Klein Oak vs. Tomball

Heavy winds blast out of the south posting the American flag straight out due north one Friday night in late October. In Tomball Texas the Friday night lights are on at Cougar field. In the first half Klein Oak doesn’t care which way it’s driving (north or south with or / into the wind) dominating the time of possession clock and the score board. Panthers put points on the board on their first four possessions to open up a commanding lead then hold off the Cougars to lock up another win. Q1 – Panthers kick off to start the game. Michael Shroble blasts one out of the end zone (kicking north with the wind) forcing Tomball to begin the first drive on 20 yard line. Tomball records just 2 first downs in the first half. Yep; that’s it just 2 first downs (and a total of about 15 plays). One is on the first offensive play from scrimmage and the second is the last drive of the first half. The Cougars gain 21 yards on the first play Lemon Ford and Dashone Smith make a saving tackle or it may have gone for more. Then KO forces a fumble (recovered by Tomball) and Daniel Shaul blasts in on a solo tackle for loss (TFL). Tomball punts after 4 plays. Nicky Baratti leads the Panther offense onto the field. On second down and ten from the 8 yard line Nick Bradley hauls in a 12 yard reception in the flat on a perfect throw from Baratti (and a first down). Coach Poth calls a quick trap on the next play; The Dozers (O. Line) block, Skyler Denny pulls from right to left blasting inside as Baratti hits the whole quickly running for 15 more yards and another first down. On second down and 10 Baratti drops back to pass, scrambles, lunching a deep ball and Tory Waites climbs the golden ladder hauling in a super catch for huge yardage (33 actually). Third down and 4; Tuff McClain makes a great diving catch while dancing along the sidelines; another first down. Baratti takes it in from the 1 yard line on a QB sneak following Justin Moreno and Arthur Fatu. Shroble kicks the extra point and Oak leads 7 – 0 with 6:14 left in Q1. Shroble kicks another one out of the end zone. The second series for Tomball starts on the 20 again. The result of this drive is 3 and out. Cody Spiegelhauer makes a solo stop in the flat, Deion Hill breaks up a pass on an out route and Alfred Baratti get a stop in the backfield. Tomball punts. After a short punt and fair catch by Waites on the Tomball 47 KO takes over 1st and 10. The Dozers and Baratti held back out on the field. Baratti runs right for 5 yards, throws to Waites for 6 yards on a slant route gaining a first down. Behind great protection by ‘The Dozers’ (Jeremy Jones, Eric Sanchez, Moreno, Fatu and Denny) Baratti goes back to Waites on a 10 yard out and another first down. From the 20 yard line Lorenzo Stewart veers right through a big hole picking up 7 valuable yards in the red zone and a 1st down. The Panther drive stalls on the 8 yards line; Shroble comes in kicking a 29 yard field goal to make it 10 – 0 with 1:33 remaining in Q1. And you guessed it….. another kick out of the end zone by Shroble. The third series for Tomball starts on the 20 again. The result is 3 and out again. The D. Line (Nathan Hughes, Jared Williams and Shaul) dominate. Joe Matthews makes a big stop in the middle. Tomball fumbles on 3rd down Hughes makes a scramble towards the ball…. But the Cougars recover. And punt. Q2 – KO has been playing with the swirling wind in Q1 but for Q2 the blasting winds will be against them. That seems to be okay too. Panthers start the drive 1 and 10 on the 31. EJ Fatu gets into the offensive action with his own Dozer work following pancake blocks by Denny and Bradley gaining 5. Bradley runs a great seam route on third down making a sweet grab as Baratti threads the needle for big yardage to the Cougar 39 yard line. The Dozers works some magic for Baratti; Moreno, Arthur and James Fuentez flatten everyone on the right side Sanchez and Denny pull from left to right while Baratti springs right and scampers for a nice gain to the 33 yard line. Baratti hits Waites in the flat outside blocks are on the money; Waites makes the right reads and picks up 13 yards. EJ Fatu motors up the middle behind Arthur Fatu for 15 more yards. The drive is capped off with a TD run by EJ from the 3. Shroble's point after in good. Oak leads 17 – 0 with 7:27 left in Q2. Kicking into the wind makes things a bit different. Tomball has the ball 1st and 10 from the 28 after a short kick and fair catch. The result is still 3 and out. Trying a reverse on first down with no luck the play is stretched to the sideline by Spiegelhauer, Hill, Matthews and Alfred Baratti; no gain. A QB keeper is jammed up by Williams and Matthews then Ernest Davis breaks up a pass….. Tomball punts. A flag on the first punt means Tomball gets a 4th and 1 (instead of 4th and 6). Cougars line up to go for it on 4th down (only trying to get OAK to jump off sides). Great discipline by KO forces a Cougar time out and punt (after all). The Panther offense goes back to work. Baratti hits Bradley on a crossing route. Bradley makes a sky high one handed grab (catch of the game) picking up 15 yards and a 1st down. Stewart goes for 7 yards behind superb blocking by ‘The Dozers’. Jones makes a massive block and EJ rambles for 15 yards on a little stop and go run. On first and 10 from the Cougar 24 a yellow flag goes up. First and 15 from the 29; Baratti drops back to pass; ‘The Dozers’ protect; Waites streaks down the lift side of the field near the sidelines. A beautiful catch and throw means Waites and Baratti connect for a 29 yard TD pass play. Shroble kicks and KO leads 24 – 0 with 3:31 left in Q3. Tomball scores on their final drive of the 1st half. Panthers lead 24 – 7 at halftime. Q3 – the second half is very different than the first. The Panther offense can’t seem to get going. The defenses battle back and forth. KO gets inside the red zone but is forced to kick a field goal (but it goes wide left). Tomball drives on their second possession of Q3. The Panther ‘D’ comes up with a huge goal line stand. Smith makes a big solo tackle on 1st and goal from the 6. Two almost interceptions force Tomball to kick a field goal from the 9 yard line. The score is 24 – 10 with 1:05 left in Q3. Panthers run the ball to keep the clock moving and bang away at the heart of the defense. Q4 – as the final stanza starts KO punts. The Panther ‘D’ makes big plays to prevent a comeback by the Cougars. The clock shows 5:36 remaining in the game; Tomball scores making it 24 – 17. Both teams exchange body blows with KO winning out. Nathan Hughes lands a massive sack late in the forth quarter. And then Dillon May comes up with a KEY interception killing the final effort by Tomball. As the last second ticks off the clock the Panthers celebrate a 24 – 17 victory at Cougar field. Two critical district wins in a row. The Panthers came out hotter than rocks in a forest fire to start the game!!! The early lead proved to be more than enough to secure the ‘W’. Next up is Spring Lions. The Lions always come ready to play. KO needs to keep the Mojo running HOT to finish up district play with WINS. OAK’ em ….. Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final Klein Oak 10 14 0 0 24 Tomball 0 7 3 7 17 Scoring Summary: Q1 KLO -- Nicky Baratti 2-yard run (Michael Shroble kick), 06:14 KLO -- Michael Shroble 29-yard field goal, 01:33 Q2 KLO -- EJ Fatu 3-yard run (Michael Shroble kick), 07:27 KLO -- Tory Waites 29-yard pass from Nicky Baratti (Michael Shroble kick), 03:31 TOM -- Montrell Logan 61-yard pass from Justin Dvorak (Dillon Duarte kick), 02:51 Q3 TOM -- Dillon Duarte 26-yard field goal, 01:05 Q4 TOM -- Jameson Johnson 31-yard pass from Justin Dvorak (Dillon Duarte kick), 05:36 Klein Oak Tomball Total yards 419 311 First downs 21 17 Rushes/Yds 53/235 27/177 Average rush 4.43 6.56 Comp/Atts/Int 10/15/0 11/21/1 Pass yards 184 134 Comp pct 67% 52% Punts 4 4 Punting Yards 154 128 Punting Average 38.50 32.00 Fumbles/Lost 2/0 2/1 Penalties-yards 3-20 3-25 OFFENSIVE STATS Passing Comp. Att. Yards Long TD Yards/comp % Complete Int's Nicky Baratti 10 15 184 35 1 18.4 67% 0 Team Totals 10 15 184 35 1 18.4 67% 0 Rushing Carries Yards Long Ave/carry TD Nicky Baratti 20 88 21 4.4 1 EJ Fatu 21 113 20 5.4 1 Larenzo Stewart 12 34 12 2.8 0 Team Totals 53 235 21 4.4 2 Receiving Catches Yards Long Ave/rec. TD Tuff McClain 1 10 10 10.0 Tory Waites 6 114 30 19.0 1 Nick Bradley 3 60 35 20.0 Team Totals 10 184 35 18.4 1 Scoring Run Receiving Misc. Total Nicky Baratti 1 1 EJ Fatu 1 1 Tory Waites 1 1 Team Totals 2 1 0 3 PAT's Made Attempts Points Michael Stroble 3 3 3 Field Goals Made Attempts Long Points Michael Shroble 1 2 29 3 DEFENSIVE STATS Tackles Solo Assist For loss Total Dillon May 0 1 1 Cody Spiegelhauer 1 1 2 Alfred Baratti 3 2 5 Travis Arthur 1 1 2 Ernest Davis 1 1 2 Deshone Smith 4 2 6 Lemon Ford 5 2 7 Michael Shroble 1 0 1 Will Hoffmans 0 0 0 Blake Ashford 2 0 2 Deion Hill 0 0 0 Nathan Hughes 0 4 4 AJ Hilliard 0 1 1 Keaton Studdert 0 4 4 Joe Matthews 0 0 0 Jared Williams 7 3 10 Joe Matthews 2 6 8 Daniel Shaul 5 3 8 Jay Andrews 0 1 1 John Lewis (DNP) 0 0 0 Team Total 32 28 0 60 Sacks / huries Sacks Hurries Daniel Shaul 1 Jared Williams 1 Nathan Hughes 1 Team Totals 3 Interceptions Int's Knock downs Dillon May 1