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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
’Cats too tough for Panthers
By Dave Rogers
The Baytown Sun Published November 20, 2009 DAYTON – With next year’s UIL realignment, perhaps the Anahuac Panthers can manage to play someone besides Kirbyville in the football playoffs.
For the second year in a row, the Wildcats proved too tough for the Panthers, powering their way to a 28-6 win in Friday night’s Class 2A Division I regional game at Bronco Stadium.
Kirbyville used two quarterbacks and 10 different ballcarriers to amass 238 rushing yards and 344 total yards while holding the Panthers to just seven first downs and 128 total yards.
Anahuac gained only 59 yards on the ground, less than two yards per carry.
Junior Caleb Cucancic, who alternated with Kael Jones at quarterback for Kirbyville, scored one touchdown running, one receiving and returned an interception 38 yards to set up the second of two Wildcat scores that turned out the lights on the Panthers in the final period.
Anahuac QB Cody Johnson sneaked in from the 1 after throwing a 20-yard fourth-down pass to Braxton Mayes to get the Panthers within 14-6 with 10:45 left in the game.
But the Wildcats, now 10-2, responded with back-to-back scoring drives.
The first came when Jones found Cucancic behind the Panther defense at the 25 for what wound up as a 56-yard touchdown with 8:06 left to play. The third of Matt Russell’s four PATs made it 21-6 for the Wildcats.
Anahuac reached the Kirbyville 44 on its next possession but Cucancic intercepted Mayes’ trick play pass and returned it to the Panther 31.
From there, the Wildcats scored in four plays, the capper being an eight-yard run by JaMichael Ervine with 2:55 left to play.
Ervine led Kirbyville rushers with eight carries for 97 yards and LaFredrick Ford added 81 yards on 17 carries, a total that included a seven-yard TD run to cap Kirbyville’s second drive of the second half.
Jones and Cucancic combined for 106 passing yards, with Cucancic hitting both his pass attempts for 42 yards and catching two passes for 64 yards.
Anahuac’s big ground gainer in an 8-3 season, Dewan Childress, was held to 43 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Johnson completed nine of 15 passes for 69 yards, with Mayes catching six for 56 yards.
Although the Wildcats dominated the first half with three long drives, their lead was only 7-0 at the break.
After Cucancic finished off the first Kirbyville possession of the game with a one-yard TD, Thaddius Johnson broke through for a third-down sack of Kael that thwarted Kirbyville’s second incursion into the red zone.
That one ended with the Panthers stopping a fake field goal attempt by the Wildcats on fourth-and-11.
Kirbyville used a 30-yard gain on a double pass -- it went from Jones backward to Cucancic then downfield to Justin Keene – to reach the Panther 24. But Ford fumbled a pitch and Thaddius Johnson recovered at the 35-yard line.
The Panthers hadn’t recorded a first time when they took over with 5:05 left in the half. They picked up three in a drive to the Wildcat 20, but the drive ended with less than 30 seconds left in the half when Cody Johnson was stopped two yards shy of a first on fourth-and-four.
The Baytown Sun Published November 20, 2009 DAYTON – With next year’s UIL realignment, perhaps the Anahuac Panthers can manage to play someone besides Kirbyville in the football playoffs.
For the second year in a row, the Wildcats proved too tough for the Panthers, powering their way to a 28-6 win in Friday night’s Class 2A Division I regional game at Bronco Stadium.
Kirbyville used two quarterbacks and 10 different ballcarriers to amass 238 rushing yards and 344 total yards while holding the Panthers to just seven first downs and 128 total yards.
Anahuac gained only 59 yards on the ground, less than two yards per carry.
Junior Caleb Cucancic, who alternated with Kael Jones at quarterback for Kirbyville, scored one touchdown running, one receiving and returned an interception 38 yards to set up the second of two Wildcat scores that turned out the lights on the Panthers in the final period.
Anahuac QB Cody Johnson sneaked in from the 1 after throwing a 20-yard fourth-down pass to Braxton Mayes to get the Panthers within 14-6 with 10:45 left in the game.
But the Wildcats, now 10-2, responded with back-to-back scoring drives.
The first came when Jones found Cucancic behind the Panther defense at the 25 for what wound up as a 56-yard touchdown with 8:06 left to play. The third of Matt Russell’s four PATs made it 21-6 for the Wildcats.
Anahuac reached the Kirbyville 44 on its next possession but Cucancic intercepted Mayes’ trick play pass and returned it to the Panther 31.
From there, the Wildcats scored in four plays, the capper being an eight-yard run by JaMichael Ervine with 2:55 left to play.
Ervine led Kirbyville rushers with eight carries for 97 yards and LaFredrick Ford added 81 yards on 17 carries, a total that included a seven-yard TD run to cap Kirbyville’s second drive of the second half.
Jones and Cucancic combined for 106 passing yards, with Cucancic hitting both his pass attempts for 42 yards and catching two passes for 64 yards.
Anahuac’s big ground gainer in an 8-3 season, Dewan Childress, was held to 43 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Johnson completed nine of 15 passes for 69 yards, with Mayes catching six for 56 yards.
Although the Wildcats dominated the first half with three long drives, their lead was only 7-0 at the break.
After Cucancic finished off the first Kirbyville possession of the game with a one-yard TD, Thaddius Johnson broke through for a third-down sack of Kael that thwarted Kirbyville’s second incursion into the red zone.
That one ended with the Panthers stopping a fake field goal attempt by the Wildcats on fourth-and-11.
Kirbyville used a 30-yard gain on a double pass -- it went from Jones backward to Cucancic then downfield to Justin Keene – to reach the Panther 24. But Ford fumbled a pitch and Thaddius Johnson recovered at the 35-yard line.
The Panthers hadn’t recorded a first time when they took over with 5:05 left in the half. They picked up three in a drive to the Wildcat 20, but the drive ended with less than 30 seconds left in the half when Cody Johnson was stopped two yards shy of a first on fourth-and-four.