Klein Oak Panthers vs Klein Bearkats October 2, 2009
Panthers are outrun by the Bearkats at Klein Memorial Stadium; 17 – 10.
With very little time left in the game the Bearkats run out the clock to prevent a go – ahead drive by the Panthers.
Klein wins the coin toss and elects to get the ball first. The Oak ‘D’ showed up ready to pounce. Starters against Klein are Tom Call and John Lewis at defensive end; Marcus McClendon at nose guard; Luke Muncie and AJ Hilliard at outside linebacker; Demetrich Gilliam and Collin Russell at middle linebacker; Trey Payne and Cory Abron at corners and finally Jaime Garcia and Dashone Smith at safety. First Klein possession is 3 and out with knocked – down – pass by Lewis on the first defensive play of the night.
Excellent punt by Klein, no return and Oak starts deep in their own territory 1-10 on the 4. Starters for the Panther offense are Justin Moreno at center; Greg Flores and Arthur Fatu at guard; Kyle Bottoms and Skyler Denny at tackle; Brandon McClain, Max Stevenson, Tory Waites and Michael Starr at receivers; and Nick Baratti next to Andy Wilson in the backfield. Oak fights through penalties, a successful forth and one conversion and a stout Bearkat defense to move the ball Klein 40 where the drive stalls out leading to a KO punt by Michael Shroble.
With a 1-10 on the 20 KO stuffs up the Bearkat offense again. Hilliard makes a BIG TFL and Abron comes up with a solo tackle in the flat to force a punt after 3 plays. The horn for the for the second quarter blasts; KO punts after a quick series 3 and out. It appears the Klein offense starts to gain some leverage picking up a couple first downs. Muncie and Payne have some impact on this coming up with a pass deflection and interception. KO ball 1-10 on the 37. Even with a sky-walker grab by Stevenson picking up 9 on a nice pass from Wilson the Panthers are unable to get any traction punting from the 39. The Panther ‘D’ comes up big again. With a pass deflection and an acrobatic sack by Muncie followed by a TFL by McClendon and Lewis the Bearkats punt from the 11 on a 4th and 28. Panthers are 3 and out. Klein hit pay dirt first scoring on their next drive making it 7 – 0. The Oak offense finally puts a scoring drive together right before the half. Baratti gains 27 on a run off the right side following a great down field blocking by Starr. The offensive line (Bottoms, Flores, Moreno, Fatu and Denny) give Wilson just enough time to connect with Stevenson on 2 passes for a total of 24 yards. Shroble comes in to kick a 42 yard field goal; at half time Oak trails 7 – 3.
After halftime adjustments the Panther ‘O’ comes out and picks up several first downs on completions to Waites and Starr from Wilson behind good line play. Unfortunately a couple penalties hang up the drive and KO punts from mid field. The score is 14 – 3 after a quick TD by the Bearkats. Oak’s offense just cannot gain any momentum punting again. One more time the defense is asked to stop the Klein running attack. Bending but not breaking Abron, Garcia, Smith, Gilliam, Russell, Ford and the rest of the defense force a field goal; Oak is down 17 – 3 at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
On the next Oak series a pass deflection leads to an interception and Klein has the ball again. Huge defensive stops by Gilliam and Russell forces a punt but valuable time slips off the clock. The Panthers finally get on track and score. Big-big runs by Baratti (and a sweet catch by Starr) set up a 1 yard TD dive by Nick following a massive block by Bottoms and Flores on the right side. Oak trails by a touchdown, 17 - 10. The Klein running game bleeds the rest of the time off the clock.
Another super tough loss for the Panthers. More work to do this week. Put this one behind us it’s time to focus on Tomball.
