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Wednesday
March 17, 2010 Since 1922 |
RSS rally comes up short against Port Arthur
By Dave Rogers
They came oh, so close Friday night against Port Arthur Memorial, rallying from an early 22-point deficit, a 17-point halftime deficit and from 15 points behind with five minutes left to fall two points short at the end, 44-42.
“When you score 42 points, you expect to win,” RSS head coach Herb Minyard said.
“I was pleased with the kids’ effort. The last three weeks or so is the first time we’ve played together as a team.”
Sterling shocked a lot of people by taking three first-half leads on District 21-5A leader West Brook three weeks ago, but the Rangers started the second half badly and ended up losing by four touchdowns.
Against Memorial, Sterling came back strong after the Titans scored three times in the final five minutes of the first half.
The Rangers gained 255 of their 405 total yards in the final two periods.
“The kids have stayed together extremely well. They’ve kept their focus. They’ve done a great job of not getting caught up in the record,” Minyard said.
“They’re going out each time playing together as a team. I’m extremely pleased with their effort, their heart and their character. We’ll get back to work together and try to put a game plan together to beat Kingwood.”
The Rangers wind up their season Friday with a home game against Kingwood, which, like Port Arthur, is still very much in the playoff hunt.
The Rangers are still hunting their first “W.”
“Whether you get beat by two or 22, it still goes down in the loss column,” Minyard said.
“Getting beat by such a small margin only compounds the situation. It makes the mistakes you made ever more so glaring.”
Friday night’s game in Port Arthur, highlighted for Sterling by quarterback Jerrod Doucet’s 316 total yards and six touchdowns running and passing, was also notable because it took three hours, 40 minutes to complete.
“There were 33 penalties called, combined,” Minyard noted, 23 of which were stepped off, 12 for 90 yards against Sterling.
“Both teams made a lot of mistakes. We just made a few more than they did and that determined, ultimately, the outcome of the game.”
A series of kicking-game goofs late in the second quarter was too much for Sterling to overcome.
First, Sterling players didn’t field a punt and it was downed at the 1-yard line. That led to Sterling being forced to punt from its end zone. A 24-yard Memorial return allowed the Titans to start from the Rangers 17 and score easily.
Then the Rangers failed to cover a “pooch” kickoff, giving Memorial the ball again, leaving the Titans just 30 yards from another touchdown.
In less than two minutes, Memorial increased a 14-6 lead to 28-6.
“That exchange with the punt and kickoff right after it, we lost field position we’d tried to maintain all night,” Minyard said. “That’s a series of events that changed the complexity of the first half.”
Sterling tried two onsides kickoffs in the final five minutes of the game, the first after Demarte Allen’s 48-yard run set up Doucet’s second TD pass of the night to Terell Zeno.
That kickoff was touched by a Ranger player before it went 10 yards, so Memorial took over and tried to run out the clock. But Sterling used two of its timeouts and forced a punt, then started from its 12-yard line after Zeno wisely fair-caught a punt there.
Two penalties backed the Rangers up to third-and-19 from the 3 before Doucet passed 13 yards to Manasah Davis, then ran 80 yards to the Titan 4 on fourth-and-6.
That set up Doucet’s second one-yard score of the night (to go with a 29-yarder), getting the Rangers within two points with 1:52 to play.
This time, the onsides kick by Israel Rodriguez worked, with Austin Angel recovering for Sterling at the Titan 41.
“We got two excellent onsides kicks and we got the second,” Minyard said. “I’m pleased at that standpoint with our kicker.”
Then the Rangers suffered their only offensive turnover of the night on the next play. Port Arthur’s Dez Gardner picked off Doucet’s pass for Zeno at the Titan 7.
Memorial ran for a couple of first downs, finishing off the clock and Sterling’s hopes.
They came oh, so close Friday night against Port Arthur Memorial, rallying from an early 22-point deficit, a 17-point halftime deficit and from 15 points behind with five minutes left to fall two points short at the end, 44-42.
“When you score 42 points, you expect to win,” RSS head coach Herb Minyard said.
“I was pleased with the kids’ effort. The last three weeks or so is the first time we’ve played together as a team.”
Sterling shocked a lot of people by taking three first-half leads on District 21-5A leader West Brook three weeks ago, but the Rangers started the second half badly and ended up losing by four touchdowns.
Against Memorial, Sterling came back strong after the Titans scored three times in the final five minutes of the first half.
The Rangers gained 255 of their 405 total yards in the final two periods.
“The kids have stayed together extremely well. They’ve kept their focus. They’ve done a great job of not getting caught up in the record,” Minyard said.
“They’re going out each time playing together as a team. I’m extremely pleased with their effort, their heart and their character. We’ll get back to work together and try to put a game plan together to beat Kingwood.”
The Rangers wind up their season Friday with a home game against Kingwood, which, like Port Arthur, is still very much in the playoff hunt.
The Rangers are still hunting their first “W.”
“Whether you get beat by two or 22, it still goes down in the loss column,” Minyard said.
“Getting beat by such a small margin only compounds the situation. It makes the mistakes you made ever more so glaring.”
Friday night’s game in Port Arthur, highlighted for Sterling by quarterback Jerrod Doucet’s 316 total yards and six touchdowns running and passing, was also notable because it took three hours, 40 minutes to complete.
“There were 33 penalties called, combined,” Minyard noted, 23 of which were stepped off, 12 for 90 yards against Sterling.
“Both teams made a lot of mistakes. We just made a few more than they did and that determined, ultimately, the outcome of the game.”
A series of kicking-game goofs late in the second quarter was too much for Sterling to overcome.
First, Sterling players didn’t field a punt and it was downed at the 1-yard line. That led to Sterling being forced to punt from its end zone. A 24-yard Memorial return allowed the Titans to start from the Rangers 17 and score easily.
Then the Rangers failed to cover a “pooch” kickoff, giving Memorial the ball again, leaving the Titans just 30 yards from another touchdown.
In less than two minutes, Memorial increased a 14-6 lead to 28-6.
“That exchange with the punt and kickoff right after it, we lost field position we’d tried to maintain all night,” Minyard said. “That’s a series of events that changed the complexity of the first half.”
Sterling tried two onsides kickoffs in the final five minutes of the game, the first after Demarte Allen’s 48-yard run set up Doucet’s second TD pass of the night to Terell Zeno.
That kickoff was touched by a Ranger player before it went 10 yards, so Memorial took over and tried to run out the clock. But Sterling used two of its timeouts and forced a punt, then started from its 12-yard line after Zeno wisely fair-caught a punt there.
Two penalties backed the Rangers up to third-and-19 from the 3 before Doucet passed 13 yards to Manasah Davis, then ran 80 yards to the Titan 4 on fourth-and-6.
That set up Doucet’s second one-yard score of the night (to go with a 29-yarder), getting the Rangers within two points with 1:52 to play.
This time, the onsides kick by Israel Rodriguez worked, with Austin Angel recovering for Sterling at the Titan 41.
“We got two excellent onsides kicks and we got the second,” Minyard said. “I’m pleased at that standpoint with our kicker.”
Then the Rangers suffered their only offensive turnover of the night on the next play. Port Arthur’s Dez Gardner picked off Doucet’s pass for Zeno at the Titan 7.
Memorial ran for a couple of first downs, finishing off the clock and Sterling’s hopes.