Cats Outlast Dogs at NRG Stadium
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Updated: August 29, 2015
Klein Oak Panthers with dramatic win over Langham Creek
Texas High School Football
HOUSTON - NRG Stadium kicked off their Texas high school football season with a double-header featuring the #32 Klein Oak Panthers taking on the #26 Langham Creek Lobos. This series had been decided by 7 points or less in each of the previous three years and this would make it four.
Klein Oak started with the ball but didn't keep it long. In fact, the opening game jitters hit both teams as they swapped fumbles in the first three plays. With the ball back, the Panthers put together a good drive largely on the legs of QB Brandon Blair. He capped the drive with a 21 yd TD scamper. With the 2pt conversion, Klein Oak led 8-0 with 9:59 in the 1st. The thing that stood out about the drive was how effective Blair is at running the ball. He shows a lot of patience pausing and reading the defense to find a hole before bursting through it.
Langham Creek then showed some great offense as they marched down the field on the legs of Jalen Howard and Toneil Carter. The Lobos scored on a Quartney Davis 14 yd TD catch making the score 8-6. The PAT attempt was blocked by a trio of Klein Oak defenders. (This block would turn out to have huge consequences)
The two teams settled into a rhythm of playing defense as they swapped punts and a Toneil Carter fumble to run out the first quarter with Langham Creek driving.
Langham got it together with some solid running behind Howard and Carter. They finished things off with a bit of trickery as Paul Watson tossed to Toneil Carter who threw it downfield to Quartney Davis for his second receiving TD of the game. Langham Creek took the lead 13-8 with 9:93 remaining in the half.
Klein Oak was pinned deep on their ensuing kickoff return, starting their drive at their own 9 yd line. Two plays later, Blair couldn't find anyone open so scrambled to the 26. Oak's no huddle offense mixed up the running and passing as Blair picked apart the Langham defense like a surgeon. The Panthers capped the impressive drive with a 28yd pass from Blair to Conner Arneson. The 2pt conversion was no good but Klein Oak took the lead 14-13 with 7:28 to go in the half.
The teams again swapped punts before Langham starting on their own 11 with 2:24 looked to be moving the ball well until tossing an interception to Odessa Thurman. Klein Oak started just 26 yards from the endzone with 1:18 before half. The Panthers finished things off with 19 seconds to go when Blair handed off on a draw play to J.T. Smith extending their lead to 20-13. Once again, the PAT was no good.
Chris Garcia added another interception for the Klein Oak "D" as Langham attempted a long pass. Klein Oak's Blair tossed a 33 yd TD pass to Austin Davis with no time remaining. The 2-pt conversion made the score 28-13 Klein Oak at half.
After the intermission, Langham Creek made it a tighter battle outscoring the Panthers 10-7 in the 3rd quarter. They were a team possessed on their second drive as J.T. Smith returned the kickoff for a touchdown that was called back to the 15 on a penalty. On the next play, Watson tossed a score to Bryan Hines. Creek added another score on a Davis 4 yard run making the score 35-23. Klein Oak again punted and Davis again finished a drive - scoring this time on a 7 yard scamper to make it 35-30.
The 4th quarter saw Klein Oak cough the ball up and Langham again capitalized when Toneil Davis ran it down to the 6. Watson passed quickly to Quartney Davis for another TD to take the lead.36-36 after missing the 2 point conversion attempt.
Once they lost the lead, Klein Oak wasted no time in regaining it with a drive that finished with a TD pass to Austin Davis at 6:21 in the 4th. 42-36 Klein Oak.
Langham with their backs against the well looked to be having a solid drive before being forced to punt. Klein Oak then attempted to run out the final 5:21 to preserve the win. They continued to drive the ball effectively only to have big gains negated by penalties time and again. Langham went through two of their time outs in the drive but forced the Panthers to punt with 3:02 remaining in the game.
Langham started their final chance to win the game at their own 40 with 2:54 to go. Quartney Davis was instrumental in the drive as they swapped passes to him with runs for Toneil Carter and finally a pass to a wide open Kacey Pryor to the 1. Toneil Carter pushed it across the goalline for the tie and it put Creek in a position to do the seemingly impossible in this game - score an extra point to win. The PAT by Ryan Harwell with 39 seconds remaining put Langham ahead 43-42.
Klein Oak had one final chance starting the last drive on their own 34 with 33 seconds. Blair made some dramatic escapes and kept the drive alive by passing down to the 20 yard line with just 1 second remaining. The Panthers who had a non-existent kicking game brought on Trent Sisco who nailed a 37 yard field goal to take the win in dramatic fashion 45-43
Lone Star Gridiron Player of the Game - Brandon Blair
by Chris Doelle
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Lone Star Gridiron Player of the Game - QB, Brandon Blair
Klein Oak 8 20 7 10 - 43
Langham 6 7 10 20 - 42
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STATISTICS
Klein Oak: 204 yds rushing, 225 yds passing - 429 total yards (22 first downs)
Langham Creek: 182 yds rushing, 361 yds passing - 543 total yards (31 first downs)
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