Klein Oak Panthers vs Cy Creek Cougars
August 27, 2009

Klein Oak JV Black Hit in the Chin, 13 – 22

The 2009 Klein Oak Junior Varsity Black squad opened up with the familiar Cypress Creek Cougars.  Most of the juniors on the Black squad played at Cypress Creek twice since arriving at Oak, winning both years on horribly hot days.  The Cypress Creek Cougars were the more determined team this year and returned the favor of the visiting team as the victor, Oak 13 to CCC 22.

Captains Connor McQueen and William Hoffmans marched to mid-field on a cloudy but comfortable evening and learned that Oak would receive the kick to open the 2009 season.  Brycen Turner, AJ Hillard and Drew Latham knocked the white Cougar uniforms to the ground and Jason Williams found the end zone by first sprinting straight up the middle of the field before putting on head and hip fakes to fool the remaining white jerseys for the 100 yard kick-off return; Nicholas Bradley made the kick on the snap from Dakota Thompson and Oak led 7 – 0.  The kick-off team made the stop led by Melvin Rodriguez, Brandon Arnold and two anonymous players (#2 and #12, both these gentleman played well throughout the game).  The defense took the field and made their own opening statement with a tackle for loss (TFL) by Sam Porter and Brandon Vong.  Ryan Emerson and Darius Butler added their own TFL to force the punt.  Oak offense sputtered but Nicholas Bradley punted the ball 65 yards to help the defense.  The teams exchanged punts to end the quarter at Oak 7, CCC 0.

The second quarter saw the Cougars put together a long drive aided by penalties on the Panthers.  Ryan Emerson had the big hit of the quarter but to the chagrin of all, the Cougars were able to push the ball into the end zone.  The snap was botched but the holder was quick and scooted around the end for the conversion that added insult to injury, Oak 7, CCC 8.  Oak mishandled the kickoff and the bad field position hurt the confidence of the struggling offense. The offense just couldn’t get untracked and CCC got the pick-six (interception returned for a touchdown) to go ahead on the scoreboard, 7 - 15.  The offense showed some resolve, Tucker Dalton, Dwayne Paul, Dakota Thompson, Eric Sanchez and Kyle Phillips held the line strong to allow QB McQueen the chance to complete a long pass to Khaleeq Little to end the half with some offensive momentum.

The Cougars got the ball to start the second half and kept it for a long time.  Oak had some good defense plays from Xavier Doyle, Peter Crews and Cody Steele in the secondary, Anton Salter at linebacker and Matt Wilson, Daniel Shaul and Jay Andrews on the line but couldn’t string a series of stops and CCC made the score, 7 - 22.  The offense struggled and punts abounded, the Oak punter, Bradley, always getting the better of the exchange.  Alfred Baratti had the big hit of the quarter with a form tackle heard loudly and clearly in the stands.

The fourth quarter saw QB McQueen find his rhythm with nice passes to Nicholas Bradley and James Dorris.  Jason Williams got his second score of the night with a burst up the middle of the line to give Oak some hope with just a few minutes left in the game, 13 – 22.  The Cougars were able to burn a little clock but Oak did get the ball back for one last gasp.  The few completions were nice but not enough as the game ended.

The special teams played well, the offense found some rhythm and the defense will learn a lot from this opening game.  Look for lots of improvement on a weekly basis as the Panther JV Black team progresses through the 2009 season.