December 5, 2016 - Bryan Texas – Both Tenaha and Bremond High Schools entered Friday night’s Class 2A Division II Region III Final football game, at Cougar Stadium in College Station, with identical 13-0 records but only the #1 ranked Bremond Tigers came away with their record unblemished. #4 Tenaha suffered their first blemish of the season with a 31-7 loss. Bremond hasn’t lost since 2013 when Tenaha defeated, the defending state champions, 45 games ago by a 24-7 margin, in the playoffs.
Tenahas’ defense held Bremond scoreless on its first three drives, forced a punt, and took over on downs with two big fourth-down stops.
Tenaha took a 7-0 lead when running back Christian Ashton scored early in the first period on a 44-yard touchdown run.
Bremond’s Paul Rykendria intercepted a THS pass, late in the first stanza, and BHS quarterback Reshoud Paul was able to help the BHS Tigers even the game’s score at 7-7, with a 14-yard score with 2:41 left in the opening period.
The score was the first points Tenaha’s defense had given up in 13 quarters of playoff football. Tenaha had scored 202 points in their final three district games.
Bremond went up 14-7 with 6:50 to go in the first half when Paul scored again on 6-yard touchdown run. The play capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive that saw Paul carry 11 times during heavy rain.
The next drive saw Trai Gardner take a direct snap and run 56 yards to the Bremond 15. But THS Tiger’s drive stalled after a false start penalty. Tenaha tried for an Abel Rodriguez field goal, which sailed wide.
Bremond gained a 17-7 advantage with 2:47 left in the half with a 32-yard field goal by Gerardo Ponce. Bremond had a first-and-goal on the Tenaha 3, but Tenaha's defense recorded two sacks and pushed Bremond back to a fourth-and-goal on the 15.
In third period, a Tenaha fumble gave Bremond the ball on the Tenaha 25. Paul, a Texas A&M signee, later scored from 1-yard out to push the score to 24-7 with just seconds left in the third period.
Paul scored his fourth, and final, touchdown of the game with 8:02 to go in the game. This propelled Bremond ahead 31-7. This also proved to be the game’s final score.
Bremond held THS to 103 rushing yards on the night. Paul alone had 274 yards rushing on 44 carries.
Bremond now advances to face Burton in next week’s state semi-final.
Tenaha returns over two dozen lettermen and will lose 8 senior players from this year’s roster.
