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The Thursday morning fog was covering the Clear Lake area like a Freshmen Falcon defense. As the day went on, the talk around the NGC was of the game. Everyone anticipated facing a tough LaPorte team in their final game of a successful season. On the opening kickoff, Elrick Jones tore up the field to the LaPorte 47 yard line, only to have all the excitement dampened by a yellow flag laying on the field way, way back there. Clear Lake started the drive on its own 15 yard line. After having some success in moving the ball to their 39, the Falcons were forced to punt. The Clear Lake defense showed they were there to play, forcing LaPorte to go three and out. However, on the punt a roughing the kicker call gave the ball back to LaPorte. The Falcon defense held the drive to only four plays, and Clear Lake got the ball back. On the next possession, quarterback T.J. Jordan rolled out, got spun and hit hard. The ball was loose and La Porte recovered on the 37 yard. The momentum seemed to shift toward the Bulldogs. With four minutes left in the first quarter, La Porte had the ball on the Clear Lake 10 yard line. The defensive line shut down the first down play, giving up only two yards. On second down, the line broke a hole open for Jamie McMurchy to blast through with a radar on the LaPorte Q.B. LaPorte finally settled for a field goal to capture the first lead of the game, 3-0. On the kick return, Elrick Jones ran the ball up to the 40 yard line. With an unsuccessful reverse on the second first down of the drive and a myriad of penalties that followed, Clear Lake was looking at second and forty six. If that wasn't enough of a challenge for the Falcon offense, the snap flew over T..J. Jordan's head. As he dove on the ball, the La Porte defense drew a personal foul on a late hit that gave Clear Lake an automatic first down. The Falcons tried to capitalize on the next series of downs. Ryan Nisbett and Jamie McMurchy took turns with running duty to keep moving the ball, despite yellow hankies covering the field . On a tough fourth down, T.J. rolled out and found Scott Nimmons for a 13 yard gain. The drive ended, and the Falcons went into halftime down 3-0. On the opening drive of the second half, La Porte was able to move the ball on Clear Lake with strong running and a few critical passes, and added another six points to their lead. After an unsuccessful extra point attempt, the Bulldogs led 9-0. On the ensuing kickoff, La Porte decided to try to put the nail in the coffin with an onside kick. Mark Kissel foiled that attempt, recovering the ball at midfield. The Clear Lake running attack dominated the drive with consecutive 9 yard runs by Ryan Nisbett and Jamie McMurchy. Elrick Jones kept the attack alive by running a sweep to the right down to the 16 yard line. A couple of plays later, Jamie McMurchy blasted for a 15 yard gain to bring it to first and goal on the LaPorte 1 yard line. A QB sneak behind the strong offensive line pulled the Falcons to within three. After a blocked extra point attempt, the score held 9-6 Daniel McCalib's hit on the Bulldog kick returner was a precursor of more things to come from the Falcon defense. On a third and five, fans went wild as Ryan Johnson made a great tackle . The mood quickly changed as a flag was dropped. LaPorte was still alive with a first and ten. The Falcon defense was not fazed by the turn of events. Kevin Kuhl followed with a great tackle of his own, and LaPorte was forced to punt the ball after another unsuccessful series. A bad snap to the punter resulted in a shanked kick that Clear Lake recovered on the LaPorte 41. The first play of the drive was a wide receiver screen pass from T.J. Jordan to Elrick Jones who was lined up on the right side. Elrick took off down the sideline for what appeared to be an easy first down. As Elrick faced the first defensive backs he changed his mind and direction about his gain. He wanted more and he figured that it had to be gained on the other side. As Elrick switched direction, he nearly slipped and used his hand on the ground to regain his balance. As he changed field direction, the entire stadium was in a roar as they saw what they needed to see-- an overpursuing LaPorte defense, Elrick on his feet, and three lineman plus the quarterback as lead blockers on the other side of the field. Elrick's amazing run to the left resulted in a dive in the corner of the endzone to put Clear Lake in the lead 12-9. A critical extra point put Clear Lake up 13 - 9 with the team and fans all going wild. On the next drive, La Porte was fairly successful moving the ball, but it was taking a lot out of both teams to do so. On a third down play, Josh Hayes made a crucial stop and brought La Porte to fourth and one. On the following, the Falcon defense led by Scott Nimmons pushed the La Porte offensive line back. Clear Lake had stopped the Bulldogs and now had the ball. After another couple of great runs by Jamie McMurchy and Ryan Nisbett, the Falcons had their necessary first downs, and T.J. was kneeling the ball to finish the game. The Falcons had done it again with a come from behind victory to finish with the most "W"'s in the district. We know that many of these kids will be scatteredthroughout the JV and Varsity teams over the next couple of years, but look out for the class of 2005 as they make their way to being Senior Falcons. Thanks to all those who have enjoyed my articles and reading about the Freshman Falcons this year. Therewill be one more article this season which will be dedicated to the outstanding play of the Freshmen Falcons.
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Freshmen Falcon Hang on to Beat LaPorte
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