2002 4A
Div. II State Champions
The 2002 Ryan Raiders built onto the success of their 2001 season with a 15-1 record
and their second State
Championship victory.
Experienced on both sides of the ball, the Raiders endured
a few four-quarter battles along the way to an average margin of victory of 23
points.
The Raiders opened
up the season with a big win over Fort Worth powerhouse Dunbar 51-22. This win
was followed by a tough 21-14 loss to the Ennis Lions, in a much-anticipated
match-up that would be revisited in the playoffs. The Raiders regrouped and
rolled on, posting big wins in all of their remaining regular season games,
including a 29-10 victory over cross-town rival Denton, and a 51-13 victory
over Hebron to claim their second straight district championship.
No stranger to the
post-season, the Raiders
soundly defeated their
opponents in the first three rounds, with a 71-20 victory over Springtown, a
38-14 win over 4A powerhouse Stephenville in Texas Stadium, and a 35-9 defeat
of Pampa in the regional final. The State quarterfinals found the Raiders
facing the explosive offense and bruising defense of the Aledo Bearcats in
Texas Stadium. In a hard fought contest from start to finish, the Raiders held
on to win 34-27.
In perhaps one of the
greatest playoff games in the annals of Texas High School football, the Raiders once
again traveled to Texas Stadium, this time to meet the Ennis Lions in a rematch
of their preseason face-off. Counted out by the sports writers and anxious to
prove that the loss in
week 2 was merely an aberration, Ryan set out to make
believers out of the entire state. With 4 minutes left in the game, down 14-3
on 4th and 24 from their own 7-yard line, the Raiders rallied
back in championship fashion. Converting on 4th and 24 with a 48-yard bomb to
WR William Dowdy, Ryan scored 15 unanswered points in the next three minutes,
thanks to big plays by QB James Battle, WR Philip Jones, RB/LB John Brice, K
Conor Walling, and CB Charlie Jefferson. The Raiders
upended
Ennis 18-14, thus advancing to the state title game for the third consecutive
year.
In the 2002 4A
Division II Texas Bowl, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Ryan soundly
defeated Brenham by a score of 38-8, and repeated as State Champions.
Key Seniors: QB James Battle, CB Charlie Jefferson, RB/LB John Brice, DE
Jarvis Moss, DB
Jackie Smith, WR
Philip Jones, LB Fred Moore, OT Blake Kelsey
