Date: December 18th, 2010
Time: 4:00pm
TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Two of Class 5A’s newest schools lock horns in the Division 2 championship as 25-5A’s Cibolo Steele travels north to face Denton Guyer in the first of the two 5A championships at Cowboys Stadium. Both programs have enjoyed rapid rises to prominence since starting in 4A. Steele played its first varsity season in 2006, and Guyer started the same season. The two enjoyed double digit win seasons in 4A before moving up to 5A in last February’s new alignment. Guyer and Steele were projected to make instant impacts this season, but few would have expected them to meet in a state championship.

This is the first time new 5A schools have met for a state championship since Southlake Carroll and Smithson Valley in 2002. Steele has cruised in each of its playoff games so far. The Knights have won all five games by at least three possessions. Guyer’s survived the toughest route of any Division 2 team, and won two of its games by single digits. Guyer looked defeat squarely in the eye last week against Longview, but forced a blocked punt in the closing seconds and scored the winning points on the ensuing touchdown pass in an unbelievable 28-27 win. The Lobos had eliminated Guyer in each of the last two seasons in 4A.

The main factor to monitor in this game will be whether or not Guyer has any energy left after such an emotional game last week. Steele has been resting its starters comfortably in second halves for the duration of the playoffs so far. The Knights should be the fresher of the two teams, and it will be very interesting to see what effect this might have.

The talisman on display in this game will be Guyer’s senior quarterback J.W. Walsh and Steele’s senior running back Malcolm Brown. Both players have been very important in the developments of the respective programs in recent years, and one will get to hoist a state championship for his efforts. This figures to be the lower scoring of the two state games given the defensive match-ups.

- Jeremy McGrail (“KT2000″)

Individual Stat Sheet

Quarterbacks:
J.W. Walsh (Denton Guyer)- 180-286, 3097 yards, 35 TDs, 4 Ints; 169 car., 1300 yards, 16 TDs
Tommy Armstrong (Cibolo Steele) – 75-147, 1208 yards, 18 TDs, 1 Int; 99 car., 476 yards, 8 TDs

Running Backs:
Treavon Walton (Denton Guyer) – 203 car., 1239 yards, 16 TDs
Malcolm Brown (Cibolo Steele) – 270 car., 2489 yards, 28 TDs

Wide Receivers:
Josh Stewart (Denton Guyer) – 50 rec., 920 yards, 9 TDs
Connor Crane (Denton Guyer) – 35 rec. , 854 yards, 11 TDs
Blake Gardner (Cibolo Steele) – 36 rec., 470 yards, 6 TDs

Makin’ A Statement

Denton Guyer
Area – defeated Abilene Cooper (-), 55-7
Reg. Semis – defeated Southlake Carroll (-), 24-14
State Semis - defeated Longview (-), 28-27

Cibolo Steele
Bi District - defeated SA Roosevelt (13-1),  33-13
Reg. Final – defeated SA MacArthur (-), 49-26
State Semis – defeated Houston Memorial (-), 44-20

Final Thoughts

Denton Guyer wins if…
1.  JW Walsh and the Guyer offense turns this game into a track meet
2.  Get a few 3rd down stops on D
3.  Limit penalties

Cibolo Steele wins if…
1.  They control the clock through a heavy dose of Malcolm Brown
2.  Win the field position battle
3.  No Turnovers.

5ATexasFootball.com says…

Denton Guyer - 30,  Cibolo Steele - 28

Stats provided by: dfw.hsgametime.com and chron.com