OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Stephens visited Ohio State for the Texas game and came away very impressed.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
rivals.com$
9/15/05
Stephens took an unofficial visit to Texas A&M this past weekend. Stephens said he had a great visit. Bradley says he does not have any favorites at this point.
9/15/05
Stephens took an unofficial visit to Texas A&M this past weekend. Stephens said he had a great visit. Bradley says he does not have any favorites at this point.
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woods
Sophmore
MEMORIAL 57 - WESLACO EAST 27
Bradley Stephens
7 Carries / 230 Yds (32 yds per carry )
5 Touchdowns
Bradley:
1st carry - 80 yards TD
2nd carry - 55 yards TD
3rd carry - 3 yards
4th carry - 5 yards TD
5th carry - 10 yards TD
3:10 left in the 1st Quarter (28-7)
Bradley carries for 6 yards in his only other carry of the 1st Half. Bradley is taken out with 6 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter (Mcallen Memorial 50 Weslaco East 14)
Very quiet in the 3rd - Bradley does not come back into the game. Still 50-14 at the end of the 3rd qtr.
Weslaco East scored a couple of quick TD's in the 4th. Weslaco crowd erupts...as if they smell a miracle comeback!
Coaches get tired of being nice guys and want to squelch the momentum change.
Insert Bradley to quell the disturbance.
1st carry - BOOM - 70 yards TD Mission accomplished.
Season Stats as of Game # 3
56 Carries / 669 yds Rushing
12 Touchdowns
103 yds Receiving
1 ( 93 yd KOR TD )
Bradley Stephens
7 Carries / 230 Yds (32 yds per carry )
5 Touchdowns
Bradley:
1st carry - 80 yards TD
2nd carry - 55 yards TD
3rd carry - 3 yards
4th carry - 5 yards TD
5th carry - 10 yards TD
3:10 left in the 1st Quarter (28-7)
Bradley carries for 6 yards in his only other carry of the 1st Half. Bradley is taken out with 6 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter (Mcallen Memorial 50 Weslaco East 14)
Very quiet in the 3rd - Bradley does not come back into the game. Still 50-14 at the end of the 3rd qtr.
Weslaco East scored a couple of quick TD's in the 4th. Weslaco crowd erupts...as if they smell a miracle comeback!
Coaches get tired of being nice guys and want to squelch the momentum change.
Insert Bradley to quell the disturbance.
1st carry - BOOM - 70 yards TD Mission accomplished.
Season Stats as of Game # 3
56 Carries / 669 yds Rushing
12 Touchdowns
103 yds Receiving
1 ( 93 yd KOR TD )
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
link
9/17/05
9/17/05
’Stangs’ Stephens runs wild in victory
September 17,2005
Jason McDaniel
The Monitor
WESLACO —Weslaco East’s Daniel Rosales ran 80 yards through McAllen Memorial’s defense for a touchdown on the first play of the game Friday. And that was the worst thing that could have happened to the Wildcats.
The play was called back on a holding penalty, and a fired-up Bradley Stephens went on to record four TDs and 153 rushing yards in the first quarter of the Mustangs’ 57-27 non-district win at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
"I was kind of caught by surprise with that (Rosales) run," said a smiling Stephens, who finished with five TDs and 230 rushing yards in limited action after the first half. "But our defense stepped it up after that, and Andy Medina came up with a huge fumble, and that was a big momentum shift."
After Rosales’ first TD jaunt was wiped out, he again took off for the end zone two plays later, rumbling 52 yards before Medina caught up, knocked the ball out of the grasp of Rosales (17 carries, 108 yards, TD) just outside the goal line and recovered it in the end zone.
Stephens then checked in, and needed just one play to notch an 80-yard TD run. After Weslaco East (0-3) was forced to punt, Stephens’ number was again called, and he produced. After breaking left from Memorial’s 45, Stephens juked two Wildcats defenders for a 55-yard TD and, after a successful two-point conversion, a 15-0 lead with 8:01 showing in the first period.
Stephens went on to record two more first-quarter TDs (5, 10), and quarterback Mitchell Bunger notched a 1-yard TD run, helping Memorial (2-1) to a 36-7 lead after the first 12 minutes."That (opening series) had nothing to do with it," Weslaco East coach Armando Cuellar Jr. said of his team’s lopsided loss. "It’s unfortunate because those (Rosales) runs were good runs by a fine young man, but even if we had scored, we didn’t do a good job of stopping anything Memorial did."
Tailback Jesse Marinez provided the great majority of Weslaco East’s highlights. After Stephens’ third TD, Marinez returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the house, cutting the Wildcats’ deficit to 21-7 with 3:54 showing in the first frame.
Marinez (4 catches, 91 yards) hauled in a 70-yard TD toss from QB Jonathan Jimenez (4-of-8, 100 yards) in the second quarter and added a 4-yard TD grab in the fourth before hobbling off the field for good after a 15-yard run with five minutes left in the game.
"He’s OK," said Cuellar, who is already without the services of injured RBs Adrian Garcia and David Salinas. "He just got a cramp there at the end because he did a lot. We’re expecting a lot from him. He’s a junior, and he’s done a real good job of filling in while our other backs recover."
Something the Wildcats couldn’t do after Memorial’s big first quarter.
Stephens notched just one carry in the third, serving as a decoy for battering ram fullback Nick Moore (13 carries, 119 yards, 2 TDs), who notched a 16-yard TD run in the second quarter that helped the Mustangs to a 50-14 lead at the half.
Stephens sat out the third frame, but after watching the Wildcats tally two fourth-quarter TDs to pull within 50-27 with 6:00 remaining, he checked back in for one devastating play — a 70-yard scoring haul that iced the game. Memorial finished with 536 total yards to Weslaco East’s 274.
"We just wanted to make sure that if we fumbled or threw an interception, they wouldn’t get right back in the ballgame," Mustangs coach Bill Littleton said. "We didn’t want that to let them back in the game, but our defense lost a little focus at the end."
———
Jason McDaniel covers District 32-4A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4442.
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The Monitor
NEW DIRECTION
September 28,2005
Wade Baker
The Monitor Mustangs seeking to build tradition
McALLEN — Bill Littleton knew the stagnant numbers when he accepted the coaching job at McAllen Memorial three years ago.
The Mustangs’ history, or lack thereof, was enough to make any coach head the other direction. Memorial, which has fielded varsity football since 1980, has made only one playoff appearance (1995) and won one district championship.
And to top it off, the only tradition Memorial has revolves around losing.
"We knew what we were up against," Littleton said. "When I took the job here, nobody ever said it was going to be easy. You can’t build a winning mentality overnight, but gradually, you can build that confidence."
Littleton and his Mustangs have the chance to add to that confidence with a victory Friday night in The Monitor’s Game of the Week against the Edinburg High Bobcats, a traditional Rio Grande Valley football power.
Edinburg High (1-3) has won five of the past six meetings with Memorial (2-1) and owns a 16-5 all-time series record.
"When you look at Edinburg, you’re looking at a team we want to be like," Littleton said. "From that standpoint, this is going to be a huge game for us. It’s going to show us how far we’ve come. It’s a good measuring tool, from that standpoint."
A win against the Bobcats would be significant, McAllen ISD Director of Athletics Poppy Rodriguez said. Other than the 1995 Memorial team that went 10-0 during the regular season and won the district championship, the Mustangs have been the regular homecoming opponents for most Valley teams.
Since that 10-0 season, the Mustangs are 25-65, including a 0-10 mark in 1999.
"With the exception of that 10-0 season, I haven’t seen Memorial fans more excited," said Rodriguez, who has been at the helm of McAllen ISD for 21 years. "I’ve been to two games this year, and you can just tell how excited the fans, the students and the football team are. And, you know what, they deserve to win some games. They want to win just like any other team."
One of the major reasons for the excitement is junior running back Bradley Stephens, who has burst onto the national scene as one of the top 2007 recruits. He already has received scholarship offers from Iowa State, Texas A&M and Houston. Stephens, who has rushed for 662 yards and 10 touchdowns through three games, is also hearing from Texas, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Washington, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State and Oklahoma, just to name a few.
"We’re turning it around over here," Memorial junior quarterback Mitchell Bunger said earlier this season. "Bradley gets a lot of the hype, and he should, but everyone is helping turn this thing around. We’re not known to have a good football team here at Memorial, but we’re trying to build a new tradition this year.
"We have goals. We want to make the playoffs this year."
And with eight underclassmen starting on offense and five on defense, the future finally is looking bright for the Mustangs.
"We hope this is just the beginning," Littleton said. "That’s the thing most people don’t realize. We’re still a really young team. When I first came here, I thought I could get the program turned a little sooner.
"But, the way we’re playing right now, we’ve come a million miles since then."
———
Wade Baker covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.
NEW DIRECTION
September 28,2005
Wade Baker
The Monitor Mustangs seeking to build tradition
McALLEN — Bill Littleton knew the stagnant numbers when he accepted the coaching job at McAllen Memorial three years ago.
The Mustangs’ history, or lack thereof, was enough to make any coach head the other direction. Memorial, which has fielded varsity football since 1980, has made only one playoff appearance (1995) and won one district championship.
And to top it off, the only tradition Memorial has revolves around losing.
"We knew what we were up against," Littleton said. "When I took the job here, nobody ever said it was going to be easy. You can’t build a winning mentality overnight, but gradually, you can build that confidence."
Littleton and his Mustangs have the chance to add to that confidence with a victory Friday night in The Monitor’s Game of the Week against the Edinburg High Bobcats, a traditional Rio Grande Valley football power.
Edinburg High (1-3) has won five of the past six meetings with Memorial (2-1) and owns a 16-5 all-time series record.
"When you look at Edinburg, you’re looking at a team we want to be like," Littleton said. "From that standpoint, this is going to be a huge game for us. It’s going to show us how far we’ve come. It’s a good measuring tool, from that standpoint."
A win against the Bobcats would be significant, McAllen ISD Director of Athletics Poppy Rodriguez said. Other than the 1995 Memorial team that went 10-0 during the regular season and won the district championship, the Mustangs have been the regular homecoming opponents for most Valley teams.
Since that 10-0 season, the Mustangs are 25-65, including a 0-10 mark in 1999.
"With the exception of that 10-0 season, I haven’t seen Memorial fans more excited," said Rodriguez, who has been at the helm of McAllen ISD for 21 years. "I’ve been to two games this year, and you can just tell how excited the fans, the students and the football team are. And, you know what, they deserve to win some games. They want to win just like any other team."
One of the major reasons for the excitement is junior running back Bradley Stephens, who has burst onto the national scene as one of the top 2007 recruits. He already has received scholarship offers from Iowa State, Texas A&M and Houston. Stephens, who has rushed for 662 yards and 10 touchdowns through three games, is also hearing from Texas, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Washington, Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Florida State and Oklahoma, just to name a few.
"We’re turning it around over here," Memorial junior quarterback Mitchell Bunger said earlier this season. "Bradley gets a lot of the hype, and he should, but everyone is helping turn this thing around. We’re not known to have a good football team here at Memorial, but we’re trying to build a new tradition this year.
"We have goals. We want to make the playoffs this year."
And with eight underclassmen starting on offense and five on defense, the future finally is looking bright for the Mustangs.
"We hope this is just the beginning," Littleton said. "That’s the thing most people don’t realize. We’re still a really young team. When I first came here, I thought I could get the program turned a little sooner.
"But, the way we’re playing right now, we’ve come a million miles since then."
———
Wade Baker covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
link
9/29/05
9/29/05
TALL ORDER
September 29,2005
Todd Mavreles
The Monitor
Bobcats hoping to slow Memorial’s mustang down
EDINBURG — The Edinburg High Bobcats know Bradley Stephens can make you famous, and that’s not a good thing.
The Bobcats could have taken this week off to rest while the other six teams in District 31-5A participated in intra-league action. Instead, they went the opposite tack, as they’ll be chasing around Stephens, the McAllen Memorial super junior who’s being recruited by anybody who’s anybody in Division I-A college football, in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Edinburg High (1-3) is quite familiar with Stephens, as the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder rushed for 233 yards and three touchdowns in a 39-20 Bobcats’ victory last season. One of those scores was an 80-yard sprint in which Stephens showcased the speed that has college football’s elite drooling for a chance to add him to their backfield in 2007.
Stephens rushed for 1,516 yards and 17 TDs last season, and has 662 yards and 10 scores in just three games this season.
"Bradley has gotten better from last year to this year," Edinburg High coach Robert Vela said. "He’s grown a lot. He’s gotten much bigger and much faster. Not only can he break the long ones, he’s a power runner. He’s a legit Division I player. I wish the UIL would allow us to play with lassos and ropes. He’s going to get his yards, but we can’t let him have the big ones."
Edinburg High inside linebackers Aaron Tanamachi and M.J. Garza will be keeping a particularly close eye on Stephens on Friday night. It’s one thing to allow Stephens to reach the perimeter of the defense, but if he guts the Bobcats inside, it will be a long night. Even the famed Bobcat Tradition may not help Edinburg High on Friday if Stephens runs wild.
"We know he’s a real good running back," Garza said. "We have to make sure we contain him and don’t give him the big plays. He’s going to get his yards. We have to make sure he gets them on long drives."
While the Bobcats will have their hands full with Stephens, there is one way to slow him down — by keeping him off the field.
Edinburg High has a pretty fair ground attack of its own with seniors Jesse Galvan and Dustin Ponce taking care of the ball handling chores. It will be incumbent upon them to keep the chains moving, the clock ticking and Stephens off the field.
"If our offense can keep the ball away from him, that’ll be big," Tanamachi said.
Stephens may be Superman on the field, but he’s never scored a touchdown standing on the sidelines. McAllen Memorial (2-1) is improved on defense compared to years past, but the Mustangs still surrender 165.7 yards per game on the ground. Expect the Bobcats’ gameplan to include plenty of running attempts a week after attempting just two passes in a 27-7 defeat of Weslaco High.
"If we could do that, it’d be a blessing for us to control the football and keep Bradley off the field," Vela said. "It’s going to be the ’Cats at the OK Corral facing Bradley Stephens. That’s what it’s going to be this weekend. That’s what I told the team all week long. It’s going to be a gun fight at the OK Corral with the ’Cats facing Bradley Stephens."
———
Todd Mavreles covers District 31-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4451.
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woods
Sophmore
Bobcats hoping to slow Memorial’s mustang down
Did not happen-Stephens runs wild on the bobcats!
http://www.team4news.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=540090&h1=McAllen%20Memorial%20vs%20Edinburg&vt1=v&at1=Video%20Player&d1=67100&LaunchPageAdTag=Sport&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&rnd=26698779
McAllen Memorial 34
Edinburg 23
Stephens
Rushing 346 yds / 26 carries- 3 TDS
1 70 yd TD Punt Return called back
Season Stats 3.33 games
1008 yds / 85 carries
15 TDs
150 + Yds Receiving
Did not happen-Stephens runs wild on the bobcats!
http://www.team4news.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=540090&h1=McAllen%20Memorial%20vs%20Edinburg&vt1=v&at1=Video%20Player&d1=67100&LaunchPageAdTag=Sport&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&rnd=26698779
McAllen Memorial 34
Edinburg 23
Stephens
Rushing 346 yds / 26 carries- 3 TDS
1 70 yd TD Punt Return called back
Season Stats 3.33 games
1008 yds / 85 carries
15 TDs
150 + Yds Receiving
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0
woods
Sophmore
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=credit align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption></TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left><FORM name=form1 action="SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Stories.cfm&Section=Sports " method=post> </FORM></TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left colSpan=2> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent align=left width=53></TD><TD class=smcontent align=left width=55><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="4%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=graybox> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent align=left width=53></TD><TD class=smcontent align=left width=55><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="54%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=graybox> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>GREAT GIFT
October 01,2005
Wade Baker
The Monitor
McALLEN — Bill Littleton couldn’t have received a better birthday present.
Bradley Stephens rushed for a school-record 345 yards and two touchdowns as McAllen Memorial finally won a big game, pulling away from Edinburg High 34-23 in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Stephens, who hauled in two passes for 11 yards and one TD, dedicated the game to Littleton.
"All 345, those are for him," Stephens said of his 53-year-old coach. "We were in pregame warm-ups, and one of the coaches came over and told us it was his birthday. We wanted to go out there and get one for him. This was his birthday present."
Memorial (3-1) attempted to win a big game earlier this season, but, as usual, the Mustangs lost 54-35 against Brownsville Pace. Against Edinburg (1-4), Memorial faced one of the most imposing football traditions in the Rio Grande Valley.
"This may be a non-district game, but this made a statement tonight," Littleton said. "If we would have lost, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but this did show everyone that we are a good team. "This showed our fans, even our players, that we can compete, that we can win the big game."
The Bobcats took a 20-12 advantage into the half, but were dominated by the Mustangs during the second half. Four of Edinburg’s five possessions during the final 24 minutes resulted in punts as the Memorial defense limited the Bobcats to 104 yards.
The Mustangs’ offense, however, didn’t sputter down the stretch, outscoring Edinburg 22-3 during the second half.
"You can say what you want," Edinburg coach Robert Vela said. "You can say we lost because of their defense. You can say it was because of our offense or whatever you want to say. But we lost this game because of Bradley Stephens. He’s a game-changer. We did a good job of keeping him corralled in the first half, but he killed us in the second half.
"What can you say? That’s why he’s a D-I prospect."
Stephens, who rushed for 151 yards in the first half, was unstoppable during the final two quarters. He used runs of 76, 23, 16, 42 and 18 yards to improve his season statline to 1,007 yards rushing in four games.
"In the first half, I fumbled a couple of times, and I felt like I let my team down," Stephens said. "We were tired of all the talk about us not winning the big game. It was true, but we were tired of hearing about it. And, this was a big game. It was the game of the week, and we needed to come through when it counted."
Edinburg was led by senior Jesse Galvan with 134 yards and one TD on 16 attempts.
———
Wade Baker covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left><FORM name=form1 action="SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Stories.cfm&Section=Sports " method=post> </FORM></TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left height=20> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px" align=left></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=smcontent style="BORDER-TOP: #cccccc 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #cccccc 1px solid" align=left colSpan=2> </TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent align=left width=53></TD><TD class=smcontent align=left width=55><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="4%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=graybox> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=smcontent align=left width=53></TD><TD class=smcontent align=left width=55><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="54%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=graybox> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>GREAT GIFT
October 01,2005
Wade Baker
The Monitor
McALLEN — Bill Littleton couldn’t have received a better birthday present.
Bradley Stephens rushed for a school-record 345 yards and two touchdowns as McAllen Memorial finally won a big game, pulling away from Edinburg High 34-23 in The Monitor’s Game of the Week on Friday night at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Stephens, who hauled in two passes for 11 yards and one TD, dedicated the game to Littleton.
"All 345, those are for him," Stephens said of his 53-year-old coach. "We were in pregame warm-ups, and one of the coaches came over and told us it was his birthday. We wanted to go out there and get one for him. This was his birthday present."
Memorial (3-1) attempted to win a big game earlier this season, but, as usual, the Mustangs lost 54-35 against Brownsville Pace. Against Edinburg (1-4), Memorial faced one of the most imposing football traditions in the Rio Grande Valley.
"This may be a non-district game, but this made a statement tonight," Littleton said. "If we would have lost, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world, but this did show everyone that we are a good team. "This showed our fans, even our players, that we can compete, that we can win the big game."
The Bobcats took a 20-12 advantage into the half, but were dominated by the Mustangs during the second half. Four of Edinburg’s five possessions during the final 24 minutes resulted in punts as the Memorial defense limited the Bobcats to 104 yards.
The Mustangs’ offense, however, didn’t sputter down the stretch, outscoring Edinburg 22-3 during the second half.
"You can say what you want," Edinburg coach Robert Vela said. "You can say we lost because of their defense. You can say it was because of our offense or whatever you want to say. But we lost this game because of Bradley Stephens. He’s a game-changer. We did a good job of keeping him corralled in the first half, but he killed us in the second half.
"What can you say? That’s why he’s a D-I prospect."
Stephens, who rushed for 151 yards in the first half, was unstoppable during the final two quarters. He used runs of 76, 23, 16, 42 and 18 yards to improve his season statline to 1,007 yards rushing in four games.
"In the first half, I fumbled a couple of times, and I felt like I let my team down," Stephens said. "We were tired of all the talk about us not winning the big game. It was true, but we were tired of hearing about it. And, this was a big game. It was the game of the week, and we needed to come through when it counted."
Edinburg was led by senior Jesse Galvan with 134 yards and one TD on 16 attempts.
———
Wade Baker covers District 30-5A for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4450.
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CleveBucks
Serenity now
Coach Tressel needs to offer Bradley, and soon. Should be our top RB target in the 07 class.
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0
woods
Sophmore
This was just sent to me wow. Besides the 345 rushing yds / 26 carries in last weeks game. Stephens also did what he does equally as well. Catching the football. Take a look at this pressure 4th and goal TD catch to put his team out on top. I hope we get this guy he would be a great complement to the wells boys.
http://www.newschannel5.tv/Video/Top5
http://www.newschannel5.tv/Video/Top5
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woods
Sophmore
Another huge game for Stephens in 2.5 qts of work.
http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=9549&Section=Sports
http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=9549&Section=Sports
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