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Klein Oak vs. Westfield
JV Gold
October 29, 2008
JV
Gold Wins at Westfield, 22 – 15
By Don Porter
The JV Gold
showed intestinal fortitude winning over the always tough Westfield Mustangs, 22
– 15. Injuries, unlucky bounces and dubious rules interpretations could not
stop the JV Gold.
Special teams
quickly became the focus on the day when the Mustangs executed a knuckle ball
squib kick off that managed to careen about the field enough for the black clad
home team to recover. The Oak defense stuffed the first three plays but the
Westfield offense hit the long pass on 4th down to go up 7 – 0.
Securing the next kickoff helped and Oak pushed the ball to the middle of the
field before needing to punt. James Wheeler played textbook punt team
end position (Gunner) by sprinting down the field and downing the excellent
Nicholas Bradley kick on the 8 yard line. Trevor Dickerson
must have had a Red Bull for lunch because he tore up the first two Mustang
plays with a tackle for loss (TFL) back to the 2 yard line. Ryan Emerson
and Skyler Denny stuffed the runner and the Mustangs were punting
out of the end zone. Jason Williams fielded the punt and blurred around
the right side, following great blocks and making the Mustangs miss wildly all
the way to the 6” line. QB Alex Sisson followed his center Dakota
Thompson into the end zone, 7 – 7, with the Bradley PAT. The
kick-off team of Jonathan Mair, Darius Butler, Peter Crews, Anton Salter,
Marcus Green, Brothers Berg (Erin and Ethan) stuffed the return man
and with a penalty forced the Mustangs to start on their own 15 yard line. The
D-line of Samuel Porter, Skyler and Bryce Vaughan stuffed the run
attempts and Westfield was punting again. Travis Arthur threw a
crunching block and Jason was on his way again down to the 10 yard line.
All season, the Oak punter, Nicholas, was better than the other team’s
and the Oak punt returner, Jason, was better than the other team’s. Add
the willingness of the Special Teams guys to hustle and throw blocks and Oak
always wins the field position game. The quarter ended with Oak sitting on the
2 yard line.
Punching the
ball into the end zone gave the Panthers the 13 – 7 lead to start the second
quarter. Westfield went razzle-dazzle with a double reverse flea flicker thrown
high into the sky and through the hands of the open end. That play got the
Panther’s attention and Brycen Turner made the hit, Brandon Vong
chased the QB to force the incompletion and the linebacker corps of Ryan,
Sean McGowan and Jonathan swarmed to stop the Mustang runner. Oak
took over and Jason took the option pitch around the right side, blocks
by Nicholas and Dustin Scott, for a gorgeous 65 yard run, 20 – 7.
Chase Kaiser made the hustle play on the kick-off and the Defense held
again. The O-line of Dakota, James “Pancake” Fuentez, Kyle Phillips, Eric
Sanchez and Tanner Grebe were shoving the Westfield line back to push
the ball near the goal line but alas time round out before the score could be
registered if the field had a scoreboard.
Credit the
Mustangs for finding the motivation at half-time to open up the third quarter
with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Westfield was pushing their way down the
field before Will Hoffmans stripped the ball. After a nice long pass,
Westfield returned the favor and the Mustangs went back on the march. The
controversial play of the year unfolded with a long high pass into the end zone,
the Oak defender positioned to cradle the ball while the Mustang end could only
reach over the back and put a hand on the ball as they fell. The refs convened
a committee meeting and as with all committee meetings, the results were not
satisfactory to the sunny side of the field with a ruling that the ball was
caught simultaneously by both players, therefore a touchdown for the Mustangs.
Coaches and fans could only sigh, loudly. The Mustangs punched another knuckle
ball kick-off and found the pigskin to get the ball back to end the quarter, all
momentum on the Mustang sidelines, Panther sidelines still sighing, loudly.
The Panthers
reached deep into their hearts and forced the Mustangs to punt. Oak went on a
clock-killing drive that ended with Khaleeq Little hobbling with an ankle
injury and QB Alex Sisson sitting on the sideline with a separated
shoulder after a heroic scramble pass completion that saved field position for
the Panthers. Oak needed a stop and Brandon Vong provided it with a
fantastic tackle in the Mustang backfield. The Mustang deep snapper put the
ball over the head of the punter through the end zone and Oak gained a valuable
safety, 22 – 15. The offense operated with Dillon May at QB and
Marcus Green and Darius Butler running the power game to kill some
clock. The Mustangs had their last chance with Trevor Dickerson chasing
the QB for several minutes on one play. The last gasp was another long high
pass the seemed destined to fall into the Mustang receiver’s hands when Jairo
Razo flew through the air to bat the ball away, game over.
Football is a
physical game but sometimes it is just as much about mental toughness and the JV
Gold made the school proud with the 7th win on the 6th
road trip of the season.
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