FOOTBALL: Playing for teammate, The Woodlands wins regional title

The Woodlands linebacker Cole Sichel (37) celebrates with linebacker Zach La Canfora (11) after hitting Round Rock running back Marquis Brown (36) in the backfield for a four-yard loss on third down during the first quarter of a Division I Region II-6A final game at McLane Stadium Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016, in Waco. less The Woodlands linebacker Cole Sichel (37) celebrates with linebacker Zach La Canfora (11) after hitting Round Rock running back Marquis Brown (36) in the backfield for a four-yard loss on third down during the ... more Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 80 Caption Close FOOTBALL: Playing for teammate, The Woodlands wins regional title 1 / 80 Back to Gallery

WACO - It was clear from the onset that there would be no stopping The Woodlands Saturday afternoon at McLane Stadium.

Neither the rain nor Round Rock could cool off the Highlanders as they racked up 543 yards of total offense on their way to a 41-18 victory over the Dragons in the Division I Region II-6A finals. It marks the program's first regional title since 2003.

The Woodlands (14-0) will now face Allen (14-0) in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin.

Just one week after senior linebacker Grant Milton was rushed from McLane to a nearby hospital to emergency surgery for a serious head injury, the Highlanders took the field knowing their teammate was still in critical condition and in a coma.

When The Woodlands took the field, the players had "21" decal on the backs of their helmets in honor of Milton. Some players also wore green wristbands with "#MiltonStrong21" printed in white on it or wrote the number 21 on their hands.

"We talked all week about how we have to finish this thing because that is what Grant would have wanted us to do," The Woodlands coach Mark Schmid said. "They know him, and they know that they needed to do that, so that's what they came out and did."

It has been a hard week for The Woodlands. And while the team and the rest of the community have responded with hope rather than fear, the effect of Milton's injury on the players and coaches is evident.

After the game, Mark Schmid commended his team's ability to keep their focus throughout the week. But when asked if he'd ever had to deal with this kind of situation himself, he simply shook his head, fighting back tears.

"There is no playbook for something like this," he turned and pointed to his team. "But those guys are awesome. Those guys are awesome."

The Woodlands senior quarterback Eric Schmid seemed determined to do anything he could to help position his team for the win. He threw for 247 yards with a touchdown and rushed for 107 yards with three more scores on runs of five, 17 and 12 yards, respectively.

The senior signal-caller broke free for a 57-yard run that set up his 12-yard score, which made it 34-6 with nine seconds left in the first half.

There was very little he hadn't done for the Highlanders through the first two quarters. But the offense wasn't able to do much more outside a 19-yard Carlos Ramos touchdown run to make it 41-12 with 3:33 left in the third quarter.

"I think we were just trying (too hard) to put it away," Eric Schmid said. "But the defense played great all night. I don't know how many sacks they got, but they were putting pressure on them, and the secondary was covering well."

The Woodlands' defense combined for six sacks. Michael Purcell had 2.5 sacks, Zach LaCanfora had 1.5, and Zach Loane and Cole Sichley each had one.

Purcell, who announced his commitment to play for Air Force Friday night, also had four tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

"Tremendous leadership on his part," Mark Schmid said. "Not just vocally, but he does it with his actions. We rely on him so much, and he is such a centerpiece on our defense, and he was that tonight."

The Woodlands also held Round Rock (10-4) to 119 yards rushing, which is no small feat considering that three Round Rock players came into Saturday's game with a combined 2,939 rushing yards.

Dragon's senior quarterback Marc Reed had 1,277 rushing yards on his own coming into Saturday's game, and The Woodlands held him to just one yard on 19 carries.

"That says our defense stepped up big time," Mark Schmid said. "They were the No. 1 offense in their district and had been scoring in the 40s over the last five or six weeks. They like to run the football - they will throw it if they have to, but they like to run it. Our defense did a good job of stopping the run."

The Dragons' quarterback finished with 310 yards on 8-for-12 passing with two touchdowns. But 99 yards of that came on a seemingly impossible touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Standing in his own end zone, with bodies all around him, Reed delivered a perfect pass to Jason Uwaeze, who took it the distance to make the score 41-18 with 11:26 left to play.

Reed's other touchdown was a 53-yard bomb to Collin Sullivan, which cut The Woodlands' lead down to one score, 13-6, with 7:14 left in the second quarter. Sullivan finished with three catches for 71 yards, while Uwaeze had 159 yards on two catches.

Despite giving up 429 yards, The Woodlands held Round Rock to 18 points, the fewest the Highlanders' defense had allowed since its 63-10 win over College Park on Nov. 4.

"Last week was a really big shock to us, but we really banded together as a team and as a community," Purcell said. "We played some inspired football tonight."

The Woodlands' junior wide receiver Kesean Carter led the team with five catches for 93 yards. Ramos finished second on the team with 79 yards on 13 carries with 19-yard touchdown run and a 24-yard touchdown catch.