Klein Oak Panthers vs Klein Collins Tigers
October 15, 2009

JV Black Heartbreak, 0 – 7

The JV Black gathered at the dark, slippery field of Collins and lost a close one to the neighborhood Tigers, 0 – 7.  Both teams scored once, alas the Panther score was nullified by a mysterious yellow hanky and since there is no crying in football, the JV Black consoled their selves with a battle hard-fought.

The cold front was supposed to have arrived but the mugginess and cloudiness lingered as the depleted JV Black roster warmed up to face the Collins Tigers.   Oak got the ball first and only the field was winning as players slipped and slid to the first punt.  Collins fared little better since the Oak defense was so stout, AJ Hilliard earning the first tackle for loss and Brycen Turner hitting ferociously.  Peter Crews did well defending the pass and the Tigers lost the ball on downs to the Panthers.  Khaleeq Little ran left behind Daniel Shaul, Aaron Mitchell, Dakota Thompson, James Fuentez and Dwayne Paul for a great 20 yard gain.  The trickery seemed to work when Khaleeq ran right, then left, then right, then left down the sidelines for the apparent touchdown.  Somewhere in the reversal of fields a flag fell and the officials announced that one of the Oak wide receivers had scared a Tiger who fell to the ground and that was illegal so no touchdown.  The next play was a fumble to the Tigers and the fans needed the cold front to appear.  The Tiger running back was stuffed by Sam Porter and Ryan Emerson for no gain on a couple of attempts before Currie Palmer pulverized the back to get the ball to the Panthers on downs.  The quarter ended with no score.

The Tigers promptly fumbled to start the second quarter and Brycen Turner recovered.  The Oak offense just couldn’t get started and the only bad punt of the year gave the Tigers great field position.  Eric Sanchez played some great defense on the front line, Darius Butler hurt some Tigers and Javaughn Baltrip made some good plays from his DB position.  The Tigers found the only part of the field with grass not mud and wheeled their way into the end zone to tie the score, 0 – 7.  James Dorris had a great 45 yard kick-off return and the offense made some ground with a pass from Tuff McLain and nice runs by Khaleeq.  The Tigers held on downs when Oak fell short.  Xavier Doyle had a tackle for loss and Alfred Baratti, playing both offense and defense, made a great tackle to end the half.

The second half opened with the Tigers holding the ball and Brycen continuing his great game.  Brandon Vongsenddeuane and Jay Andrews stuffed the line to get the ball for Oak.  Connor McQueen made a great one handed catch out of necessity since he is still in a cast but oops, Oak threw an interception.  The cool front arrived at 7:22 in the third quarter so Darius Butler knocked the ball out of the Tiger’s hands, picked it up and started a rumble to the end zone to be caught on the 25 yard line.  Oak went to work and earned nice yardage on the middle pass to Nicholas Bradley.  Oak moved the ball near the goal line but just couldn’t push into the end zone and lost the ball on downs at the 8 yard line.  So close yet so far.

The fourth quarter was exciting with great hits by Anton Salter, Joshua Redkey and Dillon May on defense.  James Dorris had a good punt return and Oak moved the ball well for a few plays before another unfortunate turnover back to the Tigers.  Collins went nowhere due to the hitting of Ryan Emerson who followed up with a partially blocked punt.  Oak just needed 54 yards to score.  Khaleeq ran hard for a first down, Nicholas Bradley made another nice catch and the Panthers found themselves just 30 yards from the goal line with seconds remaining.  A couple of passes just didn’t quite settle right and Oak found themselves staring at zero on the clock.

It was a hard-fought game and the Panthers tackled and blocked well.  The JV Black Panthers were not losers; they just ran out of time.  Go Oak!