barnes dashed 20 yards for the touchdown.

After Kevin Knapick booted a 27-yard field goal for the Warriors, Wombaker answered with a 43-yard touchdown run around right end for the Eagles.

Knapick also booted a 36-yard field goal before the half ended.

Uland called it a “good, solid win.”

“We played a tough team again, just like last week,” he said. “They came to play. They’ve got some good players.”

Uland said he was proud of the Eagles’ play on defense against a Bracken team that was averaging 51.2 points per game.

“For our defense to hold them to 24 points, I thought it was outstanding,” he said. “The kicking game was good for the most part.”

GCS allowed 221 total yards, holding the Warriors to only three completions in 15 pass attempts for 31 yards.

The GCS offense finished with 310 total yards including 108 yards rushing on 17 carries by Barnes. Barnes also caught three passes for 34 yards.

Pitts finished with three catches for 49 yards and Nelson had three catches for 52 yards.