Photo by Undre Smith/ossports
For none other than tuning up for the playoffs and perhaps bragging rights, the non-district battle packed the field with talent.
Despite a high-scoring contest, it’s defense answered when it needed a stop. And junior triplets Jaydon Blue, Matthew Golden, and Carson Roper provided offensive firepower as Klein Cain ran away from the Foster Falcons, 56-24 on Thursday night at Klein Memorial Stadium.
The Hurricanes will meet Cy-Woods in the Bi-district round at Klein Memorial next weekend.
Fortunate for Klein Cain, its defense rose to the occasion, stopping the high flying Falcons offense. It recorded three sacks and forced three turnovers behind defensive ends Jordan Acosta, Ramir Mccray, Jordan Rooks, and defensive linemen Damari Brooks, Lukia Rawls all pressured the line of scrimmage, coming up with timely stops.
Blue rushed for 200 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns in an offensive display. Quarterback Carson Roper looked sharp in this playoff warmup, passing for 328 yards on 10/13, two touchdowns, and one interception. He picked up 46 ground yards along with two scores. Receiver Matthew Golden concluded his huge evening with six receptions for 232 yards and two scores. Receiver Cade Farragut added 74 yards on three catches.
After suffering an interception on the game’s first play, Klein Cain (7-2) marched 86 yards in 10 plays.
Roper’s 22-yard pass to running back Aaron Jordan at the Foster 29 set the tone for its first score. Four plays later, Roper finished the drive escaping seven yards around the left side to give the Klein Cain a 7-0 lead following Rowdy McGuire’s extra point kick.
Foster (7-2) responded quickly with big plays of its own. Quarterback Philip Amy found Oklahoma commit receiver Cody Jackson who turned a short catch into a huge gain at the 46 of Klein Cain. After Amy threw a strike to receiver Taribbean Ramirez at the 30 and two plays later, broke free up the middle and ran away from defenders to cap an 81-yard drive and tied the game at seven.
Amy went to the air 26 times and completed 18 for 300 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 32 yards and a score. Most of his passing yards went to his favorite target, Jackson who caught eight passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
The action-packed first half continued as an uptempo basketball contest.
Foster got the break it needed when Hurricanes receiver Cade Farragut dropped a pass on third down and five. That set up a punting situation.
Jackson reeled in a 23-yard pass at the Klein Cain 38, which eventually led to Nicholas Arellano’s 24-yard field goal to give Foster a three-point edge, 10-7.
However, on the Hurricanes’ next drive, five-star running back Blue got going. Klein Cain progressed to midfield when Farragut made up for the drop by turning Roper’s quick pass into a 36-yard sprint. Then Blue took a handoff running right, found a crease, where it gave way to the sideline, and he jetted the remaining 50 yards as the Klein Cain regained the lead, 14-10 after Rowdy bonus kick.
But as mentioned, one big play led to another with the abundance of college talent on the playing field. Foster established its running game behind senior running backs, Anthony Prowell and Xavier Smallwood. But Jackson showed why Oklahoma wants his services by turning a ten-yard reception and using a couple of shifty moves to break free down the left sideline to a 60-yard touchdown. That changed the score which favored the Falcons, 17-14 with 9:48 left in the second quarter.
That ignited the Hurricanes arsenal’s second faucet when quarterback Roper to star receiver Golden caught fire in the second quarter. Blue picked a short-yardage to the 43 before Roper connected with Golden, who beat his man down the right side. The momentum swing reflected, 21-17 with the Hurricanes leading.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZIUw50H6sw
For an unknown reason, Amy left the game briefly. Jackson moved to the quarterback position, but it also symbolized the turning point in the game. Foster’s offense struggled, mainly when it failed to convert a fourth down and one. Hurricanes defense stopped Prowell shy of the first down, causing a turnover on downs.
That enabled the Hurricanes’ offense to swell its lead to 18 points, 35-17 entering intermission.
One of those cushion scores featured Roper’s 85-yard bomb to Golden, who quickly highlighted the first half with 229 yards on five receptions and two scores.
The Falcons closed within 11 points, 35-24 on Amy’s 23-yard strike to Jackson, opening the third quarter. But the uphill battle got steeper when Klein Cain scored back to back touchdowns to build a 49-24 deficit.
Roper battled his way into the end zone from two yards out, and the Hurricanes defense showed up in a huge way when Rawls rushed in and strip-sacked Amy of the ball with Acosta trailing the play. He scooped the loose ball and raced 61 yards to pay dirt with 3:06 left in the third quarter. That put the game out of reach.
Blue added a highlight-reel 73-yard scoring run, which was a thing of beauty as he sprinted to the end zone.