The second game of the 2005 season showed that the Panthers were determined to play two good halves this night. Oak Ridge brought an enthusiasm to the field but soon discovered that they did not have the team speed to stay with David Porter and his supporting cast. The offensive line of Max Wilkerson, Justin Walters, Adam Wright, Kevin Baker , John Elijah, Nolan Pruitt, Cory Reindl and Garrett D’Entremont came prepared and the result was 379 yards of offense. Porter accumulated 233 yards on the ground and three TDs, all on only 18 carries. Chris Coburn had 8 carries for 65 yards and two TDs, Leon Thompson had three carries for 36 yards and DeSean Hales made a sensational grab for a 12 yard TD. Although the War Eagles made a last ditch effort to make the score closer, the outcome was secure. Again, the Defense played with an intensity unmatched by their opponents.

 

THE GAME

 

The night started with Oak losing the coin toss and Oak Ridge deferring to receive until the second half. Oak soon got a glimpse of the leg strength of the War Eagle kicker and

watched the kickoff sail through the endzone. Our first series was not memorable and David launched his first punt to the fifty yard line. Oak Ridge used a lot of misdirection on the night. Greg Carlson and Seth Petross made the first down stop after a good gain of 7 yards. Second down was another good gain stopped by Matt Nolan. Bart Dear made the next stop resulting in a second and ten after a subsequent delay of the game penalty. After an incompletion we got to admire a 52 yard field goal from the Oak Ridge kicker. Boy does this kid have a strong leg!

 

DeSean Hales brought the OR kickoff to our 41. This drive only took one play. Porter went East for a while and then due South for 59 yards. Our entire O-Line did a magnificent job and David had a huge hole to run through. After the kick by Sven Beymann, it was 7 to 3 for the good guys. Again, Beymann controlled the kickoff well and OR began at their 35 yard line. Sidney Williams stuffed the first play and then Mark Hunter did the same on second down. OR completed their first pass with Kevin Beymann making the tackle. The OR QB then made a good run for 8 yards on  the first down play. This may have been the best drive of the night for the War Eagles. They controlled the line of scrimmage and after a good mix of runs and passes, scored after 11  plays. With the extra point the score was now 10 to 7. Bart Dear made a good grab of the line drive kickoff and brought it back to the 33. After a good fake to Coburn and great blocking form the O-LINE, Porter again took off for the races and carried the ball 63 yards to the OR 4. Coburn then scored his first TD of the year after dragging several OR defenders into the endzone with him. Beymann again was true and we were back on top 14 to 10.

 

After our usual kickoff OR began again on their33. Mark Hunter kept making his presence known shutting down the first down play and Carlson dragged the next guy down after a short gain. One more incompletion later and OR had to punt again to begin the second quarter. One incomplete pass to Leon Thompson preceded another Porter run for 13 yards, but the drive stalled and OR took over at their 21. Three failed plays and a punt later we got the ball back at their 37 after a bizarre penalty. Elliott Lim made his first of two receptions on the new season on first down and then David Porter set sail for another 32 yards and his second TD. As usual Beymann was perfect for his third extra point. Now it’s 21 to 10. Although it appeared that we had the game under control OR had other thoughts. Kenny Hampton and Bart Dear crushed the OR QB on first down and after another three and out, our punt team bobbled the catch and they took over at our 47. Second life for this drive resulted in a TD after another eight plays. OR had a first down at our seven and we made several great stops. Andrew Lester, Petross and Brian Hogan stuffed them a couple of plays but eventually they made the score. Now it’s 21 to 16. The bad news is that OR was not quite done for the half. Hales returned the kickoff to our 34. Josh Cooley came in at QB and handed off to Porter for a quick 8 yards. Then after a short pass to Chris Radtke made a first down we went three and out, leaving them a little time and 80 yards away from paydirt. OR made the most of this opportunity moving the ball well. Several plays later Mark Hunter sacked their QB at our 45. With time expiring in the half their QB then launched a perfect throw to the endzone. Score now is 22 to 21 with Oak on the short end.

 

OR received the ball to start the second half and again began at their37. Our boys seemed a little fired up and anxious to make amends for the two scores. Dear and Lester make big stops but OR keeps moving the ball. After Josh Howell and LaRon Gilliam make stops Lester follows them up again with another stuff. Sidney Williams broke up a pass to bring on another OR punt. Porter made a couple of short run and then sent a short pass to Lim, before handing off to Thompson for 21 yards. Matt Claus caught his first pass of the season and then Coburn hands off to Thompson on a nifty reverse for another 18 yards taking the ball to the 19. Porter takes it to the 1 and Coburn finishes off the drive with his second TD. Now it’s 27 to 22 after a 13 play drive. Matt Claus makes a huge hit on the ensuing kickoff and OR starts deep in their territory. Lester and Hampton make big stops and then Matt Nolan and a host of panthers stop an ill advised try on 4^th and inches from their 20. Shortly thereafter Coburn gets 11 yards after knocking a Ref over and  Hales makes his circus catch for a 12 yard TD. Now it’s 34 to 22 after another Beymann kick.

 

OR must have been feeling the pressure as they coughed up the ball at their 34 after only a couple of plays.   Porter threw a short pass to Coburn  before carrying it in from the 26 for his third TD. Score now 41 to 22 with 8:53 remaining. Josh Howell made a good stop on the ensuing kickoff and Nick Inthirath got a sack early in their drive. After a short drive OR gets a great bounce on their punt down to the KO three. Had it not been for an ankle tackle Coburn may have gone all the way on first down, but ended up with an initial gain of 15 yards followed up by another one for 16 yards and then one for 8. We lost the ball on a mix up on a  handoff OR got another chance at our three. Two plays later the score is now 41to 29. After a perfect onside kick OR has one late life, but too little too late.

 

On a night when it seemed that the entire O-Line group must have graded out superbly, the defense again showed why they have been touted as the strength of the team. They controlled the game for all four quarters. Oak Ridge kept coming, but they did not have enough firepower. The defense stayed solid as the offense is growing and evolving. Klein will be a great test and I look forward to three in a row 

 

 

On Senior Night 2005, The Klein Oak Panthers manhandled the Klein High School Bearkats, 42- 14.  The Defense created six turnovers, the Offense obliged with six touchdowns and there was never a doubt about the better team.  The incredible team performance was highlighted with some awesome individual efforts – Andrew Lester wrestling and beating the biggest bear of the Bearkats, DeSean Hales making SportsCenter catches, LaRon Gilliam and Kevin Beymann matching receivers stride for stride to wipe out pass plays, Chris Coburn running amuck in the Klein defensive backfield, Seth Petross picking up a fumble and interception and more than one fantastic open-field tackle, Kevin Baker working with John Elijah and Nolan Pruiett to bottle up the middle of the Bearkat defensive line, the list goes on and on.  Great victory and now on to the District battles with Willis coming to Klein Memorial Stadium, next Friday, 7:30pm

 

GAME NARRATIVE

 

Wearing the blessed yellow numbers on black jerseys, the Panthers received the ball on the opening kick-off and wasted little time in revealing the game plan.  Third play of the game, David Porter lofted a ball toward the full moon in the southeast sky and DeSean Hales ran under it in full stride for a sweet 68 yard gain to the Klein 14 yard line.  While the offense bogged down and no points were gained, the ball was at the right end of the field and the Defense was fired up to play.  Louie Black, incognito wearing #25 instead of his preferred #11, stopped a couple of pass attempts before Andrew Lester blasted the ball carrier and came up with the loose football to put the Offense back on the field at the 36 yard line.  Leon Thompson hollered loud enough and the DECA President threw a rope to him for the first touchdown of the evening, Sven Beymann good on the extra point, 7 – 0, 7:49.  Alex Mirenda and Joel Eichler joined the Friday Night Lights experience with the kickoff team putting the ball on the Klein 31-yard line.  Kevin Beymann blanketed the Bearkat receiver to stop a pass attempt, Mark Hunter tipped a pass attempt for another incompletion and the Bearkat punt went to the other end.  LaRon Gilliam made a heads-up play to keep the ball from going deep into Oak territory to put the ball on the 24.  Chris Coburn and David Porter alternated run attempts behind Kevin Baker, Justin Walters, Adam Wright, Nolan Pruiett, and John Elijah when a Bearkat defender was flagged for a late hit putting the ball on the 42 yard line.  Coburn made some great runs with assistance from Ian Dunson downfield blocks to work to the 15 yard line.  Chris Radtke was treated very rudely by the Klein defender, the guy in stripes noticed, and a first and goal ensued on the pass interference call.  Another moon loft to DeSean, this time in the endzone and it was, 14 – 0 on Sven’s kick, 2:38.  Klein ran one play and coughed up the ball to Josh Howell on the 41 yard line.  Porter to Thompson for a 20 yard pass completion and then a sprint up the middle behind Kevin Baker gave Porter the rushing touchdown.  Sven good, 21 – 0, 1:19.  The stunned silence of the visitor bleachers was deafening above the raucous cheers of the home side.  The quarter ended with Klein deep in Oak territory on a long kick-off return stopped by the hustle of Seth Petross.

 

The second quarter opened with Klein threatening to score.  Matt Nolan knifed through the giant Bearkat line and put a stop to all such thoughts with a huge tackle for the loss to create the fourth down.  The Bearkats couldn’t make up their minds what to do, so they let the play clock run down on the field goal attempt and turned the ball over to Oak on the 20.  The O-line plowed opening after opening and Chris Coburn headed north behind Max Wilkerson and Cory Reindl on a couple of nice gains to mid-field.  David Porter let a pass fly with a Bearkat defender wrapped around his waist, and on the other end of the low fastball, Eliot Lim made a great twisting catch to put the ball on the 32.  The next three plays were stumbling and bumbling but on fourth and long, DeSean ran a slant pattern, made the grab, and then turned to watch the BearKat defender grasp at air while he sped into the endzone.  Sven good, 28 – 0, 5:49.  Cameron Kilpatrick made the kick-off return tackle and the defense went back to work.  LaRon Gilliam made his mama jump with joy with his stride-for-stride run before batting the ball out of the Bearkat receiver’s hands.  The Bearkats coughed up the ball again, Oak recovered and the Offense came back on the field.  Leon ran his specialty reverse play for 16 yards when the Offense started to look a little tired.  David Porter quick-kicked the ball out of the endzone for the first Oak punt of the night.  The Oak defense now had the Klein offense in complete disarray.  Mark Hunter flung the quarterback behind the line, but the fella’s knee never touched the ground and he kept going so Mark caught him a second time, this time for good.  Kenny Hampton then pushed ‘em back another mile and it was fourth and forever for Klein.  After the Klein punt to midfield, David Porter created a new play whereby he runs up the middle, fumbles the ball off his knee so that Matt Claus can recover for a very nice gain, but it is doubtful the Coaches will agree to add it to the playbook.  After a few more nice gains on the ground, DeSean made all the highlight shows with a fantastic leaping, fighting grab for the score.  Sven good on the Josh Cooley grab of the high snap, 35 – 0, 0:13.  Brian Hogan made sure there was no kick-off return and it was halftime.

 

The huge crowd enjoyed a nice half-time show by both dance teams and bands.  The Oak Strutters shown brightly in fluorescent orange led by Elizabeth Nutt, Melissa May, Michelle Baumer, Candace Bunch, Sophie Hartle, Kristen Jackson and Gloria Smith.  After hearing the joyous news that the Oak Volleyball teams had swept all three levels over Brenham, the senior parents then spent some time chuckling over the write-ups in the wonderful game program insert.  Josh Davila proved to be the best movie critic of the Senior Class, selecting the most underrated movie of our times, Sandlot, as his favorite.

 

Jimmy Sereno stopped the Bearkat kick-off return man to begin the second half.  Bart Dear and LaRon Gilliam showed some nice hustle stopping a long run into Oak territory.  The Klein pass attempt bounced high into the air, Seth Petross found the ball and headed the other way with the interception.  Apparently, the sideline markers can move like the stairs at Hogwarts, so the ball was taken out of Seth’s hands in the endzone and put back 40 yards.  Coburn did the hard work with seven carries up the middle, Porter had a few YAC’s (yards after contact) and the O-line wore down the Klein defense to put the ball on the 10 yard line, third and goal.  DeSean then made another SportsCenter catch on the slant for his fourth TD, Sven perfect on the season, 42 – 0, 3:58.  Seth Petross made the kick-off return tackle and then made the heads-up play of the quarter picking up the dropped Klein lateral for the fumble recovery.  Ball to Oak for a few clock-killing plays before Klein got the ball back. Greg Carlson then demonstrated a healthy dose of heart and soul.  The Klein Bearkat runner broke loose on a long run and while the score was lopsided and it would have been easy to lay back and watch, Carlson got on his horse and caught the running back after a 60-yard sprint.  The third quarter ended with Oak still pitching the shut-out, 42 – 0.

 

In the fourth quarter, Klein finally put the ball into the endzone and executed a perfect on-side kick to regain the ball.  Tanrace Moshay pushed Klein back with a tackle for a loss before a long pass made the score, 42 – 14, 10:14.  But it was too little, too late.  The Oak “hands” team caught the next on-side kick and Josh Cooley, Chris Helwig, David Wilderson, Ike Oji and Garrett D’Enremont took some time off the clock.  The Oak punt went deep and deep-snapper Andrew Lester showed his heart and soul, chasing down the Klein return man.  Nick Inthirath made a few sacks on the Klein pass attempts before Sam Cotto recovered the fifth Klein fumble of the night.

 

The Oak coaches have been preaching strong defense and balanced offense since last Spring.  The Defense had six take-aways and the Team Offense totals were 221 yards passing, 222 yards rushing.  The players are hearing what the coaches are saying.  Let’s keep that focus next week when every team’s record goes to 0 – 0 and the playoff qualifying begins.

 

On the first cool evening in memory the Panthers were very ready and prepared to take care of business after a prolonged wait for their first district game. As with our previous games, our boys started fast and kept the pressure on early. The game plan this year appears to be…score a lot of points quickly and take the air out of the opponent’s sails. Before Willis could catch their breath, they were down 21 to 0. The Wildcats touted pair of tough linebackers were continually blocked and manhandled all night. David Porter again had a big night with a couple of hundred yards rushing and two TDs. Greg Carlson seemed to be diving through the air most of the night and stopping the Wildcat runners, just when it looked like they were about to break a long run and Andrew Lester continually dominated several players who tried to talk some trash but could not back it up. Our defense played a bend – don’t break game and allowed Willis yardage but more importantly, limited their scoring.

The Game

Cameron Kilpatrick called for and made a fair catch of the opening kickoff at our 25. David Porter got things moving quickly by getting 24 yards and then Leon Thompson got 9 yards on a sweep. Porter got his first completion and a first down by going to last weeks’ prime receiver, DeSean Hales. After a couple of short runs Chris Radtke got his first of four receptions and our first TD. Mr. Dependable, Sven Beyman, continued being perfect on the point afters…..7 to 0.  Matt Claus stopped the Wildcat returner at their 26. Willis’ first possession was not memorable and we got the ball back, after their first punt, with LaRon Gilliam making a sure hands grab at our 35. Chris Coburn got 9 yards on his first carry and then Porter took off for 53 yards and paydirt. Beyman of course was perfect again…..14 to 0. Alex Mirenda got into the action next by stopping the Wildcat returner at their 35. Mark Hunter and Greg Carlson stuffed the first down play before Willis finally made a first down on an 11 yd pass play stopped by Kilpatrick. Carlson shoved the next run attempt out of bounds.   Josh Howell stuffed the next play before the Willis runner made a bad decision and was spun around by Carlson. The Willis ball carrier retreated only to have the ball stripped by Hunter and recovered by Andrew Lester. After two procedure penalties and an incompletion Coburn got 17 yards on a fake reverse. Good blocking by Josh Cooley. After a few short runs by Porter and Coburn, Leon Thompson took a handoff 21 yards for our third TD….. 21 to 0 and still in the first quarter! Max Wilkerson, Justin Walters and Adam Wright made some wonderful blocks along with John Elijah, Kevin Baker, Nolan Pruitt, Cory Reindl and Ian Dunson. They worked hard in unison to open the holes that enabled our backs to do what they do so well.

Willis finally gets on the board on their next possession. After hard hits by Petross, Howell, Hunter and Lester on successive plays the Wildcats lofted a 23 yard pass into the corner of the endzone……21 to 7 now at the beginning of the second quarter. The KO next possession was nothing to write home about except for the 70 yard punt by Porter that pinned the Wildcats back to their 10 yard line! Lester and a host of panthers made the stop on first down and it sure looked like the ball had been stripped, but the refs didn’t see it that way.  Dear stuffed another play and eventually Gilliam returned their punt to our 48. Porter then passed to Radtke for 12 and Hales for 26 with Coburn carrying the ball the last 4 yards for the TD. Beyman PAT on track as usual…..28 to 7. Sidney Williams stopped the kickoff return at their 32, but Willis had tasted success and kept the ball in the air with Gilliam making a couple of TD saving tackles before they got real lucky on a long pass to the one. The pass was tipped directly to another Willis receiver. After a short run  - 28 to 14.

The rest of the first half was uneventful.  Time to watch the precision of the Strutters and the KO band. If you thought our football team could move, you definitely should not miss the half time show replete with fluorescent orange outfits that I am sure glow in the dark. 

The second half began with Willis getting the ball and keeping it for a nine play drive, with no score this time. Great hits were made by Carlson and Hunter on the kickoff and also by Petross on a 20 yard pass completion. The big play of the drive was a sack of the QB by Sidney Williams for minus 10 yards leading up to another Wildcat punt to our 26 yard line. Coburn had a short run and Porter had two before having to punt. Porter got off a 36 yarder and Willis got the ball back at their 30. This would end up being their longest drive and probably the one that broke their heart. Willis ran 11 plays and had 56 yards running to go with a 10 yard pass. Hunter, Hampton, Petross, Carlson, Howell and Lester all came up big on keeping them out of the end zone. The last play of this drive saw the Willis QB fumble the ball at the 2 and watch as it rolled through the endzone for a touchback. We dodged a big bullet here. Just as Willis had been keeping the ball, the Panthers decided to do the same. KO kept the ball for 14 plays. The first nine plays saw Coburn and Porter moving the ball with the run, mixed in with another completion to Chris Radtke. Then a holding call and a backwards pass/fumble took the momentum away and we turned it over on downs at the 25.

Willis knew they were in a tough spot and came out swinging. A six play drive highlighted by several pass completions and culminating with a 28 yard keeper by the QB brought the score to an uncomfortable 28 to 21. Louie Black and Lester had big stops on the drive, but it wasn’t enough. Willis had the Mojo working and tried an onside kick with the fair catch by Black. Now, as has been the case all season, KO has had an answer for these situations and typically doesn’t waste time dealing with it. One play by Porter and numerous key blocks by Justin Walters, Leon Thompson, Max Wilkerson, Matt Claus and a few others resulted in what may be Porter’s best run of the year….63 yards later it’s 35 to 21.

The remainder of the game, about 2 minutes worth, was fought hard with Willis getting to the 1 yard line for what would have been a meaningless score. This was a great game to watch. Momentum was hugely on our side to begin with and ebbed away for awhile before rolling back our way. The offense is still evolving and getting more folks involved and the defense shows that they can control the game when it absolutely has to.

Hurricane Rita forced the Klein Oak Panthers to make a Wednesday night appearance in New Caney to play the Eagles in the first of four games in twenty days.  The Panthers controlled the game from start to finish to complete the first half of the season undefeated.  The Offense had long drives and big plays.  The Defense kept up the season-long habit of creating turnovers and the Special Teams stayed steady.  A great team effort and win but little time to celebrate as the Montgomery Bears come to Klein Memorial Stadium next Monday night, 6:30pm.

GAME NARRATIVE

A beautiful sunset at Don Ford Stadium was finishing it’s display as a New Caney student offered a wonderful prayer for the night’s activities.  Louie Black showed his football smarts by taking the opening kick-off on a fair catch at the Oak 40 yard line.  The blue-clad New Caney Eagles stopped the first few run attempts when David Porter went to the air for the first first-down of the night to Elliott Lim.  Another run attempt was thwarted so back to the air for the second first-down, again to Elliott.  Kevin Baker pushed his 270 lb. opponent out of the way to allow Porter a nine yard gain up the middle.  New Caney tightened its defense and put the Panthers in a fourth and one on the 18-yard line.  Kevin and his friends, Justin Walters and John Elijah opened up the middle again for Porter to get the first down.  A nice quick slant pass to DeSean Hales put the ball on the four yard line.  It took two tries, but Porter got the ball into the endzone around the right side for the first score of the night.  Sven Beymann made it 7 – 0 after the 15 play, 7 minute drive.  Brian Hogan made the first of his many Special Team tackles on the Oak kick-off.  The Defense went to work with Seth Petross breaking up the Eagle attempt for a Big Play on their first play.  Bart Dear stuffed the next attempt and the Eagles missed the third down pass to go three and out.  LaRon Gilliam had a good return of the punt to put the ball in the same spot the Offense had started the first drive, the 40.  Chris Radtke made a nice catch over the middle before a couple of procedure penalties made it second and long for the Panthers.  Chris Coburn took the ball up the middle behind Adam Wright, Max Wilkerson and John Elijah for a ten yard gain, tack on the fifteen yard penalty on the Eagles and the ball was now across mid-field.  Radtke made a second nice catch when Coburn decided to stop the slow progress with two runs for 27 yards to make the score on Sven’s kick, 14 – 0, 0:39 first quarter.  Brian Hogan made his second kick-off team tackle.  New Caney came out throwing the ball with an incompletion.  Next play, Greg Carlson gets the tackle but Andrew Lester gets the praise for his deep penetration to force the Eagle runner into Greg’s receptive arms.  New Caney ended the quarter with a long run to mid-field.

The second quarter started with the Band rocking to LaBamba and Kenny Hampton rocking along with Andrew Lester to shut down the New Caney running game.  On third down, Lester forced the QB to rush his pass into the receptive arms of LaRon Gilliam.  The Offense wasn’t quite rested up after playing most of the first quarter so Oak had to punt on fourth down.  David Porter put the ball on the 13 yard line on his 42 yard punt.  The Defense played well with Tanrace Moshay breaking up a pass play before New Caney faced disappointment with the Official’s ruling of a long pass catch to be out of bounds. Oak got a little too aggressive and roughed the punter to give New Caney some hope.  Louie Black and Matt Nolan made some nice stops but the Eagles made it near mid-field for a third and long.  Sidney Williams blasted in from the end to scare the QB out of the pocket while Josh Howell and Kevin Beymann kept the receivers in check to force the incompletion and fourth down.  The Eagle punter did a great job putting the ball on the Oak 7 yard line.  Chris Coburn went behind the O-Line including Cory Reindl for a 6-yard gain and then a 30-yard rumble to get the ball to the Oak 43.  The O-Line then put on a pass blocking clinic.  On the snap, the O-Line formed a levee that New Orleans would envy, preventing any rushing defensive player and maybe even flood waters from touching the QB.  David Porter surveyed the crowd, waved to his mom then turned and noticed that DeSean Hales was lonesome.  The pass was lofted on a nice trajectory and DeSean loped into the endzone for a 57-yard touchdown pass.  Stats for Porter and Hales, all praise for the O-Line.  Sven showed that he is human and it was 20 – 0, 3:12.  Matt Scrivner, recently accepted by the Coast Guard Academy and needing just one letter from Washington, DC,  to provide the choice to join his brother at West Point, made the kick-off tackle.  The New Caney Porter made a long pass catch before Matt Nolan, Mark Hunter and Andrew Lester took the hope away.  Another nice punt by the Eagle kicker and Oak started at the 5 with precious little time in the half.  David Porter got in a nice run for 29 yards before passing to Leon Thompson for 10 yards.  A quick pass to DeSean that turned spectacular on his run but was negated by a block in the back.  Josh Cooley, playing defense and offense, made a nice grab to put the ball past mid-field. The ball was at mid-field with some time left to score when the second interception of the year occurred.  Sidney Williams stuffed the New Caney charge to end the half.

Halftime included the rescheduled celebration of Booster Club President Greg Baker’s  birthday (age withheld but ½ century would be a strong clue).  Embarrassment was all around as Matt Scrivner requested the presence of a specific band member (name withheld to protect the young lady) to the upcoming homecoming festivities.  The request was made via a large banner unfurled for all the band to see as they marched off the field from the halftime show. 

Oak kicked off the second half and Scrivner made the tackle.  New Caney displayed some pride on it’s home turf by busting runs and passes in quick bursts to get into the endzone in less than two minutes, 20 – 7, 10:05.  The Eagle kick-off went out of bounds and the Panthers took over on their 38.  David hit a couple of passes to Leon and DeSean, added a couple of runs up the middle before turning the workload over to Chris Coburn.  The O-Line opened the holes, Leon Thompson threw a wicked downfield block and Chris punched the ball into the endzone to respond to the Eagle score.  Sven started a new streak, 27 – 7, 6:34, 3^rd quarter.  Brian Hogan made another Special Teams tackle before Moshay, Nolan and Dear put a stop to the hopes of the Eagles.  Gilliam caught the punt on the three and out.  Oak killed some clock with some runs to mid-field before punting to the 18.  Seth Petross made a nice adjustment to defend a long pass before Kenny Hampton had a stop and a sack to force the Eagle punt. Porter and Coburn took turns running the ball.past mid-field.  Chris Radtke made a great catch over the middle and two plays later was awarded the TD with a grab on a touch pass from Porter.  Sven good, 34 – 7, 8:19, 4^th quarter.  The goal of Oak was to now secure the victory.  The security guards included the tallest defensive lineman in the district, Ian Dunson and the tallest wide receiver in Chris Helwig.  Sam Cotto secured a tackle for a loss and Garrett D’Entremont fought on the O-line while Matt Claus patrolled from the wide receiver position.  New Caney managed another score at 5:55, so the hands team with Tyler DePascal and LaRon Gilliam snatched up the onside kick.  The final highlight was Chris Radtke, apparently upset at the stadium announcer improperly referring to his team as “Klein”, blasted the punt returner on the last Oak punt of the night.

At the half way point in the season, it is all fun and excitement.  The next few games will be an endurance test for the Panthers but this team is up to the task.  Playing on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday doesn’t matter, these guys just want to play football.

On this night our Panthers started slowly, picked up the pace and put away what was a feisty Montgomery team at the outset. This was another cool evening of big offensive plays and consistent and unrelenting control by the defense again led by Greg Carlson, Andrew Lester, Josh Howell, Louie Black and Seth Petross, to name a few initially. Black and Carlson had interceptions. Carlson ended up with a 30 yard TD for his effort and Black’s was instrumental in setting up Sven Beymann’s first field goal of the year.

The Game

After a short return of the first kickoff Chris Coburn ripped off 16 yards up the gut. However, after another short run by Coburn and two incompletions David Porter launched the first of three punts on the evening, this one coming to rest at the Montgomery 27. Montgomery tried to emulate Klein Oak’s typical game plan by controlling the ball and scoring early. After a couple of short runs stopped by a host of Panthers, their QB kept the ball for a nice 17 yard gain. Mark Hunter pulled the next runner down after a couple of yards and LaRon Gilliam made a saving tackle after a 12 yard completion. Now their best runner, Clawson, got 33 of his 48 yards for the night down to around our 20 yard line. That was all the yardage for this drive after Howell and others stuffed the next few plays. Their kicker was true from 34 yards and we were behind 0 to 3. 11 plays and only three points.  After DeSean Hales brought their kickoff back to our 43 after a nifty 31 yard return, the Panthers then reeled off 9 plays with Leon Thompson and Porter getting 3 yards each on the first two plays, then Porter has a 50 yard run negated by a penalty before completing a 20 yard pass to Thompson. Porter then gained 20 to the 5, and then 2 to the 3, Coburn 2 to the 1 and Porter takes it in for the TD with Sven being perfect again. 7 to 3 now for the good guys.

Montgomery’s next possession was short lived after one stop by Lester and two by Carlson. Gilliam takes the next punt at our 20. Porter then has runs of 6, 4 and 28 yards before Hales loses a couple on a reverse. David keeps the ball again for another 6 yards and then has one incompletion to Hales and ends up losing 8 yards on a well defended pass play. Porter’s punt sails out of bounds at the Montgomery 13. Mark Hunter stuffed the first down play and after an incompletion Greg Carlson watched a screen pass develop and just broke their heart with a solo tackle. Now they had to punt again to the 50. Porter gets 16 on first down and Coburn got 5 on the next play. Porter had one short run setting up the defense for a key play of 29 yards on a well thrown ball to Chris Radtke for our second TD. With Beymann’s kick it’s 14 to 3 now. Next up another very short possession for Montgomery with the KO kickoff team covering like a blanket. Louie Black smelled out a reverse on the first play and then two incompletions set up another punt that Gilliam returned 11 yards to our 46. Thompson juked for 8 yards and then was overthrown by Porter on the next pass attempt, but not to worry, Porter then hit Hales in stride for another TD, 38 yards and a 21 to 3 lead. The Bears then kept the ball for 10 plays, owing to a phantom personal foul on the first punt. Apparently Carlson is not allowed to breathe on the opposing center on a punt play, thus new life and a few more plays for this drive with the next to last being a 12 yard loss on a bad snap finished off by Sidney Williams. We got the ball back at our 37 and Porter with great O-Line protection from Max Wilkerson, Kevin Baker, Justin Walters and Adam Wright  passed to Elliott Lim for 6 yards before two incompletions forced another punt  which sailed 57 yards into their endzone. Louie Black made another big play intercepting the first down pass and returning it 20 yards to our 16. One incompletion later Beymann scored his first FG of the year driving it right thru from 34 yards to negate the 34 yarder from his Montgomery counterpart. 24 to 3 at the half.

I saw no signs this halftime inviting anybody to Homecoming so I merely enjoyed watching the Strutters and listening to our terrific band and ensemble. I have been told by many visitors how much they enjoy our drumline. Sure did not enjoy watching the doctors attend to Matt Claus’ knee which he banged up pretty good when he was busting up the wedge on a second quarter kickoff.

The second half started looking good for the Bears, that is to begin with. After a good return and a solid set of three runs for a first down, they shot themselves in the foot with first an unsportsmanlike penalty, and then by throwing a perfect strike between the 8 and the 7 of Greg Carlson who promptly returned it for 30 yards and his first TD of the year.

31 to 3 two minutes into the second half. Matt Scrivener stopped the Bear returner at their 36 and then Carlson and his gang stuffed the first two plays  before Lester finished them on third down. Another punt was returned 8 yards by Gilliam to our 43. Lim got nothing on first down and then Coburn had runs of 7, 9 and 2 yards. Porter got 13 and 10 and Thompson made 4. Porter then threw to Coburn for 8 and ran the last 2 for our final TD. Beymann as usual….38 to 3.

Max Wilkerson pounded the next Bear return at their 31. A short pass on first, then another short pass stopped by Tanrance Moshay, an incompletion and a stuff by Sam Cotto of a QB keeper set up another Bear punt to our 25. Josh Cooley now in for Porter and Williams in for Coburn. Thompson gets 5, Williams gets 18 and then 5 preceding a questionable call on a fumble by Thompson. The Bears then repeatedly got a dose of two and three for one tackling after Petross stopped the first down play. Bart Dear and Nick Inthirath teamed on second down, Brian Hogan and Dear on the next play, then Black and Inthirath, followed up by Matt Scrivener, Hogan and Ian Dunson on the next try. All of this should have been enough but a pass interference gave them new life. A new team Josh Cooley and Cory Reindl stuffed the next play but their back broke loose on the next try for 17 yards and a TD. Now 38 to 10. Sidney Williams got to carry the ball for 6 plays on our last drive getting yardage of -3, 11, 6, 5, 8, and 2 before the clock ran out.

We are now a perfect 6 and 0 with Homecoming looming on Saturday. This will be the 4^th game in 20 days and hopefully will be a clean sweep leading into the last three games before the playoffs begin.   

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the Klein Oak Panthers overpowered the Livingston Lions, 43 – 0 to stay undefeated on the season, 7 – 0, 4 – 0 district.  The Defense kept the field short, the Offense obliged with scoring efficiency and the Special Teams had fun.  The O-line (Kevin Baker, Max Wilkerson, Adam Wright, Justin Walters, John Elijah and Nolan Pruiett) pushed David Porter over the 1000-yard mark for rushing this season, the fans got to see the future with a Josh Cooley to DeSean Hales TD pass as pretty as they get, Seth Petross picked up fumbles like loose change, Coach Poth got an ice bath on his 40^th birthday and everyone on the roster contributed to the victory.  Next game, travel north to Conroe to play the Caney Creek Panthers, on Thursday at 7pm.

GAME NARRATIVE

The Klein Oak Choir sang to Old Glory in glorious harmony to start the Homecoming afternoon.  After DeSean Hales made a nice return with the opening kick-off, he went to his end position and caught a 29 yard pass.  David Porter followed Adam Wright and Justin Walters around the right side and 35 yards later was in the endzone, 21 seconds after the kick-off.  The large Oak crowd let out a collective “ahhh” when the extra point attempt bent the left crossbar without going through.  6 – 0, 11:39.  The Defense, inspired by watching Josh “Kamikaze” Cooley sacrifice his thin-self on the kick-off coverage, promptly stripped the ball from the Livingston Lion running back.  Credit Seth Petross with the pick-up, praise Tanrance Moshay and Andrew Lester for the strip.  The Offense had a very short field with the ball on the 16 yard-line.  Immediately, David put the elliptical orb over DeSean’s shoulder into the endzone, try for two didn’t work, 12 – 0, 10:35.  With two scores in less than two minutes of play, it was time for the Band to play / sing “hey baby” while Kevin Beymann and the aforementioned Kamikaze made the kick-off tackle.  Seth Petross dropped the option play for a loss, Ian Dunson and Kenny Hampton dropped the run up the middle for another loss and Livingston went “three and out” on the incompletion covered by Josh Howell.  LaRon Gilliam made a good return on the punt and the Offense was back on the field.  Leon Thompson and DeSean gained a few yards on the ground before David Porter blew past Max Wilkerson’s block at the line of scrimmage all the way to the goal line only to look back and see a yellow hanky on the 6-yard line.  The dubious “block in the back” call put the ball on the 16 yard-line.  It took seven plays but Chris Coburn followed Kevin Baker’s block to get the score, Sven Beymann good on the extra point, 19 – 0, 4:29. Sidney Williams went behind wedge-buster Kamikaze to get the kick-off tackle.  Livingston managed a first down on a quarterback scramble and tried to throw some passes.  Bart Dear just missed an interception before Greg Carlson made the run stop.  Ian Dunson and Kenny Hampton, who will both credit the Secondary for great coverage, thwarted the third down pass attempt with a sack.  The Oak offense went to work with another pass play to DeSean Hales for 24 yards, credit Max Wilkerson for the nice block on the Lion blitz attempt.  Sidney Williams showed up on the offensive side of the ball for a few carries to end the first quarter, Oak up 19 – 0.

The second quarter opened with Oak facing a third and long that became a scramble play that David Porter turned into a 40 yard touchdown run due to great downfield blocks by Chris Radtke,  DeSean Hales and Elliot Lim.  Sven good, 26 – 0, 11:06.   It was fantastic to see Brendan Asher come off the injury list and make the kick-off tackle and play in the Secondary.  Josh Howell and Kenny Hampton had tackles before Andrew Lester had the sack for a loss to force the punt.  Sidney Williams partially blocked the punt and Oak had the ball at mid-field.  The reverse play has been thoroughly scouted so on second and long, the future of the Oak Offense was unveiled.  Junior Josh Cooley lofted a nice tight spiral over the DB’s arms into the full stride of Sophomore DeSean Hales for a gorgeous 57-yard touchdown play. Sven good, 33 – 0, 8:24.  Seth Petross picked up more loose change on the kick-off fumble and Oak still had the ball.  After a couple of incomplete passes, the roll-out worked on 16-yard completion from David Porter to Leon Thompson, no comment on whether the ball was actually thrown from behind the line of scrimmage. David then took the hit as he launched a nice pass to his second look, Eliot Lim,  Sven good for 40 – 0, 6:37.  Sidney Williams and LaRon Gilliam stopped the sweep before Livingston managed to complete a pass.  Next play, Sidney proceeded to strip the football from the Lion’s running back and Mark Hunter got the loose ball.  Chris Helwig made several downfield blocks on a run by Chris Coburn best described as a pin ball machine gone haywire.  By now, the officials had trained the crowd to look for flags on any long run and true to form, the “block in the back” call was made to keep Chris from crediting the score.  Oak tried to take back the yardage but lost the ball to Livingston.  Andrew Lester sacked the quarterback to end any Lion’s thoughts of scoring before the half leaving the score at Oak 40, Lions scratching their heads.

Halftime was all about the Homecoming Court.  Several talented kids, including Freshman football player,  Patrick Bailey, received applause before the biggest cheers went to Kristen Jackson and Drake Fulton for this year’s crowns.

Oak kicked off the second half and Mark Hunter and Andrew Lester promptly made the tackles for loss.  Oak got the ball back and David Porter carried twice to get his 1000^th rushing yard of the season.  After congratulating Justin, Kevin, Adam, John and Max on the field, David headed to the sideline to also thank Cory Reindl and Nolan Pruiett.  Credit to David for always running hard, praise to the O-Line for always blocking harder.  Livingston eventually forced a punt to get the ball back.  Nick Inthirath and Brian Hogan contributed some good defense with strong tackles to get the ball back to the Oak side.  Oak finished the 3^rd quarter with the ball, 40 – 0.

Chase Thomas, Ike Oji and Tyler DePascal came into the game and pushed the ball inside the twenty.  Then, in a series of unfortunate events, the Panthers found themselves facing third down and a brazillion. A most excellent screen play put the ball back in field goal range and Sven Beymann promptly hit the 27 yarder, 43 – 0.  Jimmy Sereno made the kick-off tackle and played linebacker with Matthew Scrivner.  Nick Inthirath and Ian Dunson had sacks and Sam Cotto made some stops to get the ball back.  Josh Davila proved to be alert by recovering an Oak fumble to keep the ball.  Leon Thompson proved he is multi-talented by switching to defense where he made some nice tackles and became the third Captain to get an interception.  The game ended with everyone scrambling to get to the Homecoming dance scheduled that evening.

Great victory for the Panthers and Thursday night will be fun playing the Panthers, Caney Creek that is.

The District 18-4A showdown between the Waller Bulldogs and the Klein Oak Panthers was all Panthers last Thursday night.  The Defense scored, the Special Teams shined and the Offense soared to the 40 – 20 final score.  Thus, a rare phenomenon, two teams with undefeated records playing the final game of the regular season for the district championship next Friday night, 7:30 in Brenham. 

Game Narrative

It was a busy pre-game on a gorgeous evening at Klein Memorial Stadium.  The Strutters showed off their Seniors, the Volleyball team strutted their District Championship, and the Hildebrandt / Doerre 8^th Grade football players streamed onto the field with hopes of future Panther glory.  Waller won the toss and elected to kick to Oak.  Brendan Asher handled the short kick and the Offense shorted itself with a “three and out”.  Wes Theis came off the JV roster as the pinch-punter and did a nice job on his first varsity kick. The Defense came out hitting with Bart Dear and Sydney Williams getting the early tackles before the Bulldog option pitch went bouncing around the turf.  Josh Howell found the handle and headed north for a 45 yard fumble return for touchdown, Sven Beymann on the extra point, 9:32, 7 – 0.  Max Wilkerson and Elliott Lim made the tackle on the kick-off.  Waller came out aggressively and got a nice run for a first down.  Andrew Lester and Greg Carlson had stops before Bart Dear threw the Bulldog runner for the loss to set up the first of many fourth downs.  Waller tried the quick slant, Sydney Williams was all over the receiver and it was ball to Oak on downs.  The Offense tried to run but found the pass to be more effective with a David Porter loft to DeSean Hales for a nice 30-yd pickup.  A couple of other pass plays just didn’t click and it was time for Wes Theis to get his second varsity kick.  Waller took over the ball and took over the field, scoring quickly but missing the extra point, 7 – 6, 3:16.   Oak got a special kick-off return when Kevin Beymann caught the short kick and sprinted past the first line of Waller defenders past midfield to put the ball on the Waller 40-yd line.  On a third and five, DeSean Hales made a great catch and an even more spectacular fighting run for nine yards.  Next play was a bullet pass to Leon Thompson for a 26-yard touchdown play, Sven good, 14 –6, 1:49. Waller made an effort to move the ball on the ground but was stuffed by Kenny Hampton and Andrew Lester before missing on a few pass plays.  An option play was stuffed by a lot of black jerseys.

DeSean Hales is a fascinating return man, he never seems to be tackled or completely stopped and so he made 30 yards on the Waller punt to start the 2^nd quarter.  Second play of the Oak drive, David Porter hit Elliott Lim on the run and Lim finished the 40-yd play in the endzone, 20 – 6, 10:54.  Waller took the Oak kick-off and started another march.  Mark Hunter, Bart Dear, Ian Dunson and Tanrace Moshay had tackles to slow the march but the Bulldogs kept working their way downfield.  Waller converted one fourth down but was soon forced into another fourth down because Brendan Asher put a huge hit for a loss.  On the Waller attempt to keep the ball, Sydney Williams chased the QB into the sidelines to get the ball for Oak at the 20-yd line.  Oak had the ball and it is fitting to stop the narrative and review the play of the Offensive Line.  Kevin Baker, Max Wilkerson, Adam Wright, Justin Walters, John Elijah and Nolan Pruiett were working magic on providing protection on the two earlier passing touchdowns.  The protection formed like ducks flying south with a middle refuge allowing David Porter to hunt and shoot at the receivers so that he hit the 1000-yard season passing target.  The sizable crowd might not have all noticed but the former centers, guards and tackles now seated above the trench war had smiles on their faces at the beauty of the execution.  But wait, the O-Line changed strategy on the next drive and went to the run-block footwork with excellent trap blocks.  Leon Thompson was the beneficiary of great blocks by the left and right sides. Justin Walters blasted a hole for Chris Coburn, who runs with a determination like no other, to sail 51 yards for the score; alas the former centers, guards and tackles now had tears in their eyes at watching the “big ugly’s” (ABC announcer Keith Jackson’s favorite name for O-lineman) perform the unheralded magic of football.  27 – 6, 4:12.  Waller was reeling and went “three and out”.  The punt came to Oak deep in their territory with just a couple of minutes on the clock so the two-minute offense drill went into effect.  David Porter tried again and again and on the third down ran 25 yards to get out of the shadow of the goalpost.  Now working near mid-field, passing wasn’t as risky and an 11-yard pass quickly followed to cross the 50-yard line. David Porter ran a couple of times to keep the linebackers honest and then dropped back, kept his poise and took a vicious shot from a Bulldog defender as he delivered an extraordinary pass completion of 33 yards to DeSean to put the ball on the six yard line.  Sydney Williams was pulled off the Oak defensive sidelines and given the task of finishing a great 87 yard drive for the score with a mere ten seconds left in the half, 33 – 6.  Waller thought it would display its ten-second offense with a quick pass that was picked off by Sydney, back playing on the Oak defense.  Sydney had a time keeping his feet and ran an off-balance 40-yard sprint that finished with him falling into the end zone as the Bulldog QB finally caught him.  Two scores in ten seconds for Sydney but alas, the man in stripes, trailing the play by a considerable lag time, waved his arms in the wrong fashion and marked the ball down at the one-foot line.  The referee quickly came over and called the ball dead for halftime while the Oak crowd sat stunned at the injustice.

Halftime was a celebration of academic achievement of the Class of 2006.  Fifteen scholars were honored for their outstanding work particularly on the SAT test.  Among the fifteen were three football players, Matt Nolan, Matthew Scrivner and David Porter.  Thanks to these three seniors for setting high standards of excellence in the classroom.  The band performed its contest show in preparation of its Saturday sojourn to Austin to compete in the Area competition after doing very well at the District show. 

Scholar Matthew Scrivner and Brian Hogan stopped the Waller kick-off return man and the Bulldogs worked to take back the momentum in the second half.  Kenny Hampton shut down a run and the crowd got excited again when Brendan Asher appeared to pick off a pass but alas, here came the man in stripes to mark the Bulldog QB down before the throw, yet another injustice in the eyes of the Oak crowd.  No matter, DeSean worked his magic on the punt return aided by a loud “kill-shot” block by Tanrace Moshay (Note to reader – “kill-shot” is the perfectly legal and most satisfying hit on the pursuing defenders most effective when the pursuer is so focused on chasing the kick-returner, he doesn’t see the block coming right at his numbers).  Oak took over and DeSean worked his magic again for a 24-yard gain to the one-yard line.  The run try didn’t work so back to the pass.  Unfortunately, this time the ball took several funny bounces off black and white jerseys before landing in the hands of a Bulldog defender, scoring opportunity lost.  Waller took advantage and began a drive with a mix of runs and passes.  In spite of the best efforts of Bart Dear, Seth Petross, Greg Carlson and Brendan Asher each with tackles and Andrew Lester with a sack, the Bulldogs made it down the field to score but ate up a lot of precious time, 33 – 12, 2:34.  The hands team, including Chris Radtke, Louie Black, Josh Cooley and Josh Davila came out to receive the kick-off and it was short and right to Brendan Asher who handled it cleanly.  Waller blitzed everyone on the field on the first play and managed to cause a fumble on a hand-off exchange to get the ball back deep in Oak territory.  LaRon Gilliam made a big-time play with a great open-field tackle to keep Waller working on downs.  On fourth, the interior of the Oak defense stuffed the run to get the ball back to Oak as the quarter ended, 33 – 12.

Opening the 4^th quarter on their own 12 yard line, Oak missed on a couple of passes by an inch here and there and was forced to punt from the goal line.  David Porter sent the ball 47-yards down the field with no chance of a return.  Seth Petross was forced to give chase on the first Waller play and caught the Bulldog back on the one-yard line.  Eventually, Waller scored, 33 – 20, 10:43.  Oak took the kick-off and moved the ball down the field on nice trap plays with Leon Thompson and Chris Coburn taking turns carrying the ball.  After crossing mid-field, David Porter made a nice run before he hit the ground and the ball popped loose but unlike the other quick-marks, the man in stripes let this one go for a turnover to the Bulldogs.  Waller tried a long pass, but LaRon Gilliam made a great play on the ball followed by a Brendan Asher tackle for a loss to force fourth down.  Seth Petross made the great tackle and Waller’s night was just about over.  In an unusual way of killing the clock, the Panther offense went backwards for 15 yards before David Porter threw a bullet down the field to DeSean Hales for the first down.  A few more plays and Chris Coburn carried the ball into the end zone to put the score at 40 – 20, 2:54.  Waller fumbled the kick-off, Seth Petross recovered.  Oak tried for a long pass that was intercepted. LaRon Gilliam and Greg Carlson took turns knocking down passes before the ball was turned back over on the punt and Oak killed the clock.

For the Seniors, it was a satisfying win on the final regular season home game of their Panther careers.  Avenging last year’s bitter loss was sweet but even sweeter was setting up the season finale with Brenham next week.  Two teams with perfect records battling for the district championship is about as perfect a script as can be written.  Suggest you get there early, GO OAK!!

The Brenham Cubs are highly ranked in 4A state polls and deservedly so. Our Panthers faced what may be the best passing QB in 4A ball today. We fought hard the entire game and the survivors on both sides knew they had been in a fight. Kevin Beymann went down with an arm injury, Andrew Lester must have had 20 yards of tape on him by halftime and Seth Petross went out with a neck stinger on out first kickoff. Petross should have been out all night, but he is a warrior and came back in the second half to sub for Beymann and others. David Porter ended up with an elbow that looked more like a knee. The score was not indicative of the quality of our defense, but more a testament to the abilities of the Brenham passing attack, which is formidable. 

The Game

The 1^st quarter started with promise as we did our usual thing and started strong offensively. DeSean Hales, whom we rely upon for big plays, obliged immediately with an impressive 54 yard return of the opening kickoff. David Porter, on our first play went left for 35 yards to the 11. One incompletion and two short runs by Leon Thompson and Porter brought on Sven Beymann for a successful 21 yard field goal. Brenham retaliated with a nice return and set up shop at the 50. After 6 plays and several good tackles by Kenny Hampton, Sidney Williams and Kevin Beymann, the Brenham kicker was wide right on a 44 yard FG try. Next possession Chris Coburn drags a couple of Cubs for a 6 yard gain and David Porter had a couple of short runs leading to his first punt which went to their 40. One good run preceded a shoestring tackle by Kevin Beymann for no gain and we got the ball back a couple of plays later on a fumble recovery by Tanrace Moshay. Time for another big play from Hales, a 56 scamper to pay dirt and a 10 to 0 lead to end the 1^st quarter. Great downfield blocks this time by Elliott Lim and Coburn.

The second quarter was all Jarrett Lee and his receivers, with a few runs mixed into the fray. This drive featured great stops by Josh Howell, Greg Carlson and LaRon Gilliam, but to no avail as they scored on a short run making it 10 to 7. All night Brenham tried to confuse our return teams with short kickoffs after they had been burned by Hales early. Josh Davila got the next kickoff at our 37. Chris Coburn got 4 yard on first down, and two plays later we gave them the ball back on a fumble at our 32. Kenny Hampton got a big hit on their second play but a 30 yard strike into the end zone makes it 14 to 10. On the subsequent kickoff the strong hands of Louie Black saved the day as he muscled the ball away from a Cub on another pooch kick. On our next possession Porter gets 18 yards with good blocks from John Elijah, Coburn and Hales. However, after a few more short gains Porter was forced to punt again, but very well done to their 7 yard line. Brenham wasted little time and scored after only 4 plays courtesy of well thrown and caught passes. Now its 21 to 10. Brenham loves the big play and after an interception on our next drive took it in again after 7 plays and 43 yards. Greg Carlson and Josh Howell were in on most of the plays, helped by Bart Dear and Moshay on the others, but Brenham was on a roll and scored anyway at the end on a 12 yard run to make it 28 to 10.  The Panthers knew it was time to climb back into the game and make a statement. Three plays later, highlighted by a 47 yard pass and run by Hales and a 3 yard TD pass to Chris Radtke make the halftime score 28 to 17. Trying to make a statement of their own, we got quite a scare as their return guy almost took it all the away back. Elliott Lim maneuvered their runner back towards a group of Panthers to make the half ending tackle.

As usual all enjoyed the performance by our Panther Band and illustrious Strutters. Special props should go to the Girls’ Volleyball team as they progress through their post district play. Sure looks like they will come up against the Brenham girls eventually and I for one would like a little redemption. I also suspect the trainers were busy during intermission.

The 2^nd half started as the first half ended, with Lim chasing the Brenham ball carrier successfully. It appeared that they would try and control the clock and the lead as they only passed 4 times on an 11 play drive. But the last pass was good for their 5^th TD and moved the score to 35 to 17. An uncommon long kickoff gave us the ball on our 20. Josh Cooley is now in at QB and Porter has shifted to running back. This drive lasted for 8 plays and included another good run by Porter for 20 yards but ultimately we gave the ball back on downs, only to get it back 5 plays later with a Sidney Williams’ recovery on another Brenham fumble. The quarter ended with the score 35 to 17. The 4^th quarter began with both teams going three and out before Brenham mounted one last drive and drove the stake in building the lead to 42 to 17 after a 7 play run only drive.

One important aspect of this game was the special intensity we displayed on stopping the running game. Although Brenham gained some running yardage, most of it late in the game, we stopped their rush game. What we did not have an answer for was the passing game and their QB. Marshall looms next Friday and should be a great contest by two well matched teams. I know our squad will be pumped for this one and I hope the wounded heal and are ready to do battle once again. Marshall brings a reputation and history into this contest but they will probably think back to last year and not be prepared for the heart and soul that this team brings to the field each week.