Nov. 24, 2004, 2:28AM
La Marque, Clear Lake on attack
By L. SCOTT HAINLINE
Chronicle Correspondent
Football-wise, the Clear Lake Falcons are going where they've never been before, while the La Marque Cougars are trying to repeat something special they did less than 12 months ago.
Both teams play Division II Region III semifinal games on Saturday, with Clear Lake (11-1) taking on Memorial (9-3) at the Class 5A level at 6:30 p.m. at Rice Stadium and La Marque (10-2) meeting Jacksonville (10-2) at 6:30 p.m. at Conroe Moorhead Stadium in 4A play.
Since it opened in 1972, Clear Lake has never made it past the second round of the football playoffs.
"We've come this far and the players really want to do something with this opportunity," said head coach Troy Aduddell, "and that means we must focus on Memorial."
Memorial, which started the season with losses to Hightower (24-21), Pearland (27-24) and Westfield (10-3), has won nine in a row, including postseason triumphs against Cypress Ridge (28-0) and last week over Willowridge (24-7). Since the 0-3 beginning, the Mustangs have outscored nine opponents 293-46.
"Memorial is playing together and their players know where they fit into the scheme of things," Aduddell said. "They're playing very good football, and so are we. We're really two very similar teams."
Clear Lake's defense limited Lamar to 10 points last week (none in the second half), while the Falcons offense rushed for 419 yards on its way to scoring 42 points.
Senior quarterback Scott Oswald ran for 174 yards and scored three touchdowns, while junior fullback Geno Blow contributed 129 yards and one touchdown.
"We pulled Scott with six minutes to go, and he didn't want to come out, but we have another week to play, and sometimes players just don't understand that," Aduddell said. The coach emphasized that his defense is capable not only of holding its own, but of controlling a game.
"Our defense has been criticized this season, but we've played a lot of people in some big wins after we've had games locked up," he said. "The defense is real focused and playing very well right now, as is our special teams. When teams have to start drives at the 20 or 25 every time, that's a big plus for your defense."
The Clear Lake-Memorial winner meets Katy (11-1) or Dobie (10-2) in next week's Class 5A Division II region finals (also known as the state quarterfinals), which will be Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Reliant Astrodome.
La Marque, a 16-0 state champion last season, is trying to make history repeat itself, and a victory against District 17-4A member Jacksonville would put the Cougars into next week's Region III championship game with Kilgore (12-0) or El Campo (9-3).
La Marque defeated El Campo 32-7 in last season's region finals.
The Cougars had dual 100-yard rushers in last week's 58-27 second-round rout of Kashmere. J.J. Mullins gained 145 ground yards with one score and Marcus Frank ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns.
Jacksonville owns postseason wins over Waller 24-6 and Nederland 49-14.