WACO – Skyline, in a sense, grew up during Saturday afternoon's Class 5A Division I Region II semifinal against Round Rock.
Skyline overcame a 10-point second-half deficit and left Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium with a 13-10 victory to earn its first trip to a regional final in 35 years.
Skyline takes on Plano in the Region II championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
Skyline (12-1) won by stepping up its game after underestimating a Round Rock team entering the contest with four losses.
"They [Round Rock] outhustled us the first half. They wanted it more," Skyline coach Reginald Samples said. "We came out big-headed. Going into the second half, we needed to man up and see what kind of team we are."
Down 10-0, Skyline quarterback Troy Stoudermire capped a three-minute drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter. Stoudermire gave Skyline the lead with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter, finding a seam on the right side of the offensive line for a 28-yard scoring run.
"I saw the hole, and I was thinking touchdown," Stoudermire said. "If I ran hard, I felt like I could get to the hole. I have so much trust in the line, and when I saw the hole, I just burst through it."
Samples said: "Everybody talks about the defense, but our offense averaged 35 points per game. The thing about it, when we need them, they come through."
Both of Skyline's touchdowns came after poor Round Rock punts. The first score came after a 17-yard punt. The second came after a 5-yard punt.
Stoudermire scored the touchdowns, but Skyline's defense deserves credit for setting up the scores. Round Rock was held to 85 second-half yards, with 50 coming on a shovel pass from quarterback Hunter Kent to running back Marcus Jackson.
Skyline's defense allowed only two first downs and made Round Rock punt four times in the second half. Round Rock (8-5) turned the ball over on downs with 58 seconds to play after Skyline held Zack Pate inches short of a first down after a reception.
Round Rock led early because of Jackson, who rushed for 142 yards in the first half. He became the first to rush for at least 100 yards against Skyline since Mesquite Horn's Chuck Oputa on Oct. 6, 2006.
"A win like this, it toughens us up and makes us realize we have to come out and play every game," Samples said. "We aren't as good as we think we are if we play like this."
