Klein Oak vs. Cy Ranch

Freshman Gold

August 28, 2008

Freshmen Gold open up season in fantastic form… Win big at home…

 By Russ Goodall

Led by the arm of quarterback Connor McQueen and a smothering defense, the Klein Oak Freshman Gold Panthers beat Cy Ranch 38-13 to open the season Thursday at Klein Oak High School.

The Panthers (1-0) rolled up 226 yards on offense, with 122 of those yards coming on the ground.

Led by Dominique Levarity, Eduardo Plascencia, Saul Chavez and Hayden Valenzuela, the Panthers defense was even more impressive. They held Cy Ranch to just 11 yards passing and negative 26 yards rushing on the night.

McQueen led the Panthers offense by completing five of nine passes for 104 yards and four touchdowns. After a slow start, McQueen’s first three completions of the season went for touchdowns.

McQueen started his night with three straight incompletions, before he heated up.

Down 6-0 after a 23-yard TD run from Cy Ranch on the Mustangs first offensive play from scrimmage, McQueen and the Panthers went to work.

After a 15-yard punt return by Carson Cleveland to set Klein Oak Gold up at the Cy Ranch 45, McQueen connected with Andrew Medina on a 45-yard touchdown pass to tie the score with 1:13 to play in the first quarter.

The game would stay tied until late in the second quarter when the Panthers would this time go to the ground.

Starting at the 50, the Klein Oak Gold offensive line, led by Seth Borderlon, Luke Emerson, Tanner Choppy, Thomas Seltz and Ethan Fourie, opened a huge hole for running back Blake Ashford to gallop 34 yards down to the Cy Ranch 16.

Two plays later Ashford, who finished with three carries for 51 yards, scampered 14 yards to the end zone for the touchdown.

The kick was blocked, but Klein Oak Gold would have its first lead of the season with 1:54 to play in the first half at 12-6.

The Panthers weren’t finished.

On the ensuing possession for Cy Ranch, Levarity would make a statement. After batting down the first down pass attempt, the big defensive end stepped in front of a second down pass from Cy Ranch and ran it back 25 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown.

After a penalty on the interception return wiped out the TD, the Panthers went to work with just over a minute to play in the first half at the Cy Ranch 18.

On the first play of the drive, McQueen hit Blake Scott for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:16 to play in the first half to give Klein Oak Gold an 18-6 lead at the break.

The second half was more of the same from both teams.

After a three-and-out from Cy Ranch, the Panthers offense went to work again.

On third and 12 at the Mustang 21, McQueen found an open Austin Schoech behind the defense for a 21-yard TD pass. After McQueen hit Schoech for the 2-point conversion, the Panthers were up 20, 26-6.

Levarity would intercept a Cy Ranch pass again, on the Mustangs ensuing possession, and return it to the 1. From there, Rock Stevens took it over for the touchdown to give Klein Oak Gold a 32-6 lead with 46 seconds to play in the third quarter.

After Cy Ranch returned the kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 19 points, Klein Oak Gold would put the finishing touches on the victory.

The Panthers took the ball and marched 55 yards on 10 plays, culminating with a McQueen to Travis Minikus 13-yard TD pass to finish off the scoring with 4:14 to play.

The Klein Oak Gold will be back on the field at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 4 when the Panthers host Cy Creek at Klein Oak High School.

Klein Oak Gold 38, Cy Ranch 13

Score by quarters

Cy Ranch                   6          0          7          0          --          13

Klein Oak Gold         6          12        14        6          --          38

Scoring summary

First quarter

Cy Ranch: No. 43 23 run, kick failed. 6-0

Oak Gold: Andrew Medina 45 pass from Conner McQueen, kick failed. 6-6

Second quarter

Oak Gold: Blake Ashford 14 run, run failed. 6-12

Oak Gold: Blake Scott 18 pass from McQueen, kick failed. 6-18

Third quarter

Oak Gold: Austin Schoech 21 pass from McQueen, McQueen pass to Schoech. 6-26

Oak Gold: Rock Stevens 1 run, kick failed. 6-32

Cy Ranch: No. 34 77 kickoff return, kick good. 13-32

Fourth quarter

Oak Gold: Travis Minikus 13 pass from McQueen, kick failed. 13-38

Individual Stats

RUSHING – Klein Oak Gold: Blake Ashford 3-51, Rock Stevens 11-41, Conner McQueen 5-8, Luis Avelino 2-12, Zachary Gebhart 3-(-)14, Darrius Calicutt 4-24.

PASSING – Klein Oak Gold: McQueen 5-9-0-104-4, Gebhart 0-2-0-0-0.

RECEIVING – Klein Oak Gold: Andrew Medina 1-45, Blake Scott 2-25, Austin Schoech 1-21, Travis Minikus 2-13.