November 4, 2022

Godley Wildcats clinched a third-place spot in Class 4A football postseason with a 71-35 victory over the Benbrook Bobcats in the regular season finale on November 3, 2022, at Wildcat Stadium.

The win extended the team’s winning streak to three, with a 5-5 record for the season and 3-2 Class 4A Division II district record.  The Wildcats opened district play with losses to Ferris 52-49 and Glen Rose 69-35 but then swept the rest with victories over Venus 72-19 and Hillsboro 32-16 prior to the Benbrook win.

As the third-ranked team in District 4, Godley will face the second-second team from District 3.

Two varsity players broke school records during the district matchup.  Senior Drew Coleman set a new high mark for career receiving yards, while junior Landon Thigpen 

“[Coleman] was huge,” Lowery told the Cleburne Times-Review. “He came out and he knew this was the last game he was going to play at this stadium and he wanted to go out with a bang. He did a great job of making plays and refusing to go down. He’s just a great player.”

 

For the game, Coleman had seven catches for 164 yards and five first-half receiving touchdowns, connecting on passes from senior quarterback Kole Allen.  The GHS senior currently has 2,829 career receiving yards, setting a new school milestone previously held by Taylor Grimes with 2,704 receiving yards. 

Likewise, Thigpen finished the game with 2,203 rushing yards for the season, marking a new school high for a single season previously set by Landry Martinez in 2010 with 2,098 yards. The junior had three break-out scoring runs of 79, 57, and 55 yards. 

“He’s just a great kid,” Lowery said of Thigpen. “He’s humble. He gives credit to the offensive line and to the receivers out there blocking. But he’s put the work in. It doesn’t just happen. I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s worked all year to do this. Even before the season, he talked about how he was going to break the record. I’m glad that he’s getting to see the fruits of his labor.”

Varsity team members are Daniel Alexander, Kole Allen, Blane Applegate, Wyatt Burke, Vincent Buzalsky, Daniel Clidewell, Drew Coleman, Alex Duran, Keaton Eggleston, Ryan Gambino, Tate Grimsley, Ethan Hall, Nic Harrison, Trey Hindash, Cameron Leverett, Kevin Maldanado, Erik Marski, Elijah Matthews, Preston Maxwell, Cole Miller, Seth Neel, Ethan Parkinson, Jacob Pempsell, Lucas Ponce, Hagan Robertson, Chris Sinku, Kade Sundheim, Landon Thigpen, Brady Thomas, Saul Valle, Caleb Vandygrift, Gavin Vasquez and Brennan Wilson.

Lowery is assisted by Billy Dan Chambliess, Garrett Cole, James Jeanes, Kim Kanaman, Brent Lewis, Nick Manshack, Chase Marler, Corey Quinn, Toby Rumfield, Will Sloan, Eric Sundheim and head trainer Duke Graham.