Klein Oak Panthers vs Klein Forest Eagles
September 23, 2009

JV Black Triumphs Over Klein Forest Eagles, 32 - 10

The first cold front of the season brought a change of weather and change of fortune for the Klein Oak JV Black team in a well-played 32 – 10 victory over the Klein Forest Eagles.  The first victory of the season came about because the offensive line was stout, the defense took the ball away and all the players played tough and with gusto.

Oak received the kick-off and Sam Porter established a tone with a rousing block heard loud and clear by all.  The offense opened up with a balanced attack with a combination of runs and passes behind the incredible blocking of James Fuentez, Alex Sisson, Dakota Thompson, Kyle Phillips and Daniel Shaul.  QB Connor McQueen hit James Dorris and Nicholas Bradley for the first 13 yards before Jason Williams carried the ball on a couple of nice runs up the middle for 20 more.  Jason got the honors of the score but all credit should go to the excellent O-line blocking and the four and a half minute drive could be easily labeled the best offensive team display of the year, Panthers 6, Eagles 0.  Drew Latham and Cody Steele made sure the Eagle kick-off return man was stopped before Brandon Vong got the first tackle for loss (TFL).  Peter Crews and Javaughn Baltrip broke up the pass attempts and William Hoffmans got the second TFL to force the punt.  The short punt gave the offense the short field, the ball near midfield.  QB Connor was hit long after the pass attempt and the roughing penalty moved the team along.  A few unsuccessful runs and passes set up the success of the tight end down the hash mark pass play that scored the 25 yard touchdown.  QB Connor took a vicious hit but made the nice throw to the hesitating but never in doubt route of Nicholas Bradley, 12 – 0.  The Oak defense threw another “3 and out” at the KF Eagles with a TFL by Jay Andrews and a pass knockdown by Xavier Doyle.  The offense went back to work but got stopped on downs after some nice efforts by Jason.  The defense returned to the field and after allowing a first down on a face mask call, Dillon May made the interception to end the quarter and the KF drive.  Great first quarter for Oak!

The second quarter meant that Oak had the strong North wind at their back and the footballs were flying.  If this was baseball, QB Connor might have been taken out of the game due to the pitch count.  Tuff McClain made a nice catch and James Dorris and Nicholas Bradley continued to show some nice hands.  Oak drove inside the Eagle twenty looking for the third score, but give credit where credit is due, the KF defense played the option better than most varsity defenses and stopped Oak on downs.  Joshua Redkey must have been watching since he returned the favor when the Panthers went back on defense.  The Panthers looked like they would get the ball back when a pass interference penalty was called on Oak several minutes after the play was over.  Alfred Baratti made a nice tackle and Ryan Emerson had another TFL.  The Eagles finally floated a football over the Panthers heads for the long gain.  SS Alfred had enough of that and made the interception on the next throw.  The offense moved the ball well with nice passes and better runs.  The combination brought about the score with 2:32 left in the half, Oak 18, KF 0, courtesy of a Jason run behind the Dakota block.  Kicker Nicholas enjoyed the wind beneath his wings by kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone.  The teams exchanged the ball again but the half came about without any more scoring.

The third quarter was ugly.  Lots of illegal stuff, trash talking and general nastiness turned the game into a WWE match rather than a high school football game. Coaches were called to mid-field to try to calm things down.  Alfred Baratti rose above the terrible play with a great tackle on a fourth down play and CB Javaughn recovered a fumble but little else can be said since yellow flags dominated the play.  Somewhere in the madness, Forest managed to score so the quarter ended, 18 – 8.

The fourth quarter settled down when James Fuentez pancaked an Eagle linebacker on a great downfield block and the swing pass gave the Panthers the ball near the goal line.  Jason, who took on tackler after tackler all night winning most every battle, took the rock in from 12 yards out for the TD.  The Eagles managed to pick up a loose ball on the two-point try and earned themselves two points to make it Oak 24, Forest 10.  Cody Steele got the hustle award on the kick-off when he ran down the KF kick-returner on the 10 yard line.  John Leathers stuffed the run and the Eagles were going backwards.  KF felt desperate and went for fourth down on their own 20, bad idea.  The defense held and the offense had a short Jason run into the end zone to make it Oak 32, Eagles 10.  Matthew Garland, James Wheeler and Chase Kaiser made sure the Eagles stayed down and the game ended with #78 Alex Sisson running his old spot at QB to finish out the clock.

Great game by the JV Black Panthers!  The offense moved the ball well, often on short fields due to the turnovers gained by the defense.  The Oak players played hard and showed great toughness with solid blocking, tackling and running for many yards after contact.  Go Oak!