GRAHAM -- Entering the Class 3A Division II Region I semifinal on Friday night, Argyle coach Todd Rodgers knew exactly what his team would have to do to beat Snyder.

For portions of the game, he got what he wanted, but when it was over, Snyder running back Will Clay had 298 yards and four scores on the ground, and the Tigers are moving on to the regional final after a 34-27 win at Newton Field.

Clay came into the night with 2,419 yards and 34 touchdowns on the season and was held in check for much of the night -- gaining 229 of his yards on five carries, including scoring scampers of 70, 50 and 65 yards, all in the second half.

“His ability to get yards after first contact, second contact and third contact sometimes was key for them,” Rodgers said. “He’s a good player. We knew that coming in, and we knew we’d have to be at our very best to get him stopped.”

Snyder coach Chad Rogers said his running back was never happy with himself, even after breaking the game open for the Tigers.

“You’ve gotta understand, I’m just proud of this person [Clay],” Rogers said. “After all those long runs he came over to apologize for leaning on an offsides call.”

The Eagles (10-3) had plenty of offensive output as well, only theirs resulted in some field goals while Snyder (11-2) made its count.

The Eagles had just three possessions in the first half, but all ended one way or another in the red zone. Ben Parks kicked field goals of 30 and 37 yards, as the game was tied 6-6 near the end of the first half, and a Brady Brown touchdown catch from JJ Harp gave the Eagles a 13-12 halftime lead.

Argyle took a 20-12 lead with six minutes remaining in the third quarter on a 23-yard strike to Justin McGuffey from Harp, who finished the night with 320 yards on 33-of-47 passing.

From that point, Snyder scored the next three touchdowns on the three long runs from Clay. In between, Argyle had another red-zone visit stopped and missed a field goal, and Harp was stopped inches short of a first down on a 4^th-and-5 scramble at the Snyder 39-yard line with Argyle going in for the tie.

“We were in the red zone all three [possessions] in the first half and came up with [two] field goals,” Rodgers said. [The game] is about scores and opportunities. The [fourth-quarter] field goal goes in and that changes it [the game]. Little points here and there change dynamics of the game. They did a great job and we did some things to shut them down there for a series or two. They just countered with adjustments, and we didn’t have time to counter back.”

Argyle’s goal for every game is to get its high-octane passing offense at least six possessions per half, but it finished with just eight in the game, not counting a one-play possession at the end of the first half to run out the clock after a Matt Moore interception deep in the Eagles’ territory to kill a Snyder drive.

Rodgers said the tempo definitely wasn’t one he had hoped for but it was it wasn’t the difference in the game.

“We try to create as many possessions for our offense as we can,” he said. “They [Snyder] took the ball and kept it, but we drove the ball too. We had long drives and dictated the tempo, too, and what we were doing to them defensively. I think we controlled our portion of the offense and defense as much as we could. It was just the ebb and flow of the game that dictated us only getting three possessions [in the first half].”

Trailing 34-20 after Clay’s third straight home-run play with just 3:49 remaining in the game, the Eagles marched down the field and scored in seven plays on a 25-yard catch-and-run by Matt Handler with just more than two minutes remaining.

Handler finished with nine catches for 107 yards, and Brady Brown finished with 12 grabs for 109 yards.

A Parks onsides kick attempt failed to go 10 yards and gave Snyder possession, and a Clay 9-yard run gave Snyder a first down to seal the game.

Rodgers said the reason his team lost the game boils down to simple mathematics.

“We knew it was gonna be tough, and we knew we’d have to slow down what they do offensively,” he said. “There were times where we did and a lot of times that we didn’t. We knew we needed to score every opportunity we had. Basically, we kicked and they scored touchdowns.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com.

Snyder 34, Argyle 27

(at Newton Field, Graham)

Scoring Summary

Snyder 0            12            8            14            --            34

Argyle  3            10            7            7            --            27

First Quarter

A -- Ben Parks 30 field goal, 3:43

Second Quarter

S -- Lance Day 8 run (kick failed), 10:19

A -- Parks 37 field goal, 8:12

S -- Will Clay 3 run (kick blocked), 3:48

A -- Brady Brown 6 pass from JJ Harp (Parks kick), 2:15

Third Quarter

A -- Justin McGuffey 23 pass from Harp (Parks kick), 6:10

S -- Clay 70 run (Clay run), 4:10

Fourth Quarter

S -- Clay 50 run (Clay run), 4:51

S -- Clay 65 run (run failed), 3:49

A -- Matt Handler 25 pass from Harp (Parks kick), 2:19

Team Statistics

           S            A

First downs            14            24

Rushing yards            44-384            26-87

Passing yards            22            320

Total yards                        406                        407

Comp-att-int            2-6-1            33-47-0

Fumbles-lost            0-0            1-0

Punts-avg            2-38.0            1-36.0

Penalties-yds            9-78            8-60

Individual Statistics

Rushing: S -- Lance Day 13-79, Will Clay 27-298, Chase Arrendale 4-7. A -- Kyle Frizzell 17-76, JJ Harp 9-11.

Passing: S -- Lance Day 2-6-1-22. A -- JJ Harp 33-47-0-320.

Receiving: S -- Jesse Conner 1-4, Stephen Bryant 1-18. A -- Brady Brown 12-109, Matt Handler 9-107, Justin McGuffey 4-40, Kyle Frizzell 3-(-1), Tyler Sweatt 5-65.