10/20/2004

Lake takes time off after upset loss

By: CHUCK HLAVA , Citizen Staff

Alvin zeroes in on Oswald for surprise win

It's probably a good thing that Clear Lake's football team has this weekend off.
Clear Lake will welcome the hiatus to analyze its first loss of the season after Alvin shocked the Falcons 31-13 last week. This may be the biggest upset in district play in many years.
The Falcons' next opponent, on Oct. 29, will be Clear Brook, which got a scare from winless Clear Creek before prevailing in overtime. Not only that, the game against Brook will be Lake's homecoming.
Alvin now takes command of District 24-5A with a 3-0 mark (5-2 overall) and is in charge of its own destiny. The Yellowjackets meet Clear Brook on Friday in District Stadium.
Defending district champ Clear Lake (3-1 and 7-1 overall) drops into a three-way tie for second with Clear Brook and Pearland. Alvin ended the Falcons' hopes of repeating an undefeated 24-5A campaign.
Lake coach Troy Aduddell welcomes the week off after the loss.
"We need it to regroup," he said. "Alvin deserves all the credit because they played well. They were physical and they had a plan."
That game plan in Alvin was to contain Clear Lake quarterback Scott Oswald. The plan was a resounding success. Oswald, who had been running almost unchecked over previous opponents and rushing for at least 100 yards per game, at times rushing for over 200, was held to his lowest of the season with 27 yards on 18 carries.
Alvin head coach Mike Bass, a former assistant football coach at Lake, concurred that was the formula for the evening.
"We wanted to attack Oswald, and if they were going to beat us, they were going to have to beat us with Elrick Jones and the other backs. But we were going to stay with Oswald," Bass said. "The deal was to slow him down."
It more than slowed Oswald down.
"That was the first time anyone had concentrated heavily on Scott. Give them credit, they did it," Aduddell said.
He hopes the Falcons have learned a lesson that, despite carrying big offensive statistics, it takes more than just showing up for the game.
"We didn't step up like we should have," Aduddell said. "We need to understand that at anytime, anyone can beat you."
The game was an encounter between the district's No. 1 offensive team (Lake-412 yards per game avg.) and the district's No. 1 defensive team (Alvin-allowing 219 yards per game). The Jacket defense just about hit its mark. Both teams had exactly 236 yards total offense.
The Falcons managed 184 yards on the ground and another 52 in the air. Alvin had 187 and 49.
But the Jackets managed to capitalize on Lake turnovers, including a 47-yard interception for a touchdown that sealed the win in the fourth quarter.
Clear Lake had four turnovers (two fumbles/2 interceptions). Normally that might not prevent the Falcons from getting a win but the Jackets completely stymied the Lake offensive thrusts.
"We've always played well against the option so we felt like we could beat them if we played well, and took advantage of the breaks," Bass said.
Halfback Elrick Jones, making a return after a couple of weeks off, led the Falcon attack with 109 yards rushing on 12 carries. But the Jackets kept him out of the end zone.
Clear Lake took a 14-3 lead into the fourth period but from there Alvin scored fourth touchdowns in their upset, aided by Lake miscues.
In that fourth quarter it was still anyone's game but the Falcons committed a couple of mistakes that Alvin jumped on. The first was a snap that sailed over the punter's head and gave the Jackets great field position. Then a fumble that Alvin picked up and ran to the Lake 27-yard line.
"That was a pivotal point," Aduddell said of the high snap. "We were still in it. But after that things went against us. We felt the pressure and rushed things and that led to more mistakes."
Alvin tailback Dwight Goffney rushed for 171 yards on 33 carries and, scored the first two TDs in the fourth period, both on plunges from the one.
The Jackets led for the first time after Goffney's second touchdown, 17-13 and then took advantage of Lake's errors.
Alvin basically iced the game with 2:07 left in the fourth when quarterback Bobby Vaughn hit Chris Nowlin with a 6-yard touchdown strike.
Lake attempted to stage a furious comeback but Bryant Hunter picked off Oswald's aerial at the Falcon 47 and rambled into the end zone with only 1:47 left to kill any hopes Lake had.
Clear Lake opened the scoring when halfback Daniel McCalib ran for seven yards into the end zone late in the opening period. Kyle Chism's kick was no good and it was 6-0 in favor of the Falcons.
Alvin went down the field quickly after Lake's initial score and managed a 37-yard field goal by Jaimie Juarez as time ran out in the first quarter to make it 6-3.
Oswald then finished off a good Lake drive by diving in from the one and, after the kick, the Falcons led 13-3 with 7:02 left in the third period. Little did the Falcons realize that would be the end of their scoring. Oswald still leads the district rushers with 1,265 yards.
Alvin was flagged eight times for penalties (80 yards) while Lake had five penalties for 45 yards.