As the clock ticked down during the fourth quarter of Wylie’s 49-19 win over Wichita Falls Legacy in a District 2-5A Division II football game, an unusual chant started to break out on the Bulldogs sideline.
“Bry-son! Bry-son! Bry-son!”
When junior Bryson Baker lined up at wide receiver, the chant turned into a full-blown pandemonium of cheers.
Running back Julius Laine, another junior, was happier about seeing Baker get on the field than he was about his 179-yard, two-touchdown performance.
“The team loves him and he brings nothing but happiness and joy,” Laine said of Baker. “When we get down, he’s the one cheering us up.”
While he was proud of his entire 73-man roster, Wylie coach Clay Martin had great things to say about Baker.
“Bryson is a big part of this team,” he said. “I’m just happy that we had the opportunity to get everybody in and able to compete. They practice each and every day and I’m proud of the effort that they all give.”
For the first 12 minutes on Friday night, it didn’t look like Baker, who wears the same number that his older brothers wore, would get a chance to see the field as Laine fumbled at the end of a 14-yard run on Wylie’s first offensive snap and then the Bulldogs punted on their next two possessions.
The Leopards answered just over two minutes later with a Jordan Mitchell 4-yard touchdown run tied the game. On the ensuing Wylie possession, Meng was scrambling to find an open receiver and hit Laine down the Legacy sideline for a 24-yard gain. That setup a 36-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Hood on the next play and gave Wylie a lead it wouldn’t relinquish at 14-7.
In a span of 2:01 later in the second quarter, Legacy went from being in a competitive game with Wylie to being blown out as the Bulldogs saw Meng run for a touchdown from a yard out, the defense force a three-and-out and Laine break off a 71-yard touchdown run on the next play.
“Julius ran the ball hard all night long,” Martin said. “He was extremely effective and the guys up front did a great job. Julius was able to get his pads down and run through a lot of tackles — which is something that he does really well.”
After Garrett Allison sacked Legacy freshman quarterback Knox Hodges on third down, Wylie finished the blitz with a safety when the snap went over the head of Legacy punter Ivan Barron — the first of two special teams safeties for the Bulldogs.
Allison finished the night with three sacks while Tyler Lopez added a pair.
“I think it’s the oldest cliche in the book, but games are always won up front,” Martin said. “The best pass defense is when you can get a good pass rush and make it uncomfortable for the quarterback.”
On his final carry of the night, Laine bullied his way through the middle of the defense for a 34-yard touchdown run to put the hosts up 37-7 — just 23 seconds into the second half.
Following a Blaze Ruffin interception a few minutes later, Wylie extended the lead even further with a 22-yard touchdown run by Hayden Wright before the Bulldog defense, facing Jose Lucio after Hodges was knocked out with an injury, forced another punt.
This time, Garrison Callis broke through the line and had a monster block of Barron’s kick that wound up rolling backwards nearly 30 yards out of the end zone for another safety.
“That’s pretty rare,” Martin said about getting two safeties in a single game. “The first one was a mistake by them, but the second one was just a great effort by Callis.”
Wylie’s final points came with 1:01 left in the third quarter on a 26-yard Noah Rehburg field goal before Legacy scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns against the Wylie backups.
DISTRICT 2-5A Division II
WYLIE 49, WICHITA FALLS LEGACY 19
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | ||
| Wichita Falls Legacy | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 | — | 19 |
| Wylie | 7 | 23 | 19 | 0 | — | 49 |
FIRST QUARTER
WYL — Gage Heighten 22 pass from Bear Meng (Noah Rehburg kick), :36
SECOND QUARTER
LEG — Jordan Mitchell 4 run (Ivan Barron kick), 10:02
WYL — Hunter Hood 36 pass from Meng (Rehburg kick), 9:00
WYL — Meng 1 run (Rehburg kick), 4:21
WYL — Julius Laine 71 run (Rehburg kick), 3:26
WYL — Safety, ball snapped out of the end zone, 2:20
THIRD QUARTER
WYL — Laine 34 run (Rehburg kick), 11:37
WYL — Hayden Wright 22 run (Rehburg kick), 7:32
WYL — Safety, punt blocked through end zone, 6:23
WYL — Rehburg 26 field goal, 1:01
FOURTH QUARTER
LEG — Jose Lucio 2 run (pass failed), 10:03
LEG — Lucio 3 run (run failed), 3:19
| LEG | WYL | |
| First downs | 23 | 20 |
| Rushes-Yards | 45-99 | 37-302 |
| Passing | 188 | 182 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 26-40-1 | 10-24-0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 6-24.8 | 3-37.7 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4-38 | 4-20 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Wichita Falls Legacy: Jordan Mitchell 14-58, Kavari Brown 9-55, Angel Gutierrez 9-15, Jose Lucio 3-10, Team 2-(-11), Knox Hodges 8-(-28). Wylie: Julius Laine 11-179, Jordan Lockett 4-25, Hayden Wright 1-22, Jaegan Smith 4-22, Fermin Martinez 4-21, Bear Meng 2-16, Tyler Lopez 4-15, Anthony Hayes 6-7, Team 1-(-5).
PASSING — Wichita Falls Legacy: Hodges 18-32-1—114, Lucio 8-8-0—74. Wylie: Meng 10-24-0—182.
RECEIVING — Wichita Falls Legacy: Isaiah Anderson 13-81, Cameron Jones 7-77, Josiah Carter 3-12, DaKendrick Jones 2-12, Gutierrez 1-6. Wylie: Gage Heighten 3-89, Hunter Hood 3-51, Laine 2-30, Riley Robinson 1-11, Dylan Regala 1-1.
RECORDS — Wichita Falls Legacy 0-5, 0-1; Wylie 3-1, 1-0.