THE FLYOVER, presented by COZY COFFEE STATION | Carthage, Overton, Beckville advance; Woodville slips by West Rusk; tonight’s schedule
To the surprise of absolutely no one outside the Pittsburg High School football locker room, the Carthage Bulldogs — the No. 1-ranked team in the state in UIL Class 4A, Division II, and the defending state champions — won their first playoff game Thursday night in Lindale, moving on to round two.
A couple of other teams from the ETBlitz.com coverage area also moved on to round two. The Overton Mustangs, along with the current Built Ford Tough Player of the Week (and our own Whataburger / ETBlitz.com boys Player of the Week) Rylan Holleman, punched their ticket with a 49-20 pasting of West Sabine at Joaquin ISD Stadium on Thursday. And coach Cody Ross and the Beckville Bearcats advanced, too, although it was closer, a 21-14 win over Paul Pewitt in Marshall.
Things didn’t go as well for West Rusk, though. The Raiders had a halftime lead over Woodville at Nacogdoches ISD Stadium, but Woodville came back, got in front, and held on for a 56-41 win.
Before we recap those games, here’s what’s on tap tonight, as round two continues…
Class 3A, Division II
Troup (10-0) vs. Anderson-Shiro (4-6), 7 p.m., Palestine ISD Wildcat Stadium
Class 3A, Division I
Gladewater (9-1) at Mount Vernon (6-4), 7 p.m.
Class 4A, Division I
Little Cypress-Mauriceville (5-5) at Kilgore (9-1), 7:30 p.m. (at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium)
Class 3A, Division II
Arp (9-1) vs. Kountze (7-3) at Shelbyville ISD Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A, Division II
Gilmer (4-6) vs. Athens (8-2) at Henderson ISD Lions Stadium, 7:30 p.m.
Class 4A, Division I
Pine Tree (6-4) at Lumberton (7-3), 7:30 p.m.
Back to Thursday night’s games.
Carthage 63, Pittsburg 34: For just a brief time in the first half (other than when it was scoreless), Pittsburg was behind only by a touchdown, 35-28.
And then boom!, BOOM!, Carthage scored back-to-back touchdowns, the second a pass from Jett Surratt to Cade Ross with just three seconds left in the first half, to put cushion between themselves and the Pirates and pretty much seal the game, even though the final score looked more like a Tuesday night road basketball game than a first-round playoff.
Surratt, the senior quarterback son of coach Scott Surratt, finished 23-of-30 for 269 yards, five touchdowns and narry an interception, an efficient night in leading the Bulldogs to an 11th win, their 25th in a row, technically, since losing to Kilgore in the 2024 opener. Carthage beat La Vega in the 2024 state title game and has continued rolling through this season. They’re 11-0 this year, now, and await the winner of Sanger (7-3) and Quinlan Ford (8-2), who play tonight at 7 p.m.
Running back K.J. Edwards, the Texas A&M verbal commitment, had 201 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries, and Benny Smith scored twice and had 140 yards on 12 carries.
Four different receivers caught touchdowns. J.D. Edwards had six catches for 56 yards and two TDs. Junior Henderson had 95 yards on six catches, and a score. Jaden Jeffress had five grabs for 92 yards and a touchdown, and Ross had three for 15 yards and the TD before halftime. Also, Bryston Price had had two for 8 yards and K.J. had a catch for 3 yards.
Overton 49, West Sabine 20: Overton and Joaquin have played dozens of times, many of them at Joaquin, so the Overton fans were VERY familiar with the drive, and with the stadium.
As far as West Sabine? Well, as it turned out, it didn’t matter.
Holleman looked like he’s trying for two award weeks in a row: five touchdowns and 171 yards rushing in a first-round playoff win. He did it on 15 carries and on a night where the Mustangs didn’t really need much of a passing game. Gabe Miller added 160 yards and a touchdown of his own on 15 carries, as well. Justin Weir had 46 yards and a score on eight carries.
Kicker Jackson Furlow went 5-of-6 in extra point kicks.
The Mustangs (7-4) will face either Maud (5-5) or Goldthwaite (7-3) in round two of the 2A-Division II playoffs; those two play tonight at 7 p.m.
Beckville 21, Paul Pewitt 14: With the Bearcats up 21-14, and eight minutes left in the game, Pewitt was threatening and had the ball inside Beckville’s 20-yard-line.
Beckville linebacker Coy Stephens not only made the hit, and not only forced the fumble, he recovered it, as well.
Beckville sealed the win, and advanced to the second, or area, round. They’ll meet Jewett Leon, who beat Shelbyville, 55-40, on Thursday night. We’ll announce the site, time, and date for that game as soon as we know it. Leon, by the way, is unbeaten this season (11-0).
Jorden Prince did some heavy-lifting out of the backfield for the Bearcats: 177 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries Thursday night. Rudy Watts caught the third touchdown, a pass from Braxton Bullock, who went 4-of-10 for 65 yards. Watts had three catches for 54 yards and the score. Jordan Mojica had the other catch, for 11 yards.
Woodville 56, West Rusk 41: The Raiders got into a Wild West shootout with Woodville, and unfortunately, Woodville is the one moving on to round two.
West Rusk quarterback Judson Dotson threw for 276 yards, three interceptions, but four touchdowns: two of them to Kameron Brown (who had the two catches for 41 yards, both scores), one to Hunter McCandless (three catches, 126 yards and a score), and one to Gunnar Harp (who had two catches for 59 yards). Also, Kemontrea McGregor had four catches for 50 yards.
Dotson also ran for a touchdown and 44 yards on 12 carries, and Daylan Williams led the Raiders in rushing yards (55, on 17 carries).
Defensively, Brown had an interception.
