Dominant Puncher Defense Strangles New Deal for Title

ARLINGTON, TX-- As no. 1 Mason did all season, the Punchers dominated no. 5 New Deal for a 44-6 win in the Class 2A Division I state championship at AT&T Stadium.

“This isn’t a win for the Mason High School football team,”head coach Kade Burns said. “This is a win for our entire community, because we feel like they’re just as much a part of this.”

The Punchers did that behind 100-yard rushing performances by senior RB Jake Cockerham and junior Klay Klaerner. Cockerham was named the Offensive MVP for his 105-yard, two touchdown performance. Klaerner had 103 yards and a pair of touchdowns as well.

“We’ve all been here before. We know what to expect,” Klaerner said. “We knew it was a big stadium. We knew it wasn’t any different from any other field we’ve played on. It’s still 100 yards long.”

Junior lineman Slone Stultz was named the Defensive MVP after tallying six total tackles, 3.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks. Stultz led a defense that held an explosive New Deal team averaging nearly 44 points per game to just six points and 172 yards of offense.

“The defensive staff did a great job and these young men … executed the gameplan tremendously,” head coach Kade Burns said at his postgame press conference. “We give up a little bit of a size advantage sometimes, but we feel like we can offset that by being really, really quick in getting to the football.”

The only time Mason allowed New Deal to score came after a high snap went over Klaerner’s head on a punt. Kendell Dunn caught a 15-yard pass from Jett Whitfield, but a blocked extra point kept Mason up 7-6.

Mason then went to their stack-I formation and handed the ball to Klaerner three times for 51 yards and a touchdown. That set the tone from there on. From that moment, Mason scored 37 unanswered points while controlling the clock too.

Mason had the ball for over 24 minutes and scored points on their next six drives.

“We pride ourselves on physicality,” Cockerham said. “So, we shove it down their throat basically and they can’t stop it. It’s just a lot of fun for us, because it starts building momentum and makes them quit. That’s our goal is to make every team quit.”

The win was also Kade Burns 100th as the head coach of the Mason, putting him one win shy of his father’s all-time record as the head coach of Mason. Yet, Burns won’t accept the credit for the success and the 100-9 record at Mason.

“It means we have a lot of really good players,” Burns said. “We can line ‘em up and … draw it up on a piece of paper and tell them where to go. But, at the end of the day, they’ve gotta go do it. That’s what we feel like we have. We have guys who understand the game. The credit goes to the coaching staff. The credit goes to the kids.”

Lost in the midst of the win, was the fact that Otto Wofford broke a 102-year-old school record for passing yards in a season.

The win is Mason’s second state championship. They won their first in 2011.

Stat Leaders

Passing                               C-A-I         Yds      TD

• Otto Wofford (MHS) 13-16-0      159       0
• Jett Whitfield(NDHS) 6-16-2       91         1

Rushing                                     Att.     Yds      TD

• Jake Cockerham (MHS)  11       105       2
• Klay Klaerner (MHS)       13       103       2

Below, are live updates from Arlington, as the Punchers look for the second state title in program history. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Box Score

First Quarter

New Deal won the toss and elected to defer. Mason will get the ball to start.

12:00- Ethan Powell returns the opening kickoff 15 yards to the Puncher 43

10:30- Mason driving now. Jake Cockerham and Otto Wofford have them inside New Deal's 40.

9:44- Wofford hits Zach Norman for a big gain down to the 1. Play is under review to see if Norman crossed the goal line. Call is confirmed

9:30- Wofford plunges in from a yard out. Kyle Montoya's kick is good to make it 7-0 Mason.

9:20- New Deal's potent offense takes the field at their own 40.

7:40- Roman Coe picks off New Deal's Jett Whitfield at the 16 and returns it to the Puncher 38.

5:21- A holding call puts Mason behind the chains at first-and-20 and have to punt. The snap goes over Klay Klaerner's head and he has to scramble to his own 11. New Deal ball there.

3:43- New Deal gets on the board with a 15-yard pass from Whitfield to Kendell Dunn. PAT blocked to keep Mason ahead by one point.

2:47- After starting the drive on their own 49, Mason handed the ball to Klay Klaerner three times and he got them in the end zone. PAT good. 14-6 Mason

1:40- New Deal inside Mason's 10 after a pair of runs by Whitfield and pass to Dunn.

End- Whitfield is sacked twice in succesion by Slone Stultz. New Deal now back to Mason's 23.

Second Quarter

11:52- Klaerner lays a hit on Dunn on 4th-and-long at the 16. Mason gets a crucial stop.

5:31- Mason being methodical with a sustained drive. Now down to New Deal 25 after a 15-yard run by Otto Wofford

3:05- Jake Cockerham caps off that 84-yard drive with a 1-yard run into the end zone. PAT good. 21-6 Mason.

1:19- New Deal finally figuring out Mason's defense down inside their territory. But a holding call backs them up to first-and-20.

0:49- Interception Mason! Tyson Keller picks off Whitfield and the Punchers are in business at their own 47.

0:07- Mason down to Lions 12. Punchers call timeout to bring kicking unit out. Kyle Montoya nails a 29-yard field goal to extend Mason's lead. 24-6 Punchers.

END- Mason forces New Deal to run out the clock on a squib kick and Mason is one half away from their second state championship.

Third Quarter

10:15- Mason forces a three-and-out. Looked to have decent field position at their own 35, but a hold on the return brought it back to the 25.

9:16- Jake Cockerham gets his second touchdown of the day to put Mason up BIG! 55 yards to go up 31-6.

7:23- Mason's defense strangles New Deal's offense for another three-and-out. Mason takes over on New Deal's 47.

5:15- Wofford hits Ethan Powell for an 8-yard gain on fourth-and-6 to keep the chains moving.

2:27- Punchers keep piling it on. Klaerner with his second touchdown on a 10-yard run around the right side. PAT no good. 37-6 Mason. 

END- Mason one quarter away from bringing a state title back to the Concho Valley.

Fourth Quarter

11:14- Chandler Buntyn gets in on the fun during the rout. He gets a 6-yard touchdown run on the stat sheet and Mason leads 44-6.

8:26- New Deal tries a fake punt and comes up empty handed on the pass play. Mason takes over at the New Deal 48.

4:35- Mason pulls all of their starters out and the Puncher fans give them a standing ovation.

2:07- Montoya misses a 20-yard field goal.

FINAL- Mason gets their second state championship in program history. It was also head coach Kade Burns 100th win as head coach at Mason.