FREEPORT — The Bucs fought to the very end, but came up
short again.
Clear Lake’s Tommy Duff nailed a 37-yard field goal with
1:02 left in the game, lifting the Falcons to a 24-21 win Thursday night
at Hopper Field.
Brazoswood (1-5) trailed 14-0 at one point, but came back
to score 21 unanswered points before Lake staged its comeback.
The loss was a big one for the Bucs. At 0-2 in District
24-5A, Brazoswood will need to win its final three games to have a shot at
getting into the playoffs.
Lake (4-3) evened its district record at 1-1.
The Bucs used a 13-play, 89-yard drive to take the lead
with 7:29 remaining in the game. David Prince scored his third touchdown
of the night on a 27-yard run. The senior
running back finished the game with 152 yards on 32 carries.
Ryan Birdsong’s PAT gave Brazoswood a seven-point lead.
But Lake responded quickly, going 74 yards in six plays in
less than two minutes. Chris Sprott (108 yards on 20 carries) scored on a
3-yard run and kicker Tommy Duff added the PAT to tie the game.
The big play on the drive was a 43-yard completion from
Michael Fritz (11-of-17 for 226 yards) to Chris Hunter.
Brazoswood quarterback J.D. Ritchey was intercepted on the
Bucs’ next drive at his own 42 by Lake’s Russell Schober.
The Buc defense was able to keep Lake out of the end zone,
but Duff’s field goal gave the Falcons the lead.
Brazoswood got into Lake territory with less than a minute
to play when Ritchey (6-of-13 for 90 yards) found Matt Gore across the
middle for a 35-yard gain and then hit Matt Williams for 10 more. But time
ran out on the Bucs when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end
zone as the clock reached triple zeros.
The loss was Brazoswood’s fifth in a row.
Lake got on the scoreboard in the first quarter when Fritz
scored on a quarterback keeper from the 1-yard line. The touchdown capped
an eight-play drive that started at the Lake 38 after Prince lost a
fumble. Duff’s PAT made the score 7-0.
Lake took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter when Chris
Hunter caught a Fritz pass behind the line of scrimmage, but turned up
field and dashed 74 yards down the visitor’s sideline to the end zone. The
PAT again was good.
Brazoswood responded with its next drive, however. The Bucs
went 63 yards in 11 plays and Prince scored from the 1-yard line with 3:04
remaining on the first-half clock. The senior running back finished the
first half with 84 yards, which was most of the Bucs’ offensive output.
Brazoswood had 129 yards of total offense at the break.
Ryan Birdsong’s PAT cut the lead to 14-7.
Lake used a 38-yard Fritz pass to Scott Oswald to get to
the Brazoswood 29-yard line in an effort to add a score before halftime,
but the Bucs came up with four good defensive plays — a sack and three
incomplete passes by Fritz — and the Falcons turned the ball over on
downs.
Though Fritz had the three incomplete passes just before
the half, the District 24-5A passing leader was impressive for much of the
game. At one point, he had completed 7-of-8 passes for 145 yards.
A defensive highlight for the Bucs in the first half came
in the opening quarter when Alex Ruthstrom sacked Fritz for a 9-yard loss.
Prince scored from the 4-yard line in the third quarter and
a Birdsong PAT knotted the score at 14-14.
That drive started at the Lake 16 after Brazoswood’s
Jonathon Baggett intercepted Fritz.
Brazoswood travels to play Galveston Ball on Oct. 25, while
Clear Lake plays Clear Creek at District Stadium.
