Kayden Graham rushed for a career-best 267 yards and four touchdowns to lead Judson to a 63-53 victory against Brandeis in a Class 6A Division II first round playoff on Friday at Farris Stadium.
The Rockets leaned on their senior captain late in the game as he piled up key yardage on his 38-carry night.
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“Kayden’s been our workhorse all year,” Judson coach Vernon Hughes said. “There’s no better person in the program than to leave the game in the hands of 21 (Graham’s number). KG is our guy. He’s our team captain. He’s our best player on the football team. I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Graham sealed it with a 6-yard scoring run to make it 63-44 with 3:58 left in the fourth quarter. With the victory, Judson is guaranteed to have its first winning season since 2020’s 6-3 campaign.
“I love it,” Graham said of playing the workhorse role. “I do it for my team. I just wanted to make sure we made it to the next round.”
Getting a playoff victory is exactly what Hughes wanted in his first season at Judson after coming from Mesquite Horn.
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“I owe everything to these kids,” Hughes said. “They come to work every single day. The fans, the community. They’ve been bought in since day one. I can’t say enough of how proud I am of these guys and this community and everyone in Converse. I’m just blessed to be here.”
The Rockets now face Dripping Springs, which was a 42-35 winner over Round Rock Cedar Ridge on Friday.
Graham narrowly surpassed his previous career high – 262 yards in a 43-42 loss against Pieper on Oct. 19.
“I know that I’m a running back,” Graham said. “We’ve got to run that ball, and we got to run that clock and make sure we can make it home with a dub.”
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Graham efforts negated a big game from Brandeis quarterback Wynter Smith, who rushed for 209 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 231 yards and three scores. Smith connected with Texas A&M pledge Hakim Frampton for scores of 64 and 51 yards.
The first strike to Hampton occurred on the first play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead. The Broncos extended it to 14-0 on their next possession with Smith’s 12-yard scoring pass to Gabriel Garcia.
A general view of Ferris Stadium during the first quarter of a game between the Judson Rockets and Brandeis Broncos in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, Nov., 13, 2026. (Zach Del Bello/San Antonio Express-News)
The Rockets answered by scoring touchdowns on their next five possessions to take a 35-21 halftime lead. Graham had three of his touchdown runs in that span. Joseph Dimando passed to Ayden Mann (22 yards) and Neto Williams (16 yards) to account for the other two scores.
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Graham had a 2-yard touchdown run that put the Rockets ahead 21-14 with 9:58 left in the second. The score was set up by Myles Wisdom’s interception that put the Rockets on the Broncos’ 20.
Smith pulled the Broncos to within 28-21 with 1:58 remaining in the second quarter on a 32-yard touchdown run. The Rockets answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive capped by Williams’ touchdown catch with 28 seconds until halftime. Graham provided the big play to set it up with a 33-yard run to Brandeis’ 21.
Just when Brandeis caught some late momentum, Judson turned things back in its favor in the form of a 38-yard scoop-and-score that created a much-needed cushion for a 56-37 with 9:44 left in the game.
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This article originally published at Kayden Graham’s career-best effort leads Judson to a playoff victory.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
