Lions’ front seven responded, holding the Cougars to 199 total yards
Alief – USC commit Torrodney Prevot couldn’t make every tackle for the likes of fellow teammates; but he never gave up, penetrating Nimitz offense for three huge stops behind the line of scrimmage.
The defensive line was so active that it held the Cougars scoreless for three and half quarters while quarterback Remi Olonade threw for two touchdowns in helping Alief Taylor Lions take down the Nimitz Cougars 28-7 on Thursday night at Crump Stadium.
The win keeps Taylor (4-2, 2-0) undefeated in district play and on track for a run at another district title.
We’ve heard it for years, defense wins championships and offense wins games. It wasn’t a championship game tonight, but Taylor’s defense played as if it was. Linebackers Williams Benavides, Jalon Leviege, Kristopher Esther, defensive linemen Jerry Medford, Andy Duong and defensive end Torrodney Prevot make up a Lions’ front seven who man-handled the Cougars huge offensive line throughout the evening.
“Defense played well but we got a little sloppy at the end on both sides. We had a turnover, but it was a good win for us,” said Alief Taylor’s Coach JD Jordan.
Prevot accounted for 20 yards in losses on three plays midway through the third quarter. On first down from the Cougars 47, he stopped running back Dre’Vian Young at the 46 for a loss of one, penned a 13 yard sack on quarterback Floyd Allen back at the 33 and dropped Young yet again at 31 for a five yard loss.
“I just turned on my energy, like I should have in the first half. But it all worked out for the better,” Lions’ defensive end Torrodney Prevot said.
“The team as a whole, we did beautifully. We had a few mistakes here and there but we came together as a team. That helped us a lot. On defense we all have our roles,” says Prevot. We put our trust in each other to play its role and keep it going.”
A first quarter defensive struggle turned into a second quarter offensive spurt for Taylor, who led 7-0 after the first quarter. Both teams traded punts after the Lions drove 52 yards in two plays. Junior receiver Keenen Brown turned a short catch from Olonade into a 47 yard touchdown reception to give Taylor a 6-0 lead on its first drive of the game.
Olonade and running back Trevorris Johnson combined for 225 of the teams 301 yards and three touchdowns.
After, the Cougars (4-3, 1-2) fail to mount much with its predominately running game, but managed to keep the score 7-0 until 3:50 left in the second quarter with its defense, which began to tire when the offense couldn’t sustain drives.
Nimitz unproductive offense overshadowed a pretty good defensive effort. Specially, defensive end Jeonard Champagne who stood out and accounted for four tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“Jeonard Champagne is special (Nimitz defensive end). We’ve had him for all four years. He has great speed. He has that motor that’s constantly going. Never die, never quit, he’s just a hard nose player. He’ll probably get a chance to play on the next level,” says coach Toomer.
In the second quarter, the Lions’ took advantage of great field position after a short punt at its 40. Running back Tawnjae Lusk helped setup Taylor’s next score, rushing five times for 36 yards on the drive. That placed the ball at the 17 yard line, before sophomore quarterback Remi Olonade scrambled to the 14. One play later, Olonade found Romello Booker on streak pattern to complete a 14-yard score, which gave Taylor a 14-0 lead after executing a two-point conversion.
Two second quarter turnovers didn’t help Nimitz. One resulted in a 29-yard fumble recovery touchdown by defensive back Josh Kalu. That gave the Lions’ a 21-0 lead and a fumble from the center quarterback exchange, moments before halftime.
“Self inflicted wounds have killed us for the last two weeks,” Nimitz coach Robert Toomer said. It doesn’t help that we’ve played two of the best teams in our district with three more coming up. We’ve got to get more productivity out of our offense. Defense is playing well enough to win. We got to move the ball and stay consistent. We’re going to go into this off week and try to correct some things. Get some people healthy. We should get our starting quarterback from injury.”
A drive that started at the 23 yard line, watched the Cougars drive into Taylor’s territory down at the 31 before being slowed by a pair of penalties. A holding, false start and an incomplete pass proved to be a drive killer.
The second half was much like the first with the Lions’ pinning back its ears shutting down the Cougars offense. However, Nimitz avoided the shutout with a Martinez Syria’s 26-yard touchdown run with 5:41 left. Christian Hernandez added the extra point to make it 28-7.
