TAPPS Division I all-state

Seven Nolan football players were among the 96 players named to the 2013 TAPPS Division I all-state football team.

Houston St. Thomas had 12 players selected to the teams. Houston St. Pius X, San Antonio Antonian and Austin St. Michael’s each had nine players. Tomball Concordia Lutheran had 8, followed by Nolan and TCA-Addison with seven players each.

There were first-, second- and honorable mention teams named. Each team included 32 players.

The complete team is here: http://tapps.net/wp-content/uploads/FootballAllStateDivI2013-2014.pdf

Here are the Nolan players listed:

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
PLAYER	SCHOOL	POS.	CL.
Brennan Murnane	Nolan Catholic	LB	Sr.
Miles Murray	Nolan Catholic	LB	Sr.
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
Charlton Nguyen	Nolan Catholic	OL	Sr.
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
Max Walker	Nolan Catholic	DL	Sr.
Stephen Jolissaint	Nolan Catholic	DB	Sr.
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
David Authier	Nolan Catholic	OB	Sr.
HONORABLE MENTION OFFENSE
Nick Boudreaux	Nolan Catholic	TE	Jr.

Breakdown by schools (1STD = First-team defense; 1STO = First-team offense; 2NDD = Second-team defense; 2NDO = Second-team offense; HMD = Honorable mention defense; HMO = Honorable mention offense

TOTAL	SCHOOL	1STD	1STO	2NDD`	2NDO	HMD	HMO
12	Houston St. Thomas	2	0	3	4	1	2
9	Houston St. Pius X	1	3	1	1	2	1
9	San Antonio Antonian	2	2	0	0	4	1
9	Austin St. Michael’s	1	2	2	2	0	2
8	Tomball Concordia Lutheran	1	1	2	1	1	2
7	NOLAN CATHOLIC	2	1	2	1	0	1
7	TCA-Addison	0	3	0	2	2	0
6	Plano Prestonwood	1	1	2	2	0	0
5	Dallas Bishop Dunne	3	0	0	1	0	1
5	San Antonio Central Catholic	1	0	2	1	0	1
4	Argyle Liberty Christian	2	2	0	0	0	0
4	Brownsville St. Joseph	0	0	0	1	1	2
3	Dallas Bishop Lynch	0	1	0	0	2	0
3	San Antonio St. Anthony	0	0	1	0	1	1
3	Beaumont Kelly	0	0	1	0	1	1
2	Corpus Christi John Paul II	0	0	0	0	1	1
96	TOTAL	16	16	16	16	16	16

Nolan players at the Tom Hillary All-Star Football Classic

Seven Nolan players participated for the White team in the 2013 Tom Hillary All-Star Football Classic last Saturday at Pennington Field in Bedford.

Patrick Rich and Luke Alves could not participate because of injuries.

The Blue team with Dallas-area players won, 38-35, after opening up a 31-7 lead.

Nolan players on the White Team roster coached by Greg McClendon of Midland Christian included:

NO.	PLAYER	POS.	HT.	WT.
5	Patrick Rich	WR	5-10	170
22	Luke Alves	RB	5-10	190
31	Stephen Jolissaint	SS	6-0	190
36	David Authier	TE	6-3	225
42	Miles Murray	LB	6-0	180
46	Brennan Murnane	LB	5-10	190
52	Ryan Manning	DT	6-1	239
56	Max Walker	DT	5-10	200
66	Charlton Nguyen	OG	6-0	235

Nolan 24, Prestonwood 21 — pass defense

Prestonwood’s offense entered Tuesday’s state championship game averaging 270.6 yards passing per game. And the Lions threw for 229 yards against the Vikings in a 36-34 Prestonwood victory on Oct. 25

Prestonwood showed plenty of 4- and 5-receiver sets. But Nolan’s pass defense limited Prestonwood to just 8  completions and 140 yards. It was a big part of the reason Nolan won.

The backfield of Frank Colin, Silas Keys, Andrew Tittor, Stephen Jolissaint, Andrew Marquardt and Kevin Choate was particularly strong after Prestonwood moved out to a 14-0 lead.  Prestonwood, which had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers coming into the game, was 3-of-10 passing for 54 yards in the second half.

Linebacker Brennan Murnane had a pass defensed near the line of scrimmage on Prestonwood’s final drive.  Linebacker Miles Murray, Jolissaint and Tittor also had passes defensed in the second half.

The defensive line provided good pressure. End Max Walker recovered a fumble in the third quarter, and had at least three pressures and a partial sack in the first half. Interior defensive linemen Jon King, Trey Foster and Brad Petrando had steady pushes up the middle, several times forcing scrambles by the quarterback.

Murray, linebacker Dane Hucklebridge and end Charles Compagnone also flushed out the quarterbacks on several occasions forcing runs on what appeared to be pass plays.

For the season, the Vikings allowed 2,532 yards passing —  180.9 yards a game. In the playoffs, Nolan held San Antonio St. Anthony to 136, Houston St. Thomas to 142, Argyle Liberty to 228 and Prestonwood to 140.

Nolan passing yards allowed this season:

OPPONENT	PASS YARDS		OPPONENT	PASS YARDS
Arlington Seguin	141		Prestonwood	229
Argyle	179		Argyle Liberty Christian	139
Everman	80		Bishop Dunne	108
Spruce	143		San Antonio St. Anthony	136
John Paul II	337		Houston St. Thomas	142
TCA-Addison	252		Argyle Liberty Christian	228
Bishop Lynch	278		Prestonwood	140
TOTALS				2,532

Nolan in overtime

The Vikings won in overtime Saturday, advancing to next week’s state semifinal against Argyle Liberty Christian. Nolan is now 6-3 in overtime games in its history. Prior to the approval of overtime periods in high school football, Nolan had tied nine games — the most recent being in 1994.

Nov. 23, 2013 — Nolan 20, Houston St. Thomas 14 (OT) — In Teague, Texas, Luke Alves scored on a 7-yard run to win the TAPPS Division I regional final. Stephen Jolissaint’s 55-yard interception return for a touchdown and Grant Muehlstein’s extra point with 2:53 left in the fourth quarter forced the extra period.

Oct. 4, 2013 — Nolan 43, TCA-Addison 42 (OT) — At Doskocil Stadium, Jeremy LaGroue hauled in a two-point conversion pass from Landon Russell on a play-action roll-out to give the Vikings the win in the TAPPS I-1 game. Luke Alves had scored on a 7-yard run to put Nolan in position for the winning conversion after TCA scored on its first possession and kicked an extra point.

Oct. 14, 2011 — Nolan 35, Prestonwood 28 (OT) — In Plano, Amyn Maloney caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Joseph Prud’homme, and the Vikings defense stopped Prestonwood on four downs to preserve the TAPPS I-1 game.

Dec. 5, 2009 — Nolan 21, TCA-Addison 20 (OT) — In Temple, TCA missed an extra point attempt when the snap was bobbled, and the Vikings won the TAPPS Division I state championship — their fourth state title. Evan Roll’s 8-yard touchdown catch from Michael Smith and Hans Ingold’s extra point on the first overtime possession proved to be the difference.

Oct. 10, 2008 — Bishop Lynch 17, Nolan 14 (OT) — At Doskocil Stadium, Chris Robbs kicked a 24-yard field goal in overtime to win the district game. Nolan had forced the extra period when Tanner Smith caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Michael Smith in the fourth quarter.

Nov. 3, 2006 — TCA 28, Nolan 20 (3 OT) — In Addison, Josh Fellows’ 7-yard touchdown catch in the third overtime was the difference. Drew Gavin scored on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Robert Ratliff in the second overtime to briefly give the Vikings the lead,  but TCA matched the touchdown and extra point to force a third overtime — the longest game in Nolan’s history.

Sept. 1, 2006 — Argyle Liberty 26, Nolan 20 (OT) – At Doskocil Stadium, Joshua Hicks’ 4-yard touchdown run in overtime sealed the non-district win in the 2006 season opener. Will Gallagher caught an 80-yard touchdown from Robert Ratliff in the fourth quarter but a missed extra point attempt allowed Liberty to force an overtime with a Garret Ashworth 36-yard field goal.

Will Gallagher catches the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime of the 2005 TAPPS Division I state championship game. (2005/Dick Kirby photo)

Nov. 26, 2005 — Nolan 28, TCA-Addison 25 (2 OT) — At Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Will Gallagher’s sliding 7-yard touchdown catch from Sean Hakes in the second overtime secured Nolan’s second state championship. Steve McCarthy’s 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter tied the game at 15-15 and sent it to overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns and kicked extra points in the first overtime. To start the second overtime, TCA was held to a 29-yard field goal before Gallagher’s catch.

Aug. 29, 2003 — Nolan 21, Fort Worth Christian 14 (OT) — At Doskocil Stadium, Jeff Sakowski caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Ben Nichols in the overtime period for the non-district win. It was Sakowski’s third touchdown catch of the game — a feat matched by only seven other Nolan receivers. It was the first overtime ever played by Nolan.

Longest interception returns for TDs

Miles Murray returns an interception 85 yards for a touchdown against TCA-Addison. (Photo by Dick Kirby)

UPDATED through Nov. 30, 2013 Miles Murray’s 85-yard interception return in Nolan’s 43-42 OT win over TCA was the third longest interception return for a touchdown in school history.

Here’s a look at the 10 longest:

95—Dakota Ferguson (vs. TCA-Addison, Nov. 6, 2009)

88—Greg Kidwell (vs. Dal. Bish. Lynch, Nov. 6, 1970)

85—Miles Murray  (vs. TCA-Addison, Oct. 4, 2013)

75—Miles Murray (vs. Argyle Liberty, Nov. 29, 2013)

67—Joe Anderson (vs. Kennedale, Sept. 7, 1990)

67—Steve Farco (vs. Mineral Wells, Sept. 20, 1985)

62—Tyler Baum (vs. Prestonwood, Dec. 4, 2010)

60—Pat Gallagher (vs. FW D-Hill, Sept. 8, 1967)

58—Ross Gallagher (vs. Dal. St. Mark’s, Sept. 5, 2008)

55–Stephen Jolissaint (vs. Houston St. Thomas, Nov. 22, 2013)

Championship thoughts — the defense

Jonathan Werline (20) and Jonathon Faltynski (8)

(Photo by Dick Kirby)

Giving up 560 yards of total offense and 45 points is tough — but much credit should go to TCA’s players and system. Great bunch that had essentially played together three seasons and was well-coached. They averaged 44.1 points and 497.6 yards per game this season and I’m sure it would have been higher if they didn’t call off the dogs in some blowout wins. Very difficult to defend aganist that system and that personnel. Some thoughts:

• TCA had an astounding 19 plays of 10 or more yards. But they also 18 plays of 0 or fewer yards.
• By my very unofficial stats (even on film it’s sometimes hard to see who made a play), I counted Brennan Murnane with 7 1/2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 force fumble and 1 sack; Miles Murray with 4 1/2 tackles. 1/2 TFL and 1/2 sack; Stephen Jolissaint with 4 1/2 tackles, 1/2 TFL, 1/2 sack; Jeremy Freyre with 5 tackles, and Preston Weaver with 1/2 sack, 1 FF and 1 FR.
• I thought DL Ramon Romero had a good game getting in the backfield and disrupting things. I had him with 3 tackles and 2 TFL.
• Anytime you get 5 turnovers that’s good. I had fumble recoveries for Jolissaint, Weaver and Jonathon Muraski and interceptions by Jonathon Werline and Frank Colin.
• I thought this defensive bunch was very good all year. They ended up allowing 245.1 yards per game and 15.7 points per game. Certainly very good numbers given the schedule this season.