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Monday
March 15, 2010 Since 1922 |
Crosby hangs on for bidistrict win
By Dave Rogers
The Baytown Sun Published November 14, 2009 CONROE – Just when the Crosby Cougars thought their work was finished Saturday, their Class 4A bidistrict opponent dragged them back into the game.
Nederland scored two early fourth-quarter touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to trim a 22-point Crosby lead to six with nearly eight minutes left to play.
“Our mindset was we thought the game was over, so we slacked up,” Cougar running back JaKacy Evans said. “Then we had to pick it up and push through.”
Crosby did just that, stopping two final Nederland possessions to hang on for a 35-29 victory at Woodforest Bank Stadium.
In improving to 9-2 on the year, the District 19-4A champions got 202 rushing yards and all five touchdowns from Evans.
Then they went home to await news of the winner of Saturday night’s game between Montgomery and Del Valle, the team they’ll face next in the 4A-Division I playoffs.
“Nederland did a great job. They had a great scheme,” Crosby coach Kevin Flanigan said. “I felt like we relaxed some. We scored on our first two series, bam-bam, and then we relaxed.
“We have to learn to be a championship team, you can’t relax. We didn’t go for the throat.”
Crosby finished with 346 yards, 255 of those yards coming via the run and Evans, an August surprise for the Cougars, had most of those. Nederland got 290 of its 338 total yards through the air and Dionte Forney, its third starting quarterback of the year, had 274 of those and passed for all three Bulldog touchdowns.
Forney, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior who had been a starting defensive end until injuries knocked out the first two Bulldog quarterbacks, passed 13 yards to Brent Salenga to cut Crosby’s lead to 35-19 with 8:39 left.
Then he passed to Trevin Sonnier for a two-point conversion.
Then Nederland’s Joey Ruzick recovered a successful onsides kick and the Bulldogs were back in the end zone five plays later, on Forney’s 31-yard out-and-up to Stephen Schlett with 7:28 remaining.
Nederland, in the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years, then pulled off a tricky two-point play with holder Sonnier flipping the ball to kicker Taylor Trahan who passed to a wide-open Grant Lovelady to bring the Dogs within six points at 35-29.
Paul Erwin fielded the ensuing pooch kick from Trahan at the Cougar 33 and Crosby punched it out to the Bulldog 35 on two Evans runs for 22 yards and an 8-yard pass from Dominic Merka to Kelvin Holmes. Merka then booted the Dogs back to their own 13.
Nederland could gain only 10 yards before Trahan boomed a 60-yard punt to the Crosby 16. Evans got 11 yards on first down, but the Cougars had to punt again and Nederland took over at its 32-yard line with 2:10 remaining.
On third-and-eight, Forney passed to Taylor Williams short of the first down and Williams tried to pitch to teammate Lovelady.
Donnie Stark recovered, one of three fumble recoveries by the Cougars, and Crosby easily ran out the remaining time.
The Cougars had zipped 65 yards in six plays to score with their first possession of the game. Evans provided 56 of those yards on five carries, including a three-yard score.
After Nederland’s second straight three-and-out, Crosby needed 11 plays to cover 57 yards to Evans’ second score, from two yards.
Nederland got on the board on a 46-yard pass from Forney to Schlett early in the second period, but the District 19-4A champions came back with another Evans score, this one from nine yards, to lead 21-7 at half.
Lovelady capped an eight-play, 73-yard Nederland score with a three-yard TD run with 3:53 left in the third period, but Crosby answered in a hurry.
Evans galloped 52 yards to the end zone on the fourth play of a 67-yard drive to re-establish Crosby’s two touchdown lead at 28-13
Braelon Green’s recovery of a Forney fumble left Crosby just 26 yards to travel to its final score. A 23-yard pass from Merka to Erwin set up Evan’s one-yard score.
The Cougars wasted Gage Larkin’s recovery of a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, just as they had made no points from Cameron Trench’s 70-yard first-half kickoff return.
As it turned out, they could have used some points there to ward off the fourth-quarter suspense.
Crosby 35, Nederland 29
NED – 0 – 7 – 6 – 16 – 29
CRO – 14 – 7 – 7 – 7 – 35
FIRST QUARTER
CRO – JaKacy Evans 3 run (Sam Fowler kick), 8:55.
CRO – Evans 2 run (Fowler kick), 3:15.
SECOND QUARTER
NED – Stephen Schlett 46 pass from Dionte Forney (Taylor Trahan kick), 9:51.
CRO – Evans 9 run (Fowler kick), 1:50.
THIRD QUARTER
NED – Grant Lovelady 3 run (kick failed), 3:53.
CRO – Evans 52 run (Fowler kick), 2:41.
FOURTH QUARTER
CRO – Evans 1 run (Fowler kick), 11:57.
NED – Brent Salenga 13 pass from Forney (Trevin Sonnier pass from Forney), 8:39.
NED – Schlett 31 pass from Forney (Lovelady pass from Trahan), 7:28.
TEAM STATS NED CRO
First downs 14 17
Total yards 338 346
Rushes-yards 26-48 49-255
Passing yards 290 91
Passes 21-34-1 7-18-0
Punts-average 4-41.3 3-37.0
Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-21 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING -- Nederland, Sonnier 7-44, Lovelady 4-15; Crosby, Evans 33-202, Jake LaFleur 4-28.
PASSING -- Nederland, Forney 20-33-1-274; Crosby, Dominic Merka 7-18-0-91.
RECEIVING -- Nederland, Taylor Williams 4-74, Ryan Brady 4-59, Schlett 3-87; Crosby, Kelvin Holmes 3-33, Erwin 2-31.
The Baytown Sun Published November 14, 2009 CONROE – Just when the Crosby Cougars thought their work was finished Saturday, their Class 4A bidistrict opponent dragged them back into the game.
Nederland scored two early fourth-quarter touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions to trim a 22-point Crosby lead to six with nearly eight minutes left to play.
“Our mindset was we thought the game was over, so we slacked up,” Cougar running back JaKacy Evans said. “Then we had to pick it up and push through.”
Crosby did just that, stopping two final Nederland possessions to hang on for a 35-29 victory at Woodforest Bank Stadium.
In improving to 9-2 on the year, the District 19-4A champions got 202 rushing yards and all five touchdowns from Evans.
Then they went home to await news of the winner of Saturday night’s game between Montgomery and Del Valle, the team they’ll face next in the 4A-Division I playoffs.
“Nederland did a great job. They had a great scheme,” Crosby coach Kevin Flanigan said. “I felt like we relaxed some. We scored on our first two series, bam-bam, and then we relaxed.
“We have to learn to be a championship team, you can’t relax. We didn’t go for the throat.”
Crosby finished with 346 yards, 255 of those yards coming via the run and Evans, an August surprise for the Cougars, had most of those. Nederland got 290 of its 338 total yards through the air and Dionte Forney, its third starting quarterback of the year, had 274 of those and passed for all three Bulldog touchdowns.
Forney, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior who had been a starting defensive end until injuries knocked out the first two Bulldog quarterbacks, passed 13 yards to Brent Salenga to cut Crosby’s lead to 35-19 with 8:39 left.
Then he passed to Trevin Sonnier for a two-point conversion.
Then Nederland’s Joey Ruzick recovered a successful onsides kick and the Bulldogs were back in the end zone five plays later, on Forney’s 31-yard out-and-up to Stephen Schlett with 7:28 remaining.
Nederland, in the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years, then pulled off a tricky two-point play with holder Sonnier flipping the ball to kicker Taylor Trahan who passed to a wide-open Grant Lovelady to bring the Dogs within six points at 35-29.
Paul Erwin fielded the ensuing pooch kick from Trahan at the Cougar 33 and Crosby punched it out to the Bulldog 35 on two Evans runs for 22 yards and an 8-yard pass from Dominic Merka to Kelvin Holmes. Merka then booted the Dogs back to their own 13.
Nederland could gain only 10 yards before Trahan boomed a 60-yard punt to the Crosby 16. Evans got 11 yards on first down, but the Cougars had to punt again and Nederland took over at its 32-yard line with 2:10 remaining.
On third-and-eight, Forney passed to Taylor Williams short of the first down and Williams tried to pitch to teammate Lovelady.
Donnie Stark recovered, one of three fumble recoveries by the Cougars, and Crosby easily ran out the remaining time.
The Cougars had zipped 65 yards in six plays to score with their first possession of the game. Evans provided 56 of those yards on five carries, including a three-yard score.
After Nederland’s second straight three-and-out, Crosby needed 11 plays to cover 57 yards to Evans’ second score, from two yards.
Nederland got on the board on a 46-yard pass from Forney to Schlett early in the second period, but the District 19-4A champions came back with another Evans score, this one from nine yards, to lead 21-7 at half.
Lovelady capped an eight-play, 73-yard Nederland score with a three-yard TD run with 3:53 left in the third period, but Crosby answered in a hurry.
Evans galloped 52 yards to the end zone on the fourth play of a 67-yard drive to re-establish Crosby’s two touchdown lead at 28-13
Braelon Green’s recovery of a Forney fumble left Crosby just 26 yards to travel to its final score. A 23-yard pass from Merka to Erwin set up Evan’s one-yard score.
The Cougars wasted Gage Larkin’s recovery of a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, just as they had made no points from Cameron Trench’s 70-yard first-half kickoff return.
As it turned out, they could have used some points there to ward off the fourth-quarter suspense.
Crosby 35, Nederland 29
NED – 0 – 7 – 6 – 16 – 29
CRO – 14 – 7 – 7 – 7 – 35
FIRST QUARTER
CRO – JaKacy Evans 3 run (Sam Fowler kick), 8:55.
CRO – Evans 2 run (Fowler kick), 3:15.
SECOND QUARTER
NED – Stephen Schlett 46 pass from Dionte Forney (Taylor Trahan kick), 9:51.
CRO – Evans 9 run (Fowler kick), 1:50.
THIRD QUARTER
NED – Grant Lovelady 3 run (kick failed), 3:53.
CRO – Evans 52 run (Fowler kick), 2:41.
FOURTH QUARTER
CRO – Evans 1 run (Fowler kick), 11:57.
NED – Brent Salenga 13 pass from Forney (Trevin Sonnier pass from Forney), 8:39.
NED – Schlett 31 pass from Forney (Lovelady pass from Trahan), 7:28.
TEAM STATS NED CRO
First downs 14 17
Total yards 338 346
Rushes-yards 26-48 49-255
Passing yards 290 91
Passes 21-34-1 7-18-0
Punts-average 4-41.3 3-37.0
Fumbles-lost 3-3 1-1
Penalties-yards 3-21 3-15
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING -- Nederland, Sonnier 7-44, Lovelady 4-15; Crosby, Evans 33-202, Jake LaFleur 4-28.
PASSING -- Nederland, Forney 20-33-1-274; Crosby, Dominic Merka 7-18-0-91.
RECEIVING -- Nederland, Taylor Williams 4-74, Ryan Brady 4-59, Schlett 3-87; Crosby, Kelvin Holmes 3-33, Erwin 2-31.