For
Clear Lake, the math is quite simple: win the final two district football
games and step into the playoffs.
For unbeaten
Clear Creek, things are a little more clouded as far as winning district
outright because the Wildcats haven't played the other two front-runners
for post-season, Galveston Ball and Alvin. But Creek is master of its
destiny. A win next week against the Tors will assure the Cats of playing
after the regular season ends.
Clear Creek is
3-0 in District 24-5A (7-0 overall) after downing archrival Clear Lake
24-14 in District Stadium on Friday. The loss dropped the Falcons to 1-2
and 4-4. Alvin, which blanked Clear Brook 12-0 on Saturday, is 2-1 in
district and 7-1 overall.
Tied with Lake
at 14 during halftime on Friday night, the Wildcats made defensive
adjustments and kept the Falcons off the scoreboard the second half.
But the big
story in 24-5A last week, the one that actually propelled Clear Lake back
into the playoff hunt, was Brazoswood's 18-17 upset over Ball in
Galveston. It was the Bucs first district win (1-2). They are 2-5 overall.
Losing to
Brazoswood dropped Ball to 2-1 in district, with games against Clear Creek
and Clear Lake remaining.
If Clear Lake
wins its final two games---against Clear Brook and Galveston---the Falcons
are in. If Lake and Ball finish the district season 3-2, Lake would go to
post-season. The first tiebreak in separating tied teams would be
head-to-head.
Of course
that's a big IF. Galveston Ball will have its hands full with Clear
Creek's juggernaut of a running game. But in any case, even if Ball falls
to the favored Wildcats on Friday, the Tor-Lake contest on Nov. 8 in
Galveston will decide one playoff spot. It doesn't really matter whether
one team enters at 2-2 and the other at 1-3.
Brazoswood can
put a kink into the proceedings by knocking off Alvin on Friday and Clear
Brook on the final day and also finish strong.
Clear Lake and
Brook square off at 7 p.m. Friday in District Stadium.
Clear Lake
coach Troy Aduddell is taking nothing for granted, despite Brook's record.
"We can see
that they've continued to get better than their first game of the season.
This is a big rivalry because a lot of the kids played together in
intermediate school. They're going to be tough," Aduddell added of the
Wolverines.
On Saturday,
Creek hosts the Tors at 1 p.m. in District Stadium.
Creek coach
Aubrey Schulz expects the Tors to show up ready to play and makeup for
their loss to Brazoswood.
"I think
they're going to be more focused on us. They run that option very well and
we're going to have to play well against them," Schulz said.
Clear Lake
opened up things against Clear Creek in a big way on Friday with what it
does best---throwing.
Falcon
quarterback Michael Fritz spread the Creek defense all over the field as
Lake had the Wildcats scrambling in the first half, which ended 14-14.
Unfortunately,
Clear Lake came out firing blanks in the final two periods as the Wildcat
defense made its adjustments while the offense struck for a touchdown and
a field goal in the third quarter to take a 24-14 lead. That ended the
scoring.
"We keyed on
certain people and rushed the quarterback a little more," Schulz said of
Creek's second-half game plan. "(Fritz) is an excellent quarterback,
especially when he's got time to throw, so we wanted to keep him on the
run more."
During the
first half Clear Creek overcame a rash of mistakes and penalties to stay
even with the high-flying Falcons.
"The kids
played real good, especially in the first half," Aduddell said.
After the
break, and the score tied at 14, Creek ran the ball well on its initial
drive of the third period, which ended with Kevin Nail's 4-yard run. J. P.
Padron's kick made it 21-14 and the Wildcats were ahead to stay. But
nobody thought that they would shutout the Falcons in the second half.
Three minutes
later Padron tacked on a 37-yard field goal to end the scoring.
Clear Lake
took the game's opening kickoff 64 yards in 11
plays to move ahead 7-0 at the 9:40 mark of the first period. Fritz caught
the Cat defense by surprise when he threw a screen to running back Chris
Sprott for a 15-yard touchdown. The crucial play of that drive was Fritz'
33-yard toss to Chris Hunter on a third-and-18 play.
But Clear
Creek had a surprise of its own. After the Cats' drive apparently stalled
at the Clear Lake 37 Creek went into punt formation on fourth-and four.
But linebacker/running back Sean Wells took the snap and rambled 17 yards
to the Lake 20. With Lake still off balance, Brenton Bolden ran 20 yards
on the next play. With 5:17 left in the first period it was tied 7-7.
The first play
of the second period saw the Wildcats make it 14-7 on a one-yard run by
quarterback Gerard Price. That drive began at the Lake 26 after a shank
punt by the Falcons that traveled only seven yards.
But the
Falcons weren't quite finished, aided by several Clear Creek penalties
Clear Lake drove 54 yards in 8 plays, with Fritz himself going the final
three yards for the score. Roughing the ball carrier out of bounds and a
couple of other penalties called on Creek's defense aided the Falcons in
that drive. Lake's longest play in that drive was a 22-yard pass from
Fritz to Oswald.
Lake had a
chance to tack on some more points when Price fumbled and Lake recovered
on the Creek 44 with 4:17 left in the half. But the Cat defense stiffened
and the Falcons managed to gain only two yards before being forced to
punt.
Fritz threw
for 155 yards, with just about all of that in the first half. He was
13-36-1. On the ground the Falcons had 17 rushes but were held to a net
gain of 20 yards. Sprott had 14 rushes for 20 yards. Oswald carried the
receiving banner, with six catches for 87 yards.
As usual, the
Cats were rolling in the dirt, even though it was soggy and muddy. They
had 256 yards on the ground, with Nail accounting for 124 of those and
Bolden added his usual share, this time 117 yards. Creek's passing was
meager (1-for-1, 13 yards) but Price showed a good arm on a long 32-yard
completion that was wiped out by a penalty.
With the two
games left, Schulz and the Wildcats are aiming to get out of district
unbeaten.
"That would be
great," Schulz said. "It's something this school has never done."
