By Mike Lee

Special to the Tribune-Herald

 BROWNWOOD — If the measure of a football team is how well it runs the ball, Friday’s Waco High-Brownwood game was a complete mismatch.

The No. 4-ranked Waco High Lions ran over and around the Brownwood Lions, 34-14, as tailback Jarred Salubi finished with 245 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The senior would have had a lot more if an 80-yard touchdown run hadn’t been nullified by a penalty.

Waco High, last year’s Class 4A Division II state runner-up, clinched a playoff berth Friday while amassing 458 yards rushing and averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Of Waco’s 24  first downs, 21 came on running plays. Fullback Bronshae Dugas complemented Salubi with 97 yards rushing and one touchdown.

“We just wanted to open holes for Salubi,” said Waco High offensive lineman Jaffus Hardrick. “We wanted to come off the ball and stay on our blocks. We had some penalties that called some of our runs back, but we just kept doing the same thing. We didn’t let it bother us. We just kept running the ball.”

Meanwhile Brownwood, after subtracting lost yardage from seven quarterback sacks, finished with seven rushing yards on 22 attempts.

“For the first time this year, we were really clicking in all cylinders — all three phases of the game,” Waco High coach Johnny Tusa said. “We’ve played lights-out defense all season and tonight was no exception.”

Tusa told his team after the game that, if it continued to play the way it did Friday, “the sky’s the limit. We want to focus and finish the job,” he said, referring to last year’s state championship loss to LaMarque.

Waco High (8-1, 4-0 in District 16-4A) led Brownwood 21-14 at halftime, and Salubi scored twice in 1:18 early in the third quarter to give the visiting Lions a 34-14 cushion. Salubi dashed 64 yards to score on the second play of the third quarter, making a cut late in the run that even sent a backpedaling referee falling helplessly to the field turf.

Brownwood (6-3, 2-2) then fumbled on its second play after the ensuing kickoff, and Waco High scored in only two plays. Salubi practically walked into the end zone on a two-yard run that made it 34-14 only 2:21 into the second half.

At that point, quarterback Casey Pachall, Brownwood’s biggest offensive weapon, hadn’t attempted a pass in the second half while Waco High had scored 13 points.

“As long as we were able to stay at least two scores ahead, we felt like we had a good opportunity to win the game,” Tusa said.

Once it had the 20-point lead, Waco High’s defense took center stage. With Brownwood forced to completely abandon its ineffective running game, Waco High’s defenders teed off on Pachall with a savage pass rush.

Pachall, who finished 13-of-28 passing for 190 yards, was sacked four times and left the game with an injury with 9:50 to play.

By game’s end, Waco High’s defense had recorded seven quarterback sacks, including three by end Josh Hicks.

Waco High dominated the first-half statistics, but led by only 21-14 at halftime. The lead could have been larger, but the visiting Lions threw an interception from Brownwood’s 11-yard line, and Salubi had the 80-yard scoring run nullified.

Brownwood stayed in contention with the help of a defensive touchdown — linebacker Jordan Longoria’s 18-yard fumble return — that tied the score at 7-7 with 11:16 left in the second quarter.

Waco High quickly reclaimed the momentum, driving 70 yards and taking a 14-7 lead on Salubi’s three-yard run. Waco High appeared to be in control when its next possession resulted in a 64-yard drive that never saw a third down. Dugas’ 14-yard run extended Waco High’s lead to 21-7 with 3:42 left before the half.

Brownwood got within 21-14 on Corey Burr’s one-yard touchdown run with 1:13 left before halftime.

Waco High 34, Brownwood 14

Waco High 7 14 13 0 — 34

Brownwood 0 14 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

W-Jarred Salubi 7 run (Ernesto Guevara kick), 5:08

Second Quarter

B-Jordan Longoria 18 fumble return (Jarrod Howey kick), 11:16.

W-Salubi 3 run (Guevara kick), 8:03.

W-Bronshae Dugas 15 run (Guevara kick), 3:42.

B-Corey Burr 1 run (Howey kick), 1:13.

Third Quarter

W-Salubi 64 run (Guevara kick), 10:57.

W-Salubi 2 run (run failed), 9:39.

Waco High Brownwood

First Downs 24 15

Rushes-Yards 58-458 22-7

Comp-Att-Int 1-5-1 14-32-1

Passing Yards (-)2 216

Total Yards 456 223

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards 9-90 5-25

Punts-Avg 4-36.5 4-47.8

Individual Stats

Rushing

Waco High – Jarred Salubi 28-245, Bronshae Dugas 12-97, Taylon Clark 8-63, Clarence Willis 6-41, Keyshun Russell 3-14, Team 1-(-)2.

Brownwood – Corey Burr 8-20, Casey Pachall 9-8, Zach Green 1-2, Kenny Vaccaro 1-(-)1, Chris Munson 3-(-)22.

Passing

Waco High – Clarence Willis 1-5-1-(-)2.

Brownwood – Pachall 13-28-1-190, Munson 1-3-0-26, Shelby Miller 0-1-0.

Receiving

Waco High – Dugas 1-(-)2.

Brownwood – Jacob Allen 5-83, Parker Taylor 1-25, Bubby Harrell 2-39, Miller 3-34, Jarrod Howey 1-12, Munson 1-16, Burr 1-7.