ARLINGTON — Munday completed its yearlong wait for revenge, defeating Tenaha, 42-14, for the Class A Division II state championship at Cowboys Stadium on Thursday. Tenaha beat Munday in the final last year.
“You set goals, you do the right things and you accomplish them,” Munday coach Patrick Corcoran said. “They stayed focused all year.”
Munday (15-0) scored two touchdowns in less than a minute late in the third quarter to pull away from Tenaha (10-5).
Munday junior defensive end LJ Collier intercepted a swing pass and returned it 35 yards to make it 28-14.
“That was the play that got us a little down,” Tenaha coach Terry Ward said. “We’ve had success with that play. I was hoping [Collier] would stay inside, but he didn’t. If we go down and score on that drive, it’s a different game, but [Collier] made a great play.”
Collier led a dominating Munday defense, which shut out Tenaha in the second half. Tied 14-14 at halftime, Munday took a 20-14 lead on senior Roddrick Taylor’s 18-yard run. Senior Garrett Weaver set up the touchdown with a 42-yard punt return to Tenaha’s 31.
“We’re used to being ahead at halftime,” Taylor said. “But when we came in, Coach said, ‘Did you think this was going to be easy? Tenaha has great athletes.’ That got us going again.”
Collier (6-4, 240), who is already being recruited by Texas Tech, had four tackles for losses of 28 yards and caused a fumble in addition to his interception return for a touchdown.
“I read the way they were blocking,” Collier said. “I had knocked the pass down before. I knew they would run it again. It’s been a good play for them. I just slipped to the outside when I saw it.”
Collier and quarterback Dee Paul were part of the current Munday nucleus that lost to Tenaha, 52-28, last season. Paul, a former SMU commit now being recruited by Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, broke free for a 57-yard scoring run on Munday’s second play from scrimmage.
Paul, a two-time state hurdles champ, had to overcome a first-half wrist injury that prevented much passing. Paul rushed for 263 rushing yards on 16 carries, with scoring runs of 57, 55 and 60 yards. The last two were in the fourth quarter.
The state title was the third for Munday, which also won in 1984 and 2007.
“When we were seventh graders, we watched those seniors win state,” Munday senior Logan Groves said. “We’ve had that as a goal and it feels good having this gold [medal] around our neck.”