Klein Oak Panthers vs Spring Lions October 22, 2009
JV Black Controls Spring, 28 – 7
The JV Black Panthers controlled the game from start to finish defeating the Spring Lions, 28 – 7, on a cold clear evening at Klein Oak field. The offense ground out several long drives, the defense took the ball away from the Lions and the special teams set up field position several times.
Captain Alex Sisson chose wisely on the coin toss and James Dorris started things right with a 40 yard kick-off return to give Oak great field position. Khaleeq Little ran the ball up the middle behind the great O-line blocking of Jeffery Dalton, Aaron Mitchell, Dakota Thompson, Kyle Phillips and Daniel Shaul. After moving across mid-field, QB Connor McQueen (back from the wrist injury) hit Nicholas Bradley on a fourth and long to get the first down. Tuff McClain threw a great block to free Khaleeq on a run and Alfred Baratti took the swing pass following Nicholas’ downfield block into the end zone. Tuff added the PAT and Oak was up, 8 - 0. Cody Steele and Palmer Currie stuffed the kick-off returner and the Oak defense went to work. Ryan Emerson set the tone with some loud hits and Xavier Doyle stripped the ball to give the Panthers great field position. A little razzle-dazzle reverse pass didn’t quite work but short passes to Nicholas and a great catch by Tuff put the ball into the red zone. On a fourth down at the 8 yard line, the slippery field won the battle and Oak turned the ball over on downs. Will Hoffmans, Jay Andrews, Drew Latham and Brandon Vongsenddeuane all made tackles to force a punt by the Lions to end the quarter.
The second quarter drive by the Oak Panthers was highlighted by a finger-tip catch by Nicholas Bradley on another fourth down conversion. Tuff McClain caught the end of the frozen rope thrown by QB Connor for the second Oak score of the day, 16 – 0. The Oak defense continued its rampage with stops by Brycen Turner and Sam Porter. Javaughn Baltrip joined in on a stuff of the Lions before Peter Crews recovered the fumble. Oak didn’t move the ball very far but punter Nicholas Bradley saved the day with an amazing scramble away from the Lion pressure and kicked a rugby style punt 40 yards down the field. The rest of the quarter was spent exchanging punts before the end of the half.
The third quarter started with Oak helping out the Lions with great field position on a misguided kick-off. The Lions made a few first downs but Javaughn Baltrip stopped the drive and quashed the hopes of the Lions with an interception of the Lion pass to give the ball to the Panthers on the 12 yard line. DJ Scott and Alfred Baratti both made 20 yard catches, Khaleeq followed a crunching block by Baratti and the Panthers were at mid-field. QB Connor and Khaleeq ran the option play to perfection a few times before Connor put the head fake on the Lions and went into the end zone, 22 – 0. Drives of 88 yards make coaches smile and fans feel warm in the cold air. The Lions and Panthers exchanged punts into the fourth quarter.
The Lions pride showed with a score a few minutes into the fourth quarter to get the goose egg off the scoreboard, 22 – 7. Oak and Panther punters were busy before Eric Sanchez escorted Khaleeq into the end zone with 3 minutes left in the quarter to make the score 28 – 7. Joshua Redkey, Anton Salter, Darius Butler and Dillon May made some of the tackles that stopped the Lions to end the game.
It was a great team effort by the JV Black Panthers. The offense had nice long drives with a balanced attack of runs and passes, the defense took the ball away from the Lions and the special teams won the battle for field position. Great game by the Panthers! Go Oak!!
