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November 5, 2009

ATHENS VS. BROWNSBORO: Deja vu all over again

Friday, Nov. 10, 2006

Bear Stadium

Brownsboro 58, Athens 39

Athens, needing a win to make the playoffs for the first time since 1996, jumped out to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter on Wesley Starkes’ 19-yard touchdown pass to Odrick Ray and two Dhe’Ryan Jackson touchdown runs.

But Brownsboro scored 14 unanswered second-quarter points on Ricco Richards’ 20-yard touchdown run, followed by Ryan Epperson’s 3-yard run, to tie the game at the half.

The Bears would finish with 434 yards rushing and Richards ran for three more touchdowns as Brownsboro outscored Athens, 37-18, in the second half. The Bears not only snatched the playoffs away from the Hornets, but they clinched their first district championship since 1995.

Brownsboro’s season didn’t end that year until they took a 34-14 loss to Celina in the Region II-3A championship game at Texas Stadium.

Friday, Nov. 9, 2007

Bruce Field

Athens 34, Brownsboro 7

This one was never a close game. Rex Laird caught a 21-yard pass from Chase Knighton and Kerry Gamble scored on a six-yard run — the first of his three rushing touchdowns — to get the Hornets off to a 15-0 start. Gamble would later sack Brownsboro quarterback Zach Bailey in the end zone for a safety as the lead eventually went to 34-0.

With the win in front of the home crowd, the Hornets qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1996. Their season ended a week later at the hands of the Mabank Panthers.

The loss eliminated Brownsboro — which needed help from other teams, too — from the playoff picture.

Friday, Nov. 7, 2008

Bruce Field

Brownsboro 15, Athens 9

Win and you’re in. That’s what the Hornets and Bears faced when they squared off at Bruce Field in Athens in 2008.

With both defenses playing well, the Bears managed a 7-0 lead at halftime on Cameron Warren’s 41-yard touchdown run.

The Hornets tied the game when quarterback Taylor Jackson found wide receiver Jonathon Dora on a 10-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, but the Bears almost immediately went back ahead on another Warren scoring run.

Ryan Owens, taking his turn at QB for the Bears, was tackled in the end zone for a safety later in the game to cut the lead to 13-9, but the Bears returned the favor by dropping Jackson in the end zone for a safety on a punt return with 59 seconds left to eliminate the threat.

The Bears were eliminated from the playoffs in the bi-district round by a tough Waco LaVega team, which inexplicably lost to Lorena in the final week of the season to avoid facing powerhouse Gilmer in the first round.

— Jayson Larson

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