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Klein Oak vs. Spring
JV Gold
October 23, 2008
JV
Gold Shuts Out the Lions, 14 – 0
By Don Porter
A perfect
fall day greeted the visiting Panthers at Leonard George Stadium, home of the
Spring Lions. The JV Gold played with a depleted roster, 10 players missing the
trip, but fought hard to gain the win.
Captains
Dakota Thompson and Brandon Vong won the kick-off from the black-clad
Lions. Trevor Dickerson, Jonathan Mair, Cody Steele, Will Hoffmans, Anton
Salter and Zaim Mohd-Zamri threw the blocks to give the offense the
good field position. The opening drive was an indicator on the day, the Zebras
apparently use a different rule book on the east side of I-45 when an obvious
pass interference play was ignored forcing a punt. No matter, the defense
forced the Lions to punt on a three and out. The offense went into gear with
runs by QB Alex Sisson and RB Jason Williams behind a pancake
block by James Fuentez. Nicholas Bradley staked his claim for
Friday Night Lights with a nice over the shoulder 45 yard catch to gain the
great field position.
Unfortunately, the option pitch found the hard turf and Spring had the ball
back. The center for Spring was unclear on the concept so he rolled the ball
backwards and Drew Latham showed his quicks with the recovery. The
option worked this time for some good gains behind the blocks of Tanner Grebe,
Kyle Phillips and Eric Sanchez. Travis Arthur made a nice
grab on the Sisson pass to move the ball near the goal. Again the hard
turf made the ball bounce erratically on the fumble and Spring had the ball
back, quarter over, no score.
Erin Burgh
got a tackle for loss (TFL) and then got another after Samuel Porter did
a lot of work chasing the QB across the field to his teammate. Skyler Denny
and Matt Wilson forced another punt, another strange Zebra call and Oak
was pushed way back. The offense went on a grinding drive with runs by
Williams and Sisson. Add another excellent pass catch by Bradley
and the Panthers were rolling when a mystery call appeared from the Zebras
negating the play and forcing the punt. Bradley boomed a beauty and
James Wheeler hustled to down the most excellent kick on the one-yard line.
Travis Arthur made a text book open field tackle and Jonathan Mair
stuffed the line to force the punt, a shank that gave Oak the short field.
Bradley caught another beauty over the middle before Sisson hit
Khaleeq Little for the TD, Bradley PAT good, Oak 7 to nothing with 14
seconds on the clock for the half.
The third
quarter was a frustrating affair for Oak. The defense stopped the Lions
immediately on the Drew Latham tackle heard up in the stands. Bradley
made another catch and Dustin Scott along with Cody Steele both
threw wicked downfield blocks but the offense stalled. Bradley added
another great punt. Spring went into an unbalanced formation which caught the
Panthers by surprise and drove the ball down the field to the goal line to end
the quarter.
The fourth
quarter opened with Oak’s touchdown lead in peril, Spring sitting at the Oak 5
yard line and playing with the confidence of a 86 yard drive already on the stat
sheet. Sean McGowan decided that enough was enough and smothered the
fumble to preserve the score. The offense carefully pushed its way out of the
shadow of the goal post when Sisson scrambled on a third and long and
zinged a pass to Cody Steele who fought his way to the first down
marker. Finally forced to kick, Bradley made yet another great punt to
shove the ball back to the other end of the field. Brandon Vong read the
screen pass and Sean McGowan made the open field tackle to force a
crucial fourth down for Spring. The Lions ran a nice pass play that was tipped
and slipped through the hands of the receiver while the Oak fans held their
breath until the ball bounced on the turf and the gasps of relief were heard
throughout the land. Oak went into a power formation and pushed down the field
for the Sisson score with just 29 seconds left on the clock. A tough
game won by a tough bunch of football players.
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