From The Citizen, Sept. 3, 2003

By: SCOTT T. SNELL, Citizen Staff

Falcons down Katy Taylor

Ground game clicks for Lake

Clear Lake Head Coach Troy Aduddell knew it wasn't going to be easy in trying to find a replacement for former quarterback Michael Fritz. It appears the Falcon mentor may have found one with the quick and elusive junior quarterback Scott Oswald. Although completing only one pass to Chris Sprott for 23 yards, the agile Oswald carried the pigskin 19 times and netted 141 rushing yards and two touchdowns in leading Clear Lake to a 21-7 victory over Katy Taylor in their nondistrict season opener held last Friday evening at District Stadium. It's on to Cypress Falls for Aduddell and his Falcons, as Clear Lake will take to the road Thursday evening in journeying to Pridgeon Stadium in a 7 p.m. scheduled starting time. "We will work on our weak points, try and improve as a team and be ready for Cypress Falls," Aduddell said. "The key is to make progress."

Clear Lake generated a total of 283 rushing yards on 41 attempts in the contest, as running backs Brandon Smith, Chris Sprott, and Elrick Jones also picked up key chunks of yardage throughout the night. "Scott (Oswald) was an All-District 24-5A receiver last year," Aduddell said. "And he's our team leader this year." Oswald showed why in engineering his first start as head quarterback for Lake.

After a scoreless first quarter of play, the Falcons struck first with a methodical six- play drive covering one minute and 39 seconds that culminated with Oswald's 33-yard option touchdown sprint with 7:41 left in the first half to give Clear Lake a 7-0 advantage over the Mustangs. It stayed this way until the third quarter, when Katy Taylor's Michael Gregory nodded the score at 7-7 with a two- yard touchdown run that turned out to be the only score for the Mustangs. Falcon senior running back Chris Sprott regained the lead for Clear Lake as he broke free on a 35-yard touchdown jaunt that gave Lake the lead for good with 1:24 left in the third quarter, 14-7.

The second touchdown march featured eight plays that took three minutes and 33 seconds off the clock. Oswald then concluded all scoring with a 28 yard keeper on a successfully orchestrated three- play drive with 1:57 left in the game to seal the first victory of 2003 for the Falcons, 21-7. Final statistics revealed Clear Lake tallying 13 first downs, while Katy Taylor managed seven. The Mustangs accumulated an identical number of passing and rushing yards, 104.
While Clear Lake punted seven times and was penalized five times for 40 yards, they also fumbled on five occasions. Katy Taylor, meanwhile, punted the ball away eight times and was penalized nine times for a total of 74 yards. The Mustangs also committed four fumbles.
 
"I was disappointed in our start," Aduddell said. "The first quarter was ugly. However, it's important to remember that this is zero week- our first football game. Every team is going to make some mistakes in zero week." Aduddell added, "I was glad to see us come back in the second quarter. We had two successful drives in that quarter, and one of them resulted in a touchdown. This was a real positive for us because we were able to drive down the field. I was especially proud of our defense. Our defense kept us in the game. The entire defensive coaching staff had the players ready tonight, and it showed on the field." As to why Oswald only attempted three passes, the mentor said, "We thought we might be able to run the ball effectively against Katy Taylor. We didn't see any need to pass if we really didn't have to. I don't know how often we will pass as the season goes on, but we may stay with our running game if it keeps working."