Klein Oak vs. Tomball

Freshman Gold

October 9, 2008

Avelino, Panthers shut down Tomball

By Russ Goodall

Klein Oak Freshman Gold defensive tackle Luis Avelino was all over the field on Thursday.

Avelino recorded a solo sack and helped on two others, as well as stripping the ball from a Tomball running back and returning it 44 yards as the Panthers thumped the Cougars 27-7 at Klein Oak High School.

While Avelino and the defense were keeping Tomball in check, quarterback Conner McQueen was tearing up the Cougars through the air.

McQueen completed eight of 11 passes for 148 yards and four touchdowns, including two TD tosses to Matthew McBride to help the Panthers improve to 5-0 on the season.

The Panthers’ offense – led up front by Luke Emerson, Seth Borderion, Thomas Seltz, Branden Bielefeldt and Samuel Vela – racked up 248 total yards, with 148 coming through the air.

Tomball gave the Klein Oak Gold a quick wake-up call. On the second play from scrimmage, the Panthers gave up a 66-yard touchdown run to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the first quarter.

On the Panthers first possession, running back Blake Ashford took the lead as they marched 70 yards on 10 plays, the final 22 yards coming on a pass from McQueen to McBride. Eduardo Plascencia was true on the kick and the game was tied at seven with four minutes to play in the opening quarter.

After a couple a three-and-outs for both teams, Tomball got the ball and Avelino and the defense – led by the play of Rock Stevens, Dominique Levarity, Adam List, Kemon Wright, Joshua Barnett and Ernest Davis -- took control.

The DT sliced through the Cougars’ offensive line to stop the ball carrier for a 4-yard loss on the first play of the series. After two pass breakups by Wright, sandwiched around a fake-punt run for 29 yards, the Panthers took over looking for the lead.

After a quick 16 yards on the ground, McQueen hit Lance Fegan for 22 yards. Then after two more Ashford runs, McQueen found Ashford open for a 25-yard TD toss. The Panthers try for two failed, but they had the lead for the first time at 13-7.

Avelino, Justin White and Hayden Valenzuela then wrecked the next drive for Tomball.

The trio accounted for two sacks and 25 yards in losses in three plays to force the Cougars into a punting situation.

Ernest Davis fielded the punt and returned it 20 yards to the Tomball 30 to set up the Panthers with a short field.

Just four plays later, McQueen hit Fegan on an 18-yard strike for the score. McQueen then scampered in on the 2-point try to put Klein Oak Gold up 21-7 with just over a minute left to play in the first half.

Avelino picked up his second sack of the game on Tomball’s first possession of the second half, as the Panthers took over on downs after forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down at the Klein Oak Gold 37.

After the teams traded possessions, Tomball looked to be on its way to points. But on first and goal from the Panther 9, Avelino ripped the ball from the running back and returned it 44 yards to set up the Klein Oak Gold offense at the Tomball 47.

Just five plays later, McQueen connected with McBride for a 33-yard touchdown, the second in the game for the duo and fourth of the afternoon for McQueen. The point after was partially blocked, but the Panthers were in complete control at 27-7 with 4:22 to play.

Tomball marched 17 yards on the next drive in 11 plays to run out the clock in the fifth win of the season for Klein Oak Gold.

The Panthers will put their ever-growing win streak on the line at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 when they hit the road to take on Klein Collins.

KLEIN OAK FRESHMEN GOLD 27, TOMBALL 7

Score by quarters

TOMBALL                                           7            0        0          0          --            7

KLEIN OAK FRESHMEN GOLD            7          14        0          6          --          27

Scoring summary

First quarter

TOMBALL – No. 24 for 66 run (kick good), 8:46

OAK GOLD – Matthew McBride 22 pass from Conner McQueen (Andrew Plascencia kick), 4:00

Second quarter

OAK GOLD – Blake Ashford 25 pass from McQueen (2pt fails), 3:36

OAK GOLD – Lance Fegan 18 pass from McQueen (McQueen run), 1:04

Fourth quarter

OAK GOLD – McBride 33 pass from McQueen (PAT fails), 4:22

Team Statistics

                                                OAK GOLD              TOMBALL

First downs                             14                                7

Rushes-yards                           29-100                         23-94

Passing yards                          148                              69

Total yards                              248                              163

Passing                                    9-12-1-148-4               5-18-0-69-0

Fumbles                                   1-1                               3-2

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: OAK GOLD – Blake Ashford 15-64, Conner McQueen 1-5, Rock Stevens 4-17, Darrius Calicutt 5-5, J’Corey Soloman 3-12, Zachary Gebhart 2-(-3).

PASSING: OAK GOLD – Conner McQueen 8-11-0-148-4, Zachary Gebhart 0-1-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: OAK GOLD – Matthew McBride 2-55, Justin White 2-3, Lance Fegan 2-40, Andrew Medina 1-25, Blake Ashford 1-25.