Salado Eagles (7-3: 5-1 District) went into the Smithville game with possibly a 3-way tie for the district title by all the teams played, 2 teams lost, the Eagles left Smithville and were outright 13-4A District Champions. Salado Eagles will face Pearsall (2-8, 1-3 4th District) in the Bi-District 4A-D2 Texas Playoffs Friday, Nov. 14, 2025 @ 7:00 m at D.W. Rutledge Stadium 9150 FM 1516 N Converse, TX 78109.
The Eagles are looking forward on going 1-0 on the night to advance to the Area Round of the State Football Playoffs.
Salado Eagles won the coin toss and elected to receive the football to start the game. The Eagles first offensive series, QB De’Vonte Foster went to the air with precision passing to move the football down to the 6 yard-line of the Tigers. Then Foster, out of the shotgun formation, scored on a 6-yard TD run and K-Max Gist add the PAT to get the score 7-0 with 8:15 left in the 1st quarter.
The Tigers struggled offensively on their first drive before turning the football over on downs where the Eagles now had great field position. Foster went to the air and connected on a 60-yd catch and run touchdown to Andrew Benevides at the 5:42 mark in the 1st quarter. Gist would add the PAT to in crease the Salado lead 14-0. Salado would get the football back and Foster went to the air again and linked up with Landen Noske on a 39-yd catch and run for the Eagles touchdown. The Gist kick increase the Salado lead to 21-0 with 4:05 remaining in the 1st quarter.
The Salado Eagles Defense played stern to stifle any Smithville offensive plays by (TFL) tackle for loss, pass break ups and gang tackling to force the Tigers to punt the football over to the Eagles. The Eagles’ offensive success continued when QB Max Gist threw a pass to Gabreille Merriman who broke a few tackles to go 46-yards for the Salado touchdown at the 10:29 left in the 2nd-Quarter. K-Gist would add the extra point to increase the Eagles lead to 28-0. Gist would stay at the Helm and maneuver the Salado offense down the field with a combination of run-pass-option (RPO) to the 2-Yd line. Gist would score a 2-yard TD-Run with 6:33 in the 2nd-quarter and then add to his TD with the PAT to expand the lead 35-0. The offensive line did a great job on the night creating holes, running lanes for running backs and pass protection for the offensive scoring the first half. The Eagles would get the football and QB-Gist would hand-off the pigskin to “RAW-BONED” RB-Luke Bingham who would bust threw the Tiger defense, breaking tackles and speed down the field 59-yards for the Salado TD. The PAT failed but the Salado Eagles lead soared to 41-0 with 3:22 left till halftime. The Salado Eagles kicked off to the Tigers to start the 3rd-quarter. Salado, having a 41-0 lead, a lot of Eagles football players got to play in the 2nd-half. Smithville came out of the locker room were determined to have a better second half. Smithville received the ball in the second half and senior Trip Davis had a nice return, setting up the Tigers with good field position. They marched the rest of the field with senior running back Justin Gurley punching it in for a 3-yard touchdown to get the Tigers on the board and the PAT was good and with 6:01 left in 3rd quarter. Smithville opened the fourth quarter by finishing a long drive and converting on fourth-and-3 with junior quarterback Rorry Johnson throwing to junior receiver Aiden Peacock for a touchdown and the PAT was good. The Tigers would cut into the Salado lead for the score to be 41-14 with 6:42 to go in the 4th-quarter. They would quickly find pay dirt again when “BURLY” RB- Caine Cruddas would power his way to a 56-yard TD-RUN and with the Gist PAT, the score would climb to 48-14 with 6:35 left in the 4th quarter. The Eagles would fumble the football on their next offensive drive Tigers defender Davis recovered a fumble on defense and took it to the endzone for a scoop and score for Smithville’s final score of the night. The final score would be Salado Eagles 48 and Smithville Tigers 21. Defense leading tacklers were Owen Gunter 13 tackles- 1-FF, Da’Monte Foster 11 tackles- 3 TFL- 1 Sack-1-FF, Owen Piatt 8 tackles, Ethan Robledo 5 tackles, Dylan Jimenez, and Hayes Ramsey 2 tackles- 1 PBU – 1 INT.
SALADO 48, Smithville 21
Salado 21 21 0 7 — 48
Smithville 0 0 14 7 — 21
Sal — De’Vonte Foster 6-Yd Pass from Max Gist (Gist Kick)
Sal — Andrew Benevides 60-Yd Pass from Foster (Gist kick)
Sal — Landen Noske 39-Yd Pass from Foster (Gist kick)
Sal — Gabrielle Merriman 46-Yd Pass from Gist (Gist kick)
Sal — Max Gist 2-Yd run (Gist kick)
Sal — Luke Bingham 7-Yd run (kick failed)
Smit — Justin Gurley 3-Yd run (kick)
Smit — Aiden Peacock 3-Yd Pass from Rorry Johnson (kick)
Sal — Caine Cruddas 56-Yd run (Gist kick)
Smit — Trip Davis 18 yard Scoop & Score (kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Sal Smit
Rushes-yards 183 92
Passing yards 235 66
Comp.-Att.-Int. 13-19-235 7-18-92-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
De’Vonte Foster 6-10-136-2 TD’s, 6 rush- 1 TD
Max Gist: 10/16, 148 yds, 2 TD,10 rush, 117 yds, 1 TD
Landon Owens 3-5-30-0, 5 Rush
Luke Bingham: 6 rush- 56 yds – 1 rushing TD
Landen Noske: 1 rec 39 yds – 1 TD
Andrew Benevides: 15 rush, 59 yds, 1 rushing TD, 1 rec 13 yds
Caine Cruddas: 6 rush, 56 yds 1 TD, 1 rec 21 yds
Gabe Merriman: 4 rec, 83 yds, 1 TD
Brody Quinones: 1 rec 28 yds
Brayden Dildine: 1 Rush 12 yds, 1 rec 0 YDs
King Tobe: 1 rec, 3 yds