It was a grand stage affair in San Antonio on  Nov. 30 in a stadium that could hold the entire town of Lampasas 10 times over. The Badger football team fought and clawed all season long to get a chance to play and win in the San Antonio Alamodome.

“It was awesome,” middle linebacker Keegan Richardson said.  “Running out of the tunnel and seeing the crowd was amazing — an experience I will never forget.”  

The Badgers defeated the Needville Blue Jays in a high scoring affair of 66-44. 

“Although I got injured in the first quarter, it was an awesome experience in itself and watching all the homies pop off on the big screens was a pretty cool feeling,”  defensive back Clayton Bever said. 

The team now advances to the Regional Championship game to play district rivals Liberty Hill. The Badgers have already beaten the Panthers once this season by a score of 52-10, but this is not the same team they defeated by 42 points. It will be a tough test for the Badgers as the last time they made it this far was in the 1990s. 

“Overall, I think we did okay,” Bever said. “There is always room to improve. There was some mistakes, but we always figure it out.”

Quarterback Ace Whitehead helped score a whopping six total touchdowns at the Alamodome: 4 rushing and 2 passing. Whitehead completed 17 out of 21 passes for 370 yards along with 15 carries for a total of 78 yards. 

Five different players accounted for the Badgers nine touchdowns. Receiver Jaylon Porter had three of them. Porter crossed well over 200 yards and running back Jack Jerome had 120 rushing yards

Porter’s first catch came on the third snap of the game and went for 39 yards into the Blue Jays’ endzone but the extra point attempt failed giving the Badgers a 6-0 lead until Whitehead kicked a 39-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Badgers and Bluejays then began alternating scores with almost every single drive they had. Both teams combined 42 total points in the second quarter alone. 

Then, Brenton Webb got a touchdown from Whitehead for 10 yards with four minutes in the second quarter giving the Badgers a 32-19 point advantage. 

“It was an amazing experience and one in a lifetime,” defensive back Kyle Arriola said. 

Needville came out in the second half and scored on the first play of the second drive to pull well within seven points of the Badgers, but the Badgers would not let them get any closer. 

Lampasas then scored on each of the next five drives, including an impressive 73 and 79 yard reception to Porter to open the second half of the game before kneeling on the ball in the Blue Jays red zone to run the final seconds off the clock to give the Badgers the first round three playoff win since 1993.

“We did an amazing job as a team and I wouldn’t want to be with no other team,” Arriola said. 

The Badgers won the area championship in Pflugerville Nov. 22 beating the Gonzales Apaches 56-6. 

“We appreciate everything everyone does for us and we love seeing the whole town in the stands,” Bever said. “It is a cool feeling.”

Whitehead completed 15 out of 18 passes for 199 yards and the Badgers averaged 5.9 yards per carry on 19 rushes helping the Badgers ramp up 28 points in the second quarter alone. Jerome rushed for 98 yards. Quarterback Peyton Underwood rushed for 15 yards. 

The Badgers are now turning their focus towards a district rival and familiar foe, Liberty Hill, to extend their longest post season in 27 years. 

“It’s going to be a great game and going to be good to play them again,” Arriola said. 

The football team will play district 14-4A rival Liberty Hill (8-5) in the Regional final Saturday at Cedar Park’s Gupton Stadium. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. 

“We will get that dub,”  Bever said.