Photo by Tammie Martin/ossports
College Park held Grand Oaks to three second-half points, and junior quarterback Ty Buckmon scored two second-half touchdowns to strong-arm Grand Oaks, 28-16 in district 13-6A on Friday night at Woodforest Bank Stadium.
The win keeps the Cavaliers in contention for a shot at the district crown (4-1, 0-1).
Defensive back Joseph Golden, linebackers Colton Collins, Dylan Hazen, and defensive lineman Andrew Edmonson turned up the pressure by holding the Grizzlies (4-1, 0-1) to three second-half points and reduced running back Micah Cooper to 37 total yards. Collins and Edmonson each had a sack and continuously stuffed the run. Hazen recorded a sack, accounted for eight tackles, and Golden accounted for a pick and broke up several passing attempts to interrupt the flow of Grand Oaks offense.
The tail of two halves played a role as College Park fumbled twice but lost one and suffered an interception in the first half. Yet, it swapped places with the Grizzlies in the second when its defense forced three turnovers and sacked Hamilton three times.
Buckmon, who finished 4-of-5 for 52 yards, provided both third-quarter touchdowns on runs of seven and one yards to put the game on ice. He tacked on 84 yards on 17 carries.
“We really prepared for this in practice all week,” Grizzlies quarterback Buckmon said.
In the first half, things got off to a shaky start after quarterback Buckmon fumbled the snap on the game’s first play, resulting in a three-yard loss at the 23. But on the next play, running back Dylon DeAngelo found running room up the gut of Grand Oaks defense and waltzed 77 yards to the end zone with 10:59 left in the first. DeAngelo capped his evening, carrying 20 times for 184 yards.
“I think we did a really good job in the first half. We got a really big run from our running back, DeAngelo,” Cavaliers coach Lonnie Madison spoke.
Grand Oaks responded with a similar drive, which resulted in a three-play covering 73 yards. The big play covered 69 yards when quarterback Hudson Hamilton found running back Sean Zver all alone behind the defense. His full out sprint tied the game, 7-7, following talented kicker/punter Grant Nickel’s extra point kick.
“They run an unusual offense; you don’t see their offense much in our district or in the Houston area,” says coach Madison. Coach Jackson got their program doing a really good job”.
Grand Oaks took its first lead, resulting from a fumble suffered by Buckmon at the 12. Linebacker Noah Clark scooped up the loose ball at the College Park 12-yard line and tackled at the two-yard line with 6:03 left in the first quarter. Though College Park held Nickel to a 25-yard field goal, the Grizzlies led 10-7 but not long.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Cavaliers set up at its 47 after a short kick. Outside of a 12-yard pass to receiver Carson Nolan, College Park used its rushing attack of Buckmon, speedy junior running back Dylon DeAngelo, and junior receiver Alex Brigman. Brigman scored from two yards out in the Wildcat formation as College Park regained the lead, 14-10 after Kaden Morgan’s bonus kick.
Except for a holding infraction accessed against Cavaliers’ linebacker Dylan Hazen, Grand Oaks running back Micah Cooper ripped off his best run of the evening, 17 yards to the College Park 35. That momentum guided the Grizzlies, which watched Nickel nail a 44-yard field goal that would have easily been good from 54. Grand Oaks trailed by a one-point lead, 14-13, with 8:30 left in the second quarter.
As the game unfolded, it boiled down to which team would cap the torrent offensive pace. College Park answered that question in the second half.
In spot duty, backup quarterback Hank Hudson led a late second-quarter drive, passing for 49 yards on 4-of-5 attempts. Though the Cavaliers advanced the ball to the Grand Oaks nine-yard line, Kaden Morgan’s 26-yard field goal, nine seconds left, failed.
Grand Oaks defense showed promise in the second quarter, stopping the Cavaliers on all three of its possessions. Linebacker Jack Manning led the charge with ten tackles, and defensive back Gabriel Anzaldua’s intercepted Buckmon on its first series of the second quarter with 6:03 remaining in the first half.
“It started a little rough, but in the second half, we made a couple of adjustments to their offense focused more on the inside,” Grand Oaks linebacker Jack Manning admitted. That’s where we are the strongest.”
Still, College Park regrouped during intermission as it came out in the second half on a mission. It scored on its first two frames to build a 28-13 deficit stemming from defensive Golden’s pick of Hamilton at the Cavaliers 31-yard line with 11:51 to go in the third quarter.
“During halftime, we made adjustments and came out and played College Park football,” Buckmon explained.
Grand Oaks forced a pair of late turnovers to total four, but it never materialized into points.
“We rallied together as a team on the defense and drove it back into them,” Manning said.
Both teams will be on the road next week to face a pair of 0-1 district opponents. College Park will face Willis while Grand Oaks meet Conroe.
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