By Allan Jamail
Arlington, TX. — At AT&T (Cowboy) Stadium, on Friday, January 15, 202, Crosby’s head coach Jerry Prieto took his Cougars farther than they’ve been in 61 years. It was 1960 the last time they played for a state championship.
The Cougs, with a 12-4 record for the season, don’t have to hang their heads; the scrappy team upset several teams to get there and should be proud to be the 5A Div 2 Region State Runner-up Champions. They’ve been billed as the underdogs but won four consecutive games over undefeated teams, only to lose to one of the state’s perennial powerhouse teams, the Aledo Bearcats. The Aledo team won their third consecutive championship and set a record for having won a total of ten state titles.
Crosby’s team had to travel over four hours to play the Aledo team in their own backyard, who traveled a mere 30 minutes to play in front of what appeared to be a home field crowd. Nevertheless the Cougars kept the game tied at 14 up until into the second quarter. It was then the Aledo team pulled away, making 6 more touchdowns (TD’s) to Crosby’s 1 in the fourth quarter, beating Crosby 56-21.
The highly recruited Bearcat DeMarco Roberts made 6 rushing TD’s, averaging 8 yards a carry. “He was the big play maker,” Crosby coach Jerry Prieto said. Roberts was named Offensive MVP of the game.
The Cougs had TD’s by quarterback Deniquez Dunn, wide receivers Reggie Branch and E’Monte Wilson, all three seniors. Extra points were made by senior Trevor Helburg. Their offense made 369 yards to the Bearcats 615.