Nick Talbot: Badgers surge into postseason with personnel fit to a (wing) T Posted On: Sunday, Nov. 8 2009 05:31 AM Edward Hall stood at midfield shivering.

He was soaked from head to toe, there were tiny ice chunks on his shoulders and the cold wind was picking up. But Hall did not mind one bit. He was far too happy.

The senior running back had just gotten one of the Gatorade baths that are only reserved for winners. Lampasas had just defeated Hutto 47-20 to make the playoffs for the first time since 2000.

The Badgers earned the second seed out of Division-II District 25-4A and will play Austin McCallum at Georgetown's Birkelback Stadium at 7:30 p.m.

The win over Hutto was much more impressive when you look at recent history, though. You can't say they doubled, tripled or quadrupled their win total from a season ago. That's because you can't multiply by zero and get anything but zero.

The Badgers had gone two years without winning a single game – 0-20. The program was considered by many to be one of the worst 4A's in Texas.

How quickly things can change.

The one-season turnaround shows how things can be when things are done right.

And, of course, when the personnel fits the coach.

If Keith Null, who was an air-it-out passer at both Lampasas and West Texas A&M and is now a member of the St. Louis Rams, was still a Badger it might not have worked as well. McQueen would have had to adjust what he knew – the wing-T offense – to the quarterback.

But with Hall and Brode DuBose pounding out the yards, there was nothing to worry about. They fit his system to perfection.

It just took a while to discover them. After defeating Manor in Week 1, the Badgers fell in consecutive weeks to Rockdale and San Marcos as DuBose sat out with a suspension.

Had DuBose played would Lampasas have won? Maybe not. San Marcos beat them 33-0. They certainly would have defeated Rockdale, though, whom they lost to 7-6.

In the end, though, the losses made them better.

It taught them they could rely on Hall. In the team's first win of the season, the Badgers only really pounded the rock with DuBose, handing off the ball to the senior 33 times for 171 yards. When DuBose was out, though, Hall went from a non-starter the first two weeks of the season to the area's leading rusher with 1,472 yards only weeks later.

Hall carried 13 times for 78 yards in the loss to San Marcos and scored the Badgers' lone touchdown against Rockdale. The stats were nothing mind-bending, but enough for the coaches to give him his shot against Gatesville. It paid off. Sure, the Badgers lost again – this time 49-48 to the playoff bound Hornets – but Hall racked up 234 yards on 21 attempts and the Badgers discovered their offense.

The totals started to pile up as he gained 110 yards against Pflugerville Hendrickson, 217 yards in a 21-point win against Dripping Springs, 179 in the Badgers upset of Marble Falls and finally 124 yards Friday in the playoff-clinching win over the Hippos.

Meanwhile, DuBose was still churning out yards as well, gaining 760 yards on the ground despite missing those two games.

After defeating the Mustangs and Tigers and nearly knocking off Killeen last week (21-17), Lampasas did not just sneak out a win to make the playoffs, either.

They simply destroyed Hutto. Why? Well, they were hungrier than the Hippos.

It showed all over the field. They dominated the line of scrimmage and even though the Hutto defense swarmed to the ball, they could not bring down Hall and DuBose, who pushed, bulldozed and, at times scraped their way down the field.

There were no big runs. Not really.

The longest run by either back was a 21-yard run by DuBose. Hall's longest of the night was 16 yards. The two backs carried the ball a combined 43 times. Only four rushes went for 10 yards or more.

That is exactly why they won.

It all started with McQueen's rather simple philosophy – pound the rock and run the clock. That is what has advanced Lampasas further than the realists predicted 10 weeks ago.

And that is what left Hall standing at midfield, shivering with a smile on his face so broad nothing will ever wipe it off.

Contact Nick Talbot at ntalbot@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7569.