Klein Oak kicked off to A&M Consolidated, but on the first series, the defense held them to the first of many ‘3 and outs”. After the punt, the Panthers started an eight play drive highlighted by passes by J. Toth of 12 and 14 yards to Green and J. Williams bringing the ball to the A&M 4 where Pickens ran it in for the TD. The 2-point conversion started from the 12 following two penalties, but Justus Johnson did a good job remaining inbounds on the pass from Toth to put the Panthers up 8-0. Another 3 and out led to a Tiger punt that was downed at the 5. A couple runs brought the ball to the 25, where Toth ran outside for an apparent 75 yd TD run, but a penalty brought the ball back to the 27. The offense continued to move ball up the field on a combination of runs and passes, but on first and 10 at the 15, a fumble by Toth turned the ball over to the Tigers. On the next play, an interception by M. Gonzales gave the ball back to the Panthers with 1st and goal from the 9. On 3rd and 12, Toth ran it in for TD and Pickens converted on the 2-point conversion. ON the ensuing Tiger possession, they engineered a 14-play drive capped by a 2 yard run and 2-point conversion, bringing the score to 16-8 Panthers. Pickens took the Tiger kickoff out to the 30, but the Panthers were intercepted with about a minute to go in the half. Jones and Suydam combined for a sack that effectively ended their drive as the half ended.
The Panthers started the 3rd Quarter by continuing to move the ball up field to the Tiger 35, capped by a 23-yard pass from Toth to B. Poth on 3rd and 15. The Tiger defense then stiffened and the Panthers turned it over on downs. Both defenses turned it up a notch with back-to-back 3 and outs. A 5-yard sack by Majewski stalled the next Tiger drive and they were force to punt. The Panther’s offense stalled and on the punt, J. Cabrera recovered a fumble giving them good field position at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Toth directed them Panthers to 20, where Morgan rushed 15-yards and Hampton finished the drive with a 5-yard TD run and a 22-8 lead. Morgan was a foot short on the 2-point conversion. Lalou kicked off into the end zone, where the Tiger return man brought the ball out to the 2. However, the officials ruled it a touchback, allowing the Tigers to start from the 20. Following a couple of incompletion, the Tiger runner broke free for an 80-yard TD run and converted the extra-point kick to narrow the Panther’s lead to 22-15. The Panthers started with good field position and moved the ball to the 30 on Morgan’s 32-yard run. A few plays later, Morgan lost a fumble to the Tigers. The Panther defense again held and on 3rd and 4, Gonzales recovered a fumble and the offense ran out the clock for 22-15 win.
Several players on both the offense and defense had stellar performances. Toth passed for over 120 yards and ran for 74 to lead the offense. Morgan, Hampton, and Pickens all ran for over 50 yards, with Green, J. Williams, and Poth having clutch receptions. On defense, C. Robinson led with 7 tackles, and C. Toth, J. Jones, Ray, Majewski, and Gonzales all having 3 or more tackles. Cabrera, B. Williams (#55) and Gonzales had fumble recoveries. Redmon, Romaguera, and Carrabine all had knock downs/near interceptions of Tiger passes. Suydam, Jones, and Gonzales were in on a number of sacks or stopped the runner for a loss. Overall, a good performance against a talented A&M Consolidated team.
