11/17/2004

Falcons have date in Rice Stadium

By: CHUCK HLAVA , Citizen Staff

Lake, Lamar meet after high scoring affairs

 "Second verse, same as the first...."
So goes a line in an old rock song from the 1960's but it could apply to Clear Lake's win over La Porte in Friday's opening round of the football playoffs.
That's because the two had met in the second game during the regular season back in September.
Clear Lake won that September contest and it won again last Friday.
The only thing similar about the Lake-La Porte #1 and #2 meetings was the result, because the play of both teams was different.
On Friday the Falcons won 49-28 to advance to the next round of the playoffs against Lamar. In their earlier meeting on Sept. 3 Lake won 35-17.
Lamar and Port Arthur Memorial played on Saturday and obviously read about the high-scoring affair of the Lake-La Porte game and wanted to do better. So they went at it through four overtime periods before Lamar won 57-49.
What that means when Clear Lake (10-1) and Lamar (8-3) meet Saturday at 2 p.m. in Rice Stadium, is that both teams can put up big numbers on the scoreboard.
Offensively, the Redskins are the opposite of Clear Lake. They are more prone to passing than rushing. But so was La Porte, to some extent.
Lamar quarterback Demetrius Woods threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns against PA-Memorial. The Redskins' other touchdowns came on short runs and an 87-yard interception return. Brandon LaFell is Woods' main go-to guy on the pass. LaFell hauled in six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. While LaFell is definitely a man to watch, but so are ball carriers Jonathan Lewis (60 yards against Memorial), DeeWee Davis, Eric Elland and receiver Rene Glapion.
While Lake's defensive secondary may have to scramble against the Redskins, the Falcons may have on edge with their ground offense.
That's because Memorial blistered the Lamar defense for 420 yards rushing (they ran the ball a whopping 70 times). Of course, the Titans still lost despite that.
With Lamar giving up all that territory on the ground may be music to the ears of Lake quarterback Scott Oswald and runners Elrick Jones, Geno Blow, Ronnie Feaster, Daniel McCalib & Co. They're used to taking big chunks of turf, be it artificial or otherwise. They did that against La Porte to the tune of 315 yards.
But Lake coach Troy Aduddell is a little more than cautious about the Redskins' game, especially their air strikes.
"They've got some great athletes, especially LaFell and Davis," Aduddell said.
"With Woods, we know they're going to throw the ball. Whenever we play a passing team like this we have to be physical up front with their receivers."
Thanks to two touchdown passes from Woods and that 87-yard interception return for a score by the sure-handed LaFell who can play defense too, Lamar zoomed to a 21-0 lead against Port Arthur Memorial. But after that the Redskins had to hang on for dear life as the Titans came back and forced those four overtimes.
Clear Lake came close to doing that against La Porte in District Stadium on Friday.
At first, the Falcons completely dominated and went into the halftime locker rooms leading 35-7.
Game over? Hardly.
After the break, the game changed complexion.
Lake couldn't get untracked to start the second half after taking the kickoff at its own 7-year-line. It was three and punt. In that third quarter Lake's offense went nowhere and its defense got untracked by La Porte's change in strategy.
"They didn't spread us out and that kind of caught us off guard when they went into the 'I,' Aduddell said.
The Bulldogs crept closer as quarterback Boogie Anagnostou hit Kevin Mobley from 32 yards out. Lake's secondary got caught as Mobley found himself all alone in the secondary and waltzed into the end zone to make it 35-13.
Just like La Porte's turnovers aided the Falcons in the first half, Lake miscues helped the Bulldog cause in the second half.
Late in the third quarter the Bulldogs made it 35-21, including a 2-point conversion where Anagnostou hit a wide-open receiver in the end zone.
When it looked like La Porte was about to make a comeback, Clear Lake's defense shook off the third period and came through in the fourth quarter when it appeared the Bulldogs were about to make a serious comeback.
On Lake's next series after La Porte made it 35-21, the Bulldogs recovered a Clear Lake fumble on the Falcon 44-yard line. It seemed the momentum was definitely swinging to the Bulldogs.
Lake's defense, however, held as Anagnostou's three throws fell incomplete. It was four and out as the Falcon defense forced a La Porte punt.
Then came the final game-solidifier on Lake's next series. Jones got the ball on a reverse and with his speed turned the corner and was off along the sidelines on a 68-yard touchdown run with 8:17 left in the fourth. Kyle Chism's point-after made it 42-21.
"That got us back on track," Aduddell said of the defensive stops and Jones' gallop into the end zone.
It was evident that the pendulum indeed had switched back to the Falcons. So much, in fact, that four minutes later Feaster went in from 19 yards out and with 4:14 left it was 49-21.
The Bulldogs added a late touchdown when Bulldog linebacker David Boyd stripped the pigskin from the Falcon ball carrier and rambled 55 yards for the score with 39 seconds remaining to make it the final 49-28.
Clear Lake, playing good football on offense and defense, scored on its opening possession of the game and after the Bulldogs tied the game at 7, added four straight touchdowns. The Falcons took advantage of a couple of La Porte turnovers to drive for points.
Oswald tallied twice on runs of 2 and 44 yards. Between that Blow had a pair of scores and McCalib added one.
Jones and Oswald each had 100-plus rushing nights. Oswald also was 3-for-3 for 47 yards in the passing department, with two of those going to Giesinger.
Anagnostou completed 16 of 24 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He was picked off once, when linebacker Jerome Stinson snared one at the 40 and returned it all the way to the La Porte two before being tackled. Blow went in untouched from there for the score that made it 35-7.