Friday was Veteran’s Day. I want to take a moment to say thanks to my
Dad Art and my late father-in-law Allen Dame and the millions of men and women
all across America who served our country so proudly. We are honored by your service and cannot say
Thank You enough.
 |
| My late father-in-law Allen Dame, circa 1992 |
 |
| My Dad Art, age 90 |
The second season began Friday. The Texas high school football play-offs are
a six week, single elimination tournament.
Win and advance, lose and go home.
Every team that has made their way into the play-offs thinks (hopes)
they have what it takes to play at Jerry’s World in December.
 |
| Connally Stadium |
I went to Connally Stadium to see the Cougars in first
round action against the Magnolia West Mustangs. I had seen Jason Cecil’s Connally team twice
already this season. They may not have
liked the fact that I am here since their two losses were in games I attended. JD Berna is in his first season as head coach
of Magnolia West. He is a disciple of
the former coach at Baylor, Art Briles.
He leads a team with a 7-3 season record. Not bad for a first year coach.
The second season is a special time of year for Texas
football. All kinds of crazy things have
been known to happen: miracle comebacks, unsung players becoming instant
heroes. All the hard work and sacrifice
made by the players and coaches during the season are on the line. For the team that comes up short on the
scoreboard, there is no tomorrow. It
should be a good one.
While the teams got ready for kick-off, their tummies were no doubt filled with
butterflies. My tummy was full of
BBQ. Let me take a minute to show you
what I got. . .
The
Barbecue
I went to Johnny T’s BBQ week 9 of last season. There had been torrential rains in central
Texas the preceding week which caused problems with their smoker. They were unable to serve brisket the day I
was there, but their ribs were good. I
figured I would try them again, this time with a particular eye for their
brisket.
They moved to a new location in December 2015. They are once again in the corner of a little
strip shopping center now at 1615 Grand Avenue Parkway in Pflugerville. Their moist brisket had a thin bark and was
tender with a light smoky flavor. I tend
to like more smokiness. The ribs were
good, just not as good as I remembered.
They were meaty, but could have been more tender. The extra flap of meat at the end of the bone
was not leathery, but definitely chewy.
As they did last year, they offered three types of sauce:
- · Original – a thin red sauce, sorta sweet to the taste.
- · Spicy – a thicker red sauce with additional spice.
- · Carolina – a mustard based sauce with an extra little kick of spice. Like last year, this one tickled my taste buds the most.
The staff was friendly and the restaurant was
clean. The barbecue was good, but I
prefer brisket with a deeper smokiness and ribs a bit more tender. I think the
barbeque was better at their previous location, but better than the barbecue
served at other joints in strip shopping centers. I rate Johnny T’s BBQ as a single Hook ‘Em.
The
Game
Connally received the opening kick-off . They were unable to pick up a first down and
were forced to punt. Magnolia West blocked
the kick, scooped up the bouncing ball, and fell into the end zone to take a
7-0 lead.
On their second possession, Connally again had to
punt. After runs by Trey McGrew picked
up a first down, quarterback Wesley Bagley scrambled to avoid pressure, broke
down the left sideline, and was pushed out of bounds on the Connally 19. A steady diet of runs by McGrew moved the
ball to the Cougar 1 yard line. He carried
again on a dive play to score his first touchdown. The extra point was blocked, so the score
stood at 13-0 with 3:23 to play in the first quarter. Not looking too good for the home team.
 |
| QB Wesley Bagley scrambles to the Cougar 19 |
Early in the second quarter, Connally had to punt once
again. But this time, the Mustangs return
man dropped the punt and it was recovered by the Cougars. Just the spark they needed. Ryan Walton burst up the middle for a big
gain to the Magnolia West 30. Runs by Patterson
pushed the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. With 10:16 before half time, Connally cut the
lead to 13-7.
With 3:45 left in the second quarter, Connally took
possession on their 34. Patterson ran
the ball for 6 yards. Kordell Mathis ran
through a hole on the left side and sprinted down the sideline 60 yards for a
touchdown. The extra point gave the
Cougars their first lead at 14-13 at the 3:07 mark in the second quarter. Now we have a game.
 |
| Kordell Mathis runs for 60 yard touchdown |
Magnolia West returned the kick-off to their 38. Time for the Trey McGrew show. He picked up 32 yards on four carries. On third and 2, his offensive line opened a
big hole and he scored from 30 yards out.
The extra point made it 20-13, Mustangs with 1:08 left in the second
quarter.
 |
| Trey McGrew scores on 30 yard burst up the middle |
Connally started with great field position on their
45. Patterson connected with Micajah
Moffett on a middle screen to the Mustangs 45.
The defender covering Mathis fell down leaving him wide open. Patterson hit Mathis in stride and he scored
to make it 21-20 to close the first half.
 |
| The defender fell down leaving Mathis wide open for a touchdown |
Connally kicked-off to start the third quarter. Time for the Trey McGrew show again. After being called for holding, the Mustangs
lined up on second down needing 16 yards.
Their offensive line opened a big hole and McGrew ran for 46 yards to
the Cougars 19. A face mask penalty on
the Cougars gave Magnolia West first and goal from the 9. McGrew did the rest and the Mustangs
reclaimed the lead at 27-21.
 |
| McGrew carries for 46 yards |
Late in the third quarter, the Mustangs took possession
on their 11 after stopping Connally short on fourth down. They used the McGrew
battering ram to eat up clock and move the chains downfield. As the fourth quarter began, Magnolia West had
a first down on the Connally 41. Quarterback Wesley Bagley connected with
Deavin Smith on a pass to the Cougars 5.
The Cougar defense stiffened and forced the Mustangs to settle for a 28
yard field goal to extend their lead to nine points at 30-21 with 9:00 left to
play.
After an interception, Magnolia West had the ball at
midfield. Three runs by McGrew ate up
clock and moved the ball to the Cougars 37.
After a holding penalty, Bagley threw deep, but the ball was picked off
by Dereon Kizzee and returned 65 yards to the Mustang 28.
 |
| Dereon Kizzee returns an interception 65 yards |
After a false start penalty, Patterson dropped back to
pass. He scrambled to avoid pressure
from the Mustang defense, then threw a touchdown pass to Ryan Walton. The extra point trimmed the lead to 30-28
with 3:57 remaining in the game.
Magnolia West started on their 24 yard line. Everyone knew what was coming. McGrew carried for 8 yards on first down,
then picked up another yard on second down.
With 2:53 left to play, McGrew carried again on third down, but he was
stopped inches short of the first down.
The Mustangs punted the ball over to Connally. The Cougars return man signaled for a fair
catch, but muffed the punt. The Mustangs
recovered on the Cougar 16. McGrew was
handed the ball on third down, but again the Cougar defense stopped him
short. The Mustangs kicked a 26 yard
field goal to push their lead to five at 33-28.
Connally got the ball on their 37 with only 1:23 left
to play in the game. The Cougars turned to
the back pages of their play book for a double reverse flea flicker with the
ball tossed back to Patterson. His deep
pass was broken up and fell incomplete.
Fourth and 10, only 54 seconds left on the clock. Make the first down or the season ends right
here. Patterson threw to Reggie Martin
who carried the ball to the Mustang 40 for a first down. Patterson was sacked on first down. Third and 15 from the 46 with 10 seconds left
to play. Patterson chunked the ball
deep. K Stewart split two defenders,
caught the pass, and scored a touchdown with just 3 seconds to play. Final score: Connally 34, Magnolia West 33.
 |
| Robert Patterson throws deep |
 |
| K Stewart makes winning touchdown catch |
I said in my opening for this game that all kinds of
crazy things happen in the play-offs.
This game will be added to the list.
Trey McGrew had a huge night for Magnolia West, but the Connally defense
stopped him short late in the fourth quarter when it mattered most. Robert Patterson was not playing his best
game (he wore some kind of glove on his non-throwing left hand), but came up
huge at the end of the second and fourth quarters. K Stewart only had one pass thrown his way
all night, but he made the most of it by catching the winning touchdown.
Congratulations to Magnolia West. They had a good season to make the play-offs
and fought hard the entire game. The
Cougars live to play one more week with the 34-33 win. You just gotta love a
game like this.
No comments:
Post a Comment