Brady 29, Wylie 12

By GARNER ROBERTS

Special Writer

BRADY -- Wylie may not be an irresistible force, but Brady is an immovable object.

And the immovable object gave ground grudgingly here Friday night, limiting Wylie to 191 total yards and forcing six turnovers in its 29-12 victory over the hosts. Tailback Michael Shipman ran for 244 yards and scored three of his team's four touchdowns as Brady improved its season record to 7-1 in the District 6-3A battle.

Wylie, which twice missed chances to tie the game in the first half, had its five-game winning streak broken, fell to 5-3 for the season and lost for the first time in three district games.

"They dominated both the offensive and defensive lines," Wylie coach Hugh Sandifer said. "They are powerful up front. They have a good football team. They deserve to win. I was disappointed with how we started the game. We were tentative. It wasn't one of our better games, but they had a lot to do with that."

Brady, now leading the district at 3-0, put the game away with a time-consuming drive of 9:55 in the third and fourth quarters. Then Wylie's comeback was stalled by three turnovers in the fourth quarter.

After Wylie ran three plays and punted on its only drive of the third quarter, Brady took the ball with 7:43 to play in the period, and coach George Nelson switched to a wishbone offense. His team then turned in an 18-play drive which reached the Wylie three-yard line.

Brady settled for a 20-yard field goal by Brent Raybion with 9:48 to play, but it now had a 16-12 lead, and the Wylie defense was beginning to show signs of becoming tired.

One play later, the Wylie defenders were back on the field. Raybion picked off Scott Bull's pass on first down and returned it to the Wylie 31. Three plays later Shipman ran 19 yards through the Wylie defense to score again and give Brady more breathing room at 23-12.

Brady defensive lineman Gene Wright knocked down Bull's fourth down pass on the next series at the Brady 40, and four plays later Shipman dashed 48 yards for the final score.

"They have a good scheme on defense," Sandifer said. 'They had us guessing. And our defense was on the field way too long. They wore us down. Our key now is to pick ourselves up. We win together, and we lose together."

Each team turned the ball over three time in the first half, but Wylie's inability to convert after its two touchdowns left it trailing, 13-12, at intermission. Brady never trailed, but it did have its streak of 15 straight scoreless quarters broken.

After Wylie ran three plays and punted to start the game, Brady took advantage of a 12-yard punt after a low snap from center to quickly get on the scoreboard. Brady needed only five plays to drive 35 yards for its 7-0 lead. Quarterback Craig Tally got the six points from 12 yards out on a keeper around right end.

It took Wylie eight minutes to get a first down against the Brady defense, the state's leader after giving up only 19 points in the first seven games. But finally in the second period, the hosts began to match the Brady touchdowns.

Wylie defender Brandon Hall grabbed a blocked Brady punt at the three-yard line, and on first down Bull threw to Dustin Williams falling at the left flag for a Wylie touchdown. It was only a three-yard scoring drive 7:36 before intermission, but it was the first touchdown the Brady defense has allowed all season.

The Brady defense lost its shutout, but it didn't seem to affect the offense. On first down after the kickoff, Shipman broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and darted 74 yards for Brady's second touchdown.

In the final minute of the half, it appeared Brady was going to take its 13-6 lead to the dressing room. But Wylie safety Eric Holt jumped in front of Tally's pass and raced 62 yards to score on the interception return. Bull missed this PAT kick (after John Self missed the first one), leaving Wylie trailing 13-12 with 28 seconds to play in the second period.

"You hate to give up a touchdown like that," Nelson said of Wylie's three-yard scoring drive against his defense. "Our defense has played well all season."

Nelson admitted using some new plays on offense Friday. "We ran eight or nine plays out of several formations we hadn't used all year," he said.

Bull's passing was Wylie's only threat. He threw for 163 yards to put him over 1,000 yards this season, but Wylie played most of the game without fullback Brett Unger. Wylie travels to Ballinger for its final road game of the regular season next week before ending with district newcomer Grape Creek here Nov. 6.

Brady 7 6 0 16--29

Wylie 0 12 0 0--12

SCORING SUMMARY

B -- Craig Tally 12 run (Brent Raybion kick)

W -- Dustin Williams 3 pass from Scott Bull (kick failed)

B -- Michael Shipman 74 run (kick failed)

W -- Eric Holt 62 pass interception return (kick failed)

B -- Raybion 20 field goal

B -- Shipman 19 run (Raybion kick)

B -- Shipman 48 run (kick blocked)

Wylie Brady

First downs 9 18

Rushes-yards 19-28 47-325

Passing yards 163 54

Comp-Att-Int 14-29-3 5-11-2

Punts 5-32 4-30

Fumbles-lost 4-3 1-1

Penalties-yards 4-13 6-30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Wylie: Scott Bull 6-7, Danny Herrera 2-(-4), Dustin Williams 8-22, R.D. Hussman 2-10, David Bogart 1-3; Brady: Craig Tally 10-18, Ernie Garcia 3-11, Michael Shipman 27-244, Adrian Jones 1-2, Jim Peel 4-21, Brent Raybion 4-21, Ben Conrad 1-8.

PASSING -- Wylie: Bull 14-29-3, 163 yards. Brady: Jones 0-1-0; Tally 5-10-2, 54 yards.

RECEIVING -- Wylie: John Hooge 2-30, Justin Groban 6-62, Williams 3-15, Herrera 1-23, Bogart 2-33; Brady: Ray Evans 2-25, Raybion 1-15, Rhett Behrens 1-7, Blake Lewis 1-7.