For all the Estacado football program had accomplished in the last two years – making the playoffs two straight and putting itself back on the map – there were two hurdles that had yet to be overcome.

Winning a district championship.

Finishing with a winning record.

The 2009 Matadors finally cleared those hurdles, and in doing so swept the top honors for the Avalanche-Journal All-South Plains Class 3A team.

No two players flourished more than senior inside linebacker Joey Andrist, the Defensive Player of the Year, and junior tailback Augustine Abigide, the Offensive Player of the Year.

Andrist was the leader of an Estacado defense that allowed just 224 yards per game. He ended the season with 143 tackles, averaging more than 13 per game, and he also made six sacks. Abigide was the sparkplug on offense, rushing for 976 yards and 16 touchdowns on 140 carries, this after being benched midway through the District 1-3A season as an attention-getter.

The benching did the trick. Abigide did most of his damage in the final four games of the regular season, and it pushed the Matadors to a 6-5 record (after a bi-district loss to Abilene Wylie) and the district championship, the first for Estacado in football since 1997.

The coaching staff’s decision to pull back and simplify some of the schemes both offensively and defensively was also a big reason for the late-season surge, thus earning third-year head coach Danny Servance the Coach of the Year honor.