Water Valley Enjoying Return to Six-Man Football With Another State Quarterfinal Run

WATER VALLEY, TX — It’s been a long journey for the Water Valley football team to get back to the state quarterfinals.

After the team’s last trip in 2021 — when the Wildcats were ranked No. 4 in the state and had their best season in program history — they weren’t able to build on that momentum.

Instead, a temporary spike in enrollment sent them into 11-man football for two years.

This season, they dropped back into six-man and looked like they never left.

They’ve put together a 10-2 season and are back in the state quarterfinals against No. 7-ranked Westbrook (10-2) at 6 p.m. Friday in Garden City.

With a win, Water Valley could break through to the state semifinals for the first time ever.

The Wildcats will have to earn it against Westbrook, a program that won back-to-back state titles in 2021 and ‘22. The Wildcats’ quest for a three-peat ended in the state final last year.

“There’s a reason they’ve been to the state championship game so many times,” Water Valley head coach Aaron Whitmire said. “They’re big, strong and physical. They’re not fancy. They remind me of an old-school Wing T in 11-man that says, ‘We’re going to do this until you tell us we can’t.’ And not many people have told them they can’t yet.”

Westbrook’s defense has shown it can be vulnerable, as evidenced by allowing 110 points to Robert Lee in the first round of the playoffs.

Then again, the Wildcats’ offense has also shown to be up to the challenge. They scored 116 against Robert Lee, and they followed that up with a 98-52 win over Newcastle last week.

“When you go through their games, it’s usually pretty close until about the third quarter or so when the bigger muscles start breaking the smaller muscles,” Whitmire said. “But our kids are no stranger to the weight room. We’ve got talented athletes that have speed, so I think it’s going to be a great game.”

Westbrook’s only two losses were to Jayton (66-16) and Buena Vista (42-36). They’ve overcome a 2-2 start to win eight in a row.

Similarly, Water Valley opened with losses in two of its first four games to Hermleigh (36-28) and Buena Vista (54-52). The Wildcats haven’t lost since.

Whitmire said that even with Water Valley’s previous six-man experience, there was still a learning process after two years in 11-man.

“I feel like it’s been a good transition. The kids had a lot of knowledge to start with. Some kids were a little unfamiliar at spots, but the coaches did a great job bringing everyone along. We started out slow, simple and basic. And then as the season progressed, I feel like we were able to expand and do some other things to get us in the right position to be successful.”

For Whitmire, he had never even seen a six-man game before this season, but he had some experience on his coaching staff, to say the least.

Defensive coordinator Trey Sisco, who was the head coach of Sterling City’s state title team in 2020, has been a tremendous help, Whitmire said.

“If he’s not the best defensive coordinator in the state, he’s one of the best,” Whitmire said. “He’s seen everything you can throw at him. We’ll be panicking, and it’ll take him two seconds to make a fix. We’re lucky to have him.”

On the field, Boston Wiese leads the defense with about 160 tackles, while Brylan Naylor has about 110 stops, Whitmire said.

On offense, Water Valley has been remarkably balanced with quarterback Landon Lacy, running backs Anthony Quintana and Wiese, and wide receiver Gunnar Brooks all putting up solid numbers.

Whitmire said having all of those options makes Water Valley more difficult to defend.

“We want to make sure people we play have to defend the whole field, not just one kid,” Whitmire said. “Anthony Quintana has run for over 1,000 yards on about 100 carries. … Landon Lacy has thrown for 1,300 yards and rushed for almost 700. Gunnar Brooks has almost 600 receiving. Boston Wiese has 600 rushing. … We’re making sure we’re doing what we can to use the athleticism we’re blessed with.”

The winner of this game will play No. 3 Whiteface or Borden County in the state semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, the quarterfinal matchups are No. 2 Abbott vs. Aquilla, and No. 1 Gordon vs. No. 4 Jonesboro.