Bobcat’s defense bends but didn’t break while Moore scores three touchdowns
Cy-Fair – Out of timeouts as time became a factor, and no answer for the Bobcats continuous offensive surge, Cy-fall’s defense could only watched in frustration as defeat set in for the first time this season.
In front of a packed house at Pridgeon Stadium, Kaleb Moore scored three touchdowns; including the game winning touchdown in a battle of unbeatens and Cy-Fair’s defense pitched a first half shutout to hold off Cy-Falls 24-17 Friday night.
The win puts the Bobcats (7-0, 6-0) in the driver’s seat toward the district title while handing Cy-Falls its first loss of the season.
“I tip my hat to Cy-Fair, plays got to be made to win big time games. They made all the plays tonight, we didn’t. They got us by seven tonight. They were seven better than us. You got to find a way to make big plays. We just didn’t have enough tonight. Late in the game, I was telling them, strip the ball, stand him up, and try to get the ball out, because we had burned all of our timeouts. With they’re offensive line leaning on us, they found away to grind it out”, Kirk Eaton, Cy-Falls coach said.
Moore scored two of his three touchdowns in the first half. But, it was his 27-yard game clinching touchdown run that made the difference.
Moore capped the opening drive with a 55 yard touchdown pass from Logan Taylor and with 4:37 to go in the half, the combination worked again. This time Taylor went over the top, finding Moore who made an adjustment to grab the ball over his shoulder for a 37 yard touchdown reception.
Facing an uncompromising defense, the Eagles found the going tough in the first half. Entering tonight’s contest, Cy-Fair boast one of the top defenses in the Houston area, which held Cy-Falls, to 50 total yards before intermission?
“We were very fortunate; Cy-Falls is a very talented football team on both sides of the ball. They do a great job and we knew it would be a tight ball game and hard fought,” said Ed Pustejovsky, Cy-Fair’s coach. Our kids did a good job defensively, and outstanding job the first half. We bent a little bit in the second half but we responded with the turnover and offense did just enough to get enough points on the board to win. You have to be ready to play week in and out there ain’t no doubt and Langham Creek next week presents a big challenge for us. They’re a fine football team and we’ll need a good week of preparation to play them.”
In the second half, Cy-Falls (6-1, 5-1) used a 49 yard kickoff return from Jacorey Warrick to setup their first touchdown of the night. Later, on the same drive Warrick took a handoff and squirted to the outside for a five yard scoring run, cutting deficit in half (14-7) after the extra point. On their next possession, the Eagles piece together a 67-yard drive that watched sophomore Temi Alaka come up with a leaping grab as he managed to get one foot down inbound, in the corner of the end zone to tie the game at 14 with the extra point to follow.
Logan Taylor who had a hand in disposing the Eagles, led Cy-Fair on 6-of-12 passing with 136 yards and 2-TDs. Teammate Kaleb Moore had three receptions for 95 yards. For Cy-Falls, Troy Mitchell finished his night 19-of-29 passing with 180 yards and a touchdown.
The Bobcats answered with a 55-yard drive to regain the lead, 17-14 on Blake Miles 39-yard field goal with 3:35 to go in the third quarter. Showing moments of bending, Cy-Fair’s defense kept its cohesiveness forcing a turnover when Eagles quarterback Troy Mitchell appeared to have an open receiver before defensive back Khalil Coleman jumped the route while intercepting the pass and returned it 12-yards to the Cy-Falls 38 yard line.
“We didn’t execute on all cylinders. We worked hard but it didn’t come out in our favor. Coach was telling us to play hard. Work until the clock says zero,” said Justice Eke Cy-Fair’s defensive back.
Nursing a three point lead, the Bobcats scored its most important touchdown of the night on a broken play. Running back John Jacob took a handoff from Taylor sweeping left, while being pursued by Eagle defenders in the backfield. He then pitched the ball to Moore who was running right. Moore continued his lateral movement before reaching the sideline as he turned up field and raced untouched 27-yards for the score. Cy-Falls would come within a touchdown after Bradley Eubanks drilled a 35-yard field goal. But the Bobcats held the ball for the remaining three minutes to preserve the victory.
“The reverse was supposed to be a hand off but one of the Cy-Fall players grabbed JJ (Cy-Fair’s running back John Jacob) and I thought he was going to pitch the ball to me and he did. I took it to the outside, Logan had an amazing block, and I took it to the house. The reverse was not a set play just kind of happened,” Kaleb Moore Cy-Fair’s receiver said.