Freshman “A” Team
Clear Lake
VS
Brazoswood
9.30.04

The Clear Lake Falcons Freshman “A” Team traveled to Lake Jackson to play the Brazoswood Buccaneers. For the parents, the afternoon began bad when upon their arrival at the Brazoswood High School Football Field they found the field to be empty with not a football player, coach, nor CCISD bus in sight. After many calls from parent to parent we found out the game had been moved to Clute Intermediate because of the Brazoswood Bon-Fire that was scheduled for that evening at the High School Field.

The game started with Brazoswood winning the coin toss and electing to receive the opening kick-off. A good kick by Phillip Couch down to the Bwood 25 yard line saw Hector Ruvalcaba and Jordan Shivers stop the Bwood runner at the 35 yard line.  On the first play from scrimmage middle linebacker Eric Alsop hit the Bwood running back behind the line for a 3 yard loss. On second and long, a running play up the middle went for 15 and a first down after being brought down by strong safety Spencer Hayes and free safety Michael Grant. On first down from mid field CL dodged a bullet when a pass down field to a wide open receiver went beyond his reach falling incomplete. A second pass in the left flats was dropped by the Bwood receiver making it 3^rd and 10 from the 50. A draw play up the middle picked up 13 and a 1^st down with Shivers making the stop. On 1^st down defensive lineman Daniel Moore and Aaron Martinez stopped the Bwood running back at the line of scrimmage. The next play ended with a hard hit by linebacker Trevor Riser allowing only 2 yards. On 3^rd and 8, the Bwood QB fumbled the snap and was met hard by both CL middle linebackers, Eric Alsop and Trevor Riser. Bwood elected to go for it on 4^th and long from the CL 48. A long pass towards the right goal line fell incomplete with cornerback Jake Runte on the coverage, turning the ball over to CL.

The first series on offense went as drawn on the board. On first down, QB Drew Decker kept on the option picking up 14. Back to back gives up the middle to fullback Kyle Powers gained 8 & 3 and a 1^st down.  A 6 yard gain by halfback Michael Grant on an option pitch from Decker gained 6, followed by a counter to Spencer Hayes for an additional 5 gave CL another 1^st down. Then on the next play from scrimmage Michael Grant took another pitch from Decker and scampered down the right sidelines for a 24 yard TD run. The extra point try was off to the right making the score CL 7 –Bwood 0.

The CL kickoff went down to the 20 and was dropped then picked up by the Bwood return-man and brought up to the 40 before being taken down by Jordan Shivers. CL was penalized for offside on the first play. CL had good stops on defense by Martinez and Alsop and then again by Moore, but couldn’t stop a Bwood 1^st down. On 1^st Nick Adams and Daniel Moore made a good play by turning the Bwood runner back towards the middle where he was met hard again by Eric Alsop. Adams on the next play hit the Bwood running back behind the line of scrimmage slowing him down until he was gang tackled by Hayes, Riser, and Alsop. On 3^rd down the Bwood QB hit his Tight End on a slant for 13 where he was stopped by Jake Runte, Hayes, and Grant.  A draw play up the middle and good cut back on 1^st down allowed the Bwood runner to make his way down to the 18 before being knocked OB by Grant. Another 10 yard gain up the middle gave Bwood a 1^st down on the CL 8 yard line. On the 1^st down play, a blitzing Eric Alsop hit the Bwood QB on what was going to be a bootleg pass that Alsop made sure never happened, sacking the QB for a 5 yard loss. On 2^nd and a long 15, another draw up the middle and a good cut back to the left allowed the Bwood running back to go untouched into the end zone for the Bwood first score. The extra point was good now giving Bwood a 7-6 lead.

Michael Grant received the following kickoff up to the 35 yard line. Jake Runte, in at QB for CL, threw a pass to the right sideline just out of the reach of wide receiver Jordan Shivers. Runte handed off to Powers up the middle for 3 followed by a counter to Grant for 7 more and a CL 1^st down. On 1^st down a pitch from the option to Cody Worthen picked up 4 followed by 4 more from Powers up the middle. A 3^rd down play saw Grant hit behind the line after a pitch from Runte for a 3 yard loss bringing up a 4^th and 5. CL lined up to go for it on 4^th down but had to end up punting after an procedure penalty made it 4^th and 10. A good punt took gave the ball to Bwood at their own 25 yard line.

On the 1^st down play a pitch to the left was dropped and a hard charging Austin Kirby and Danniel Moore went in after the loose ball but came up empty with the Bwood runner recovering his own fumble, but not before loosing 5 on the play. Another draw play up the middle yielded 10, and then Kirby and Alsop ganged up to stop a Bwood runner just short of a 1^st down. Bwood went for it on 4^th and about 1, but the snap was fumbled and Nick Adams and Hector Ruvalcaba dove towards the loose ball. Bwood recovered the fumble but turned the ball over to CL on downs.

With the ball on the Bwood 30, QB Drew Decker took the ball, on the option keeper, down to the 18 on back to back plays for a CL 1^st down. A hard earned 3 yards were picked up by Kyle Powers up the middle on 1^st down, followed by Powers again for 2 more. As Bwood stacked their defense in the middle trying to stop the inside game, Decker on the next play pitched out to Spencer Hayes to the left where he was able to take it in for CL’s 2^nd TD of the game. CL went for 2 but came up short when Grant was hit at the line of scrimmage following a pitch from Decker, making the score CL12 -Bwood 7.

Couch kicked off to the Bwood 20 and the ball was returned to the 30 before being stuffed by Decker and Kirby. The Bwood 1^st down play yielded 9 before Tyler David and Jordan Shivers made the stop. A good play by Kyle Barras stopped the Bwood runner on a cutback but not before getting a 1^st down. A 40 yard pass completion was brought back because of a Bwood holding penalty. The next play was a short run off left tackle stopped by Riser and Worthen. Good CL pursuit on the next play forced the Bwood runner to change directions after trying to get around the right corner. Austin Kirby chased him down but not before he had picked up a 1^st down. With time running out in the half, Bwood threw a pass down field to the right side and the ball was almost picked off by Sean Starling. A draw up the middle was stopped by Michael Casavecchia and Martinez for a 5 yard gain. Going for it on 4^th down, Bwood threw a pass out to the right flats for a completion as Spencer Hayes and Trevor Riser unloaded on the receiver knocking the ball loose and Eric Alsop was there for the recovery. With seconds left on the clock, Decker was hit behind the line for a 2 yard loss on 1^st down, and an incomplete halfback pass from Runte, to Decker, to Shivers ran out the clock in the 1^st half with CL leading 12-7.

The 2^nd half started with Michael Grant returning the kickoff to the 28 yard line. Decker kept the ball on the option for an 11 yard gain followed immediately by a 42 yard run on the next play taking the ball down to the Bwood 20 yard line. A counter to Grant for 6, a counter to Hayes for 2, and a 2 yard gain by Powers up the middle took the ball down to the 10 and a 1^st down. A pitch to Worthen to the left got 4 before Decker keeping on the option turned it up and into the end zone for a 3^rd CL TD. Again going for the 2 point conversion a pitch to Cody Worthen saw no daylight as he was hit hard at the line of scrimmage. Score CL 18 Bwood 7.

A good return on the kickoff set Bwood up at the 40 yard line.A run around right end followed by a run around left end yielded a Bwood 1^st down. Evan Beasley brought down the Bwood runner on 1^st down after a small gain. A pitch left was good for 7 and a 1^st down. Bwood worked their way down the field to the CL 15 despite tackles by Riser, Moore, and Hayes. Then a run around left end for 15 and a touchdown and a good extra point conversion pulled Bwood within 4 points of CL at 18 – 14.

The kickoff was returned by Grant to the 38 yard line.

*At this point this writer’s battery went dead on his camera. The remaining will be a shortened version of the conclusion of the game.

After time consuming drives by both teams allowed no points, the clock worked its way down to under 3 minutes left in the game. On 4^th and about 6 from the CL 45 yard line, the CL coaches gambled and called a fake punt. With Decker back to punt he attempted a pass down field that fell incomplete turning the ball over to Bwood on the CL 45. Using up the clock, Bwood worked their way down the field to the CL 3 yd line. On 4^th and goal from the 1, and in spite of a tremendous effort by a determined defense, Bwood was able to take it in for a touchdown leaving only 24 seconds on the clock.

Bwood kicked off and a good return got the ball to the Bwood 45. But a fumbled snap turned the ball back over to Bwood where they took a knee as the clock ran down.

This game was another hard one to swallow. I think every player, coach, and parent realizes we should have won this one. As the coaches said after the game, this teams needs to learn how to put teams away and win. There is way too much talent on this team to be 1-5.

By Tom Worthen
QB Club Staff