Many football followers still consider San Antonio Lee's 55-48 victory over Brackenridge in 1963, a bidistrict attraction that matched blue-chip backs Linus Baer and Warren McVea, to be the greatest igh school gave ever played in Texas. But Yates Head coach Luther Booker has a game to add to the states best-ever list. I know best games are a matter of opinion,m but the one we had with San Antonio Churchill was certainly a thrill a minute. It was quite an offensive contest. The Lions spotted Churchill a 14-0 first period lead and then roared back to salvage a tense 40-31 triumph Saturday at Rice Stadium in the semifinal round of the Class 5A playoffs. Ouarterback Thomas Ledet, who passed for three touchdowns, scored the go ahead marker on a 1-yard sneak with 40 seconds left. It was a beautiful game for the spectators, said Booker after his Lions became the first Houston Independent School District team to reach the state finals since 1954. And it was also exciting on the sidelines. I felt we started off a little tight, Ledet throwing high on his passes and our defense giving up those two touchdowns. We made a defensive adjustment which allowed us to get a better pass rush and ledet settled down. That help us ge our offense moving and then it became a wild one. We knew we could move the football and felt it was only amatter of time before we put some points on the board. Bookers 13-1 Lions will now meet undefeated Lake Highlands, a 10-7 semifinal winner over Hereford in the 1981 finals. That game will be staged Saturday in the Astrodome, starting at 7:30 p.m. There were lots of big plays in the Churchill game but the biggest had to be the pass from Ledet to little Randolph Wilburn when it was foruth and 10 and not much time left. We felt they would be looking for a deep pass so we went underneath the deep coverage. After Wilburn caught the pass, he did one terrific job running with the football, breaking at least three tackles to put us in position to score and go ahead. At the time of Ledets clutch fourth down pass to Wilburn, the score was tied at 31-31and Churchill was leading in both 20 yard line penetrations and first downs. The Lions were down to one play from their 45 yard line. Wilburn turned a 12 yard catch into a 35 yard gain all the way to the Charger 20. Six plays later Ledet pushed over from less than a yard out to end the dramatic 55 yard drive coming with 40 seconds left to seal the Yates victory. By passing for 195 yards, Ledet raised his 14 game figure to 2,151 yard and 23 touchdowns.. In the heralded Lee-Brack game of 1963, Baer and McVea were the states two top players. Baer scored 37 points on five touchdowns and seven extra-point kicks rushed for 150 yards on 19 carries, had a 95 yard kickoff return and caught three passes for 94 yards. McVea, who went on to the University of Houston tallied 38 points and scored on runs of 54,14, 48, 20, 45 and 4 yards in a 215 yard performance on 21 carries. Lee scored on all but one possession and Brack on all but two. Two of the five University Interscholastic League state titles were settled over the weekend, Gordon Wood collecting his ninth championship when Brownwood edged Fort Bend Willowridge 14-9 in the Cloass 4a finals and Bremond in Class 1a with a 12-9 count over Wink. The other three championships will be determined this weekend, Yates meeting Lake Highlands in the bigschool feature in the Astrodome while Cameron and Gilmer gather in Waco (2:30) in Class 3A both on Saturday. A single Friday game sends Garrison against Pilot Point at Mesquite (8) in Class 2A.

Gerald Bean and Larry Collins spearheaded a conservative, but effective offensive attack to lead the Yates lions to a 17-7 victory over the Wheatley Wildcats in the second game of an Astrodome prep double header Friday night. The victory sewed up the Distric 20 5A title for the Lions, who will meet District 19 5A champion Washington in the bi district round of the state playoffs next Friday at 9 p.m. in the Astrodome. Yates, 9-0-1 on the season exteneded its regular season undefeated streak to 30 games with the victory while defeating the Wildcats for the seventh consecutive time. The loss was Wheatleys first in 10 games this season. *The meeting marked the first time the two teams had played each other with undefeated records since 1962.The game had been billed as a match up between two of the HISDs top teams and lived up to expectations even if both squads were a little apprehensive about making the crucial turnover that would swing valuable momentum over to the otherside.Wheatleys Howard Gordon stunned the crowd of 28,279- the largest gathering for a high school fotball game in the Greater Houston area since the 1978 Class 4A state championship game by returning the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Brian Callign added the conversion to lift the Wildcats in 7-0 lead just seconds into the ame.The Lions tied the score with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter on a 52 yard scoring strike from quaterback John Gentry to Clyde Bishop. The touchdown was set up by Larry Baughs fumble recovery on the preceding play. Bean, a senior running back picked up 54 of his first half total 57 yards rushing by darting around left end later in the same period on Yates second scoring drive. Collins capped the 75 yard march with a 2 yard plunge over right tackle with 1:48 to to play before halftime. Lemeul Moton added both extra points following Yates firs two touchdowns. Wheatleys offense sputtered in second half, collecting only three first downs. Samuel Kelly, the Wildcats leading rusher, collected a game total 72 yards rushing, 61 of which came in first tow quarters. The fifth ranked Lions wrapped up the victory with a 25 yard field goal by Moton with 7:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. The three pointer was set up Carey Thompsons recovery of a Wheatley fumble at the Wildcats 24 yard line. Bean led the Lions with 87 yards on 15 carries to boost his season rushing total to 1,147 yards. Collins added 62 yards on 18 carries to stretch his season figure to 1,005 yards. The Victory was Yates 36th in 60 games against Wheatley since the crosstown rivalry originated in 1927.