Do-it-all quarterback Brandon Musch rallied Westminster Christian from a two-touchdown halftime deficit to a 39-35 Class 4A second-round win at home over Deshler on Friday. Musch ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 111 yards two more scores for the Wildcats, who trailed 21-7 after two quarters.

“I’m just so proud of the resilience and the ability of our team to handle adversity and our team’s toughness,” Musch said. “The coaches came up with a great game plan at halftime and all we had to do was trust ourselves, trust our coaches and that’s what we did.”

Westminster Christian (10-2), making the third round of the playoffs for the second time since 2018, broke on top on the first possession of the game. The Wildcats went 68 yards in four plays with Musch hitting T.J. Carter with a 1-yard scoring pass.

Deshler’s Tae Fuqua tied the game with a 44-yard run and the Tigers took the lead after he blocked a punt and ran it in with 9:22 left in the half.

Price Thornton hit Camden Fuller with a 25-yard scoring pass to push Deshler (8-4) to its 21-7 halftime lead.

The Wildcats recovered an onsides kick to open the second half. Musch ran 24 yards with 9:13 to play in the third to narrow Deshler’s lead to 21-13. Westminster’s Derrick Cumberlander knocked the ball loose and Carson Tinsley recovered at Deshler’s 28-yard-line to set up the Wildcats’ next TD. Henry Claunch ran 5 yards for the score.

The defense came up big again, stopping the Tigers (8-4) on a fourth-down try at Westminster’s 19-yard-line early in the final period. The Wildcats used nine plays to cap the 81-yard drive on Musch’s 16-yard run, putting Westminster up 25-21 with 9:36 left.

Deshler regained the lead 7 seconds later when Thornton connected with Fuller on a 72-yard TD pass play.

With 5:59 left, Musch hit Carter on a fourth-and-7 to put the home team up 32-28, but Deshler went back on top at 35-32 on Javious Carroll’s 22-yard TD run with 3:36 to play.

Musch scored the game-winner on a 47-yard run on a third-and-12 with 2:34 remaining.

Star of the game: Musch totaled 304 yards and accounted for five touchdowns.

Play of the game: Westminster faced a fourth-and-18 at the Deshler 28 trailing 21-13 with 4:58 left in the third quarter. Musch dropped back to pass, rolled to his right and took off, literally throwing Deshler defenders off and powering his way to the 2-yard-line. Claunch’s short TD run cut the lead to 21-19.

Stat sheet: Westminster – 401 total yards, with Musch completed 9-of-20 passes for 111 yards passing and two touchdowns and rushing for 193 and three touchdowns. Claunch gained 97 yards on the ground and Adam Hartman had 49 yards on one reception. Carter caught two passes – both for TDs – for 29 yards. Deshler – The Tigers finished with 396 total yards. Thornton was 9-of-16 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Fuqua rushed for 86 yards and a score. Fuller caught two passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

By the numbers: 2 – The Westminster defense stopped Deshler on both of its fourth-down attempts and the Wildcats converted 3-of-6 fourth-down tries. … 5 – Westminster scored touchdowns on all five of their possessions in the second half.

They said it: “The offensive line just came out like dogs and blocked like dogs and did our very best. We just ran the ball right down their throats and demoralized them. I can’t wait for round three.” – Westminster offensive lineman Sean Colvert

Coachspeak: “I’m just so proud of these guys, they never stopped believing. All we talked about at halftime was we were either going to believe or not and they chose to believe and trust each other. I’m just so proud of them in every aspect of the game – defense getting stops, special teams getting an onsides kick and offense, just running the ball like grown men against an unbelievable Deshler team.” – Westminster head coach Louis LeBlanc

What’s next: Westminster will travel to Killen to meet Brooks in the quarterfinals.