COLLEGE STATION — The Hitchcock Bulldogs advanced to the Elite Eight of the Division II 7-on-7 state football tournament Friday before falling to the eventual state runners-up.
Hitchcock defeated Navasota, 34-31, in the first round of the championship bracket but fell in the second round to Rice Consolidated, 35-14.
Rice Consolidated also eliminated Hitchcock from bracket play last season.
The final eight appearance was Hitchcock’s best finish in three years at the tournament.
“We have nothing to hold our heads down about,” Hitchcock senior quarterback Morris Tuck said. “Sure, we would have liked to get over the hump and play (the championship game) in Kyle Field. But this was a huge accomplishment. We made it to the final eight, and only four teams advanced further than us. That is definitely something that can carry over into the season.”
The outcome against Rice could have been drastically different had it not been for two plays late in the first half. With Hitchcock up 14-7 with 20 seconds remaining in the half, Tuck said the Bulldogs thought they had scored another touchdown to go up by two scores. However, the referees ruled otherwise.
“It was a pass in the corner of the end zone, and we thought our guy made the catch,” Tuck said. “He dropped it as he was going out of bounds, though, so it became a question of possession. It didn’t go in our favor, and on the next play, I got picked and they returned it for a touchdown. That was a back breaker, because we went from thinking we were going to be up 14 to being tied at halftime.”
Tuck said he still was proud of the way his team responded, even when they had several calls go against them.
“We could have easily collapsed in the first and the second game,” Tuck said. “But our guys showed perseverance. I was really proud of our young guys. They really stepped up when we needed them to.”
Tuck said receivers Bryan Smith and Scottie Williams were both key in Friday’s games.
Celina won the state championship for the third time, defeating Rice Consolidated, 35-19, at Kyle Field. Both of Hitchcock’s losses in the two-day event came at the hands of those two squads.
“Not many people thought we’d do much this year since we lost a lot of talent from last year’s team,” Tuck said. “But we did the best we’ve ever done this year, and that is something we can be really proud of. It’s exciting to go into the season knowing that we are as talented as any other team out there, and we can win games any day.”
