Tigers Slay Dragons 52-48
-
Updated: September 30, 2017
photos: Caleb Wiesenhutter
Stony Point overcomes 14 point deficit to open district play with Win
Down by as many as 14 points in the 2nd half, the Round Rock Stony Point Tigers looked lost. They seemed unable to defend against the Round Rock Dragons' run game for much of the game. The Dragons gashed the Tiger defense for 351 yards by night's end. A series of quick one minute touchdown drives and a key defensive stop in the fourth quarter proved pivotal, as Stony Point (2-3) was able to overcome the deficit to defeat Round Rock (0-5) to spoil the Dragon homecoming 52-48.
Stony Point head coach Craig Chessher had high praise for his team following the win.
“I told the guys after the game this was the most proud I’ve been of a football team in my 34 years of coaching,” Chessher said. “I sincerely mean that. It’s the proudest I’ve ever been because it looked like we were done. They had 14 on us in the second half, and then we just had some dynamite offense. Their kids (Round Rock) played their hearts, but it feels good to get this victory and be 1-0.”
The score fest started early, as both teams scored within the first 4 minutes of the game. Junior RB Marquis Brown punched it in for Round Rock on a 37 yard run, while Stony Point senior QB Donovan Rybachek pushed it in on a 4 yard run to even the score. The scoring continued, as Dragon QB Ryan O’Keefe, who finished the night with a total of 214 rushing yards, 4 rushing touchdowns and added an additional 63 yards passing took one into the endzone on a 13 yard run. Stony Point managed to tie the game up just a minute after, when sophomore RB Kendall Thomas broke through the line for a 52 yard touchdown run to even the score at 14 at quarter's end.
The second quarter was controlled by Round Rock early, as scores by O’Keefe and Brown put the Dragons up 28-14 just 3 minutes into the quarter. Stony Point answered both scores, with a pair of TD passes from senior QB Zach Rangel. One a 52 yard pass to junior WR Daelan Loyden, the other, a 9 yard toss to sophomore Trae Edwards. Those scores would even the game for just a matter of minutes, as O’Keefe found paydirt for his 3rd score of the night to send the Dragons ahead at halftime 35-28.
The second half opened with an early miscue on the kickoff by Thomas for Stony Point, and the Dragons were able to pounce on it to start the half on the Tiger 13 yard line. O’Keefe notched his last score of the night soon after, putting the Dragons up 42-28, seemingly deflating the Stony Point sideline and stands. But, Stony Point’s defense soon came to life, and a 82 yard touchdown pass from Rangel to Thomas, along with a FG by junior Ross Hinds, put the Tigers down 42-38 to open the fourth quarter.
The quarter opened with Brown once again punching in a TD, his 3rd of the evening, and Stony Point was down by 10 with just 7:40 left in the game. But, the Tigers were resilient all night long, and a 30 yard TD pass from Rangel to senior WR Treshon Pickett just 34 seconds later put the lead for Round Rock back down to three. The Dragons could not answer on their following drive, and were forced to punt the ball back to Stony Point with just 4:30 left in the ballgame, the Tigers on their own 30 yard line. This time, it only took the Tigers 31 seconds to score as junior WR/RB Tyler O’Bannon took an end around to the house for a 53 yard TD run that put the Tigers up 52-48 with 4 minutes left in the game.
The Dragons had two more chances to score in the game, their last with 1 minute left, having to take the ball from their own 10 yard line to score. A series of run plays pushed the ball up to their own 30 yard line, but on the ensuing carry, Dragon sophomore QB Jordan Smart, filling in for O’Keefe who was injured early in the 4th quarter, fumbled the ball at midfield to end the football game. Stony Point senior DB Kytani Miller spoke of the team's ability to play all four quarters soon after.
“We always play four quarters and that’s what Stony Point is known for,” Miller said. “We were down early, but kept grinding and had to bring it back on them. They had a really good run game, but we stepped it up in the 2nd half and shut that down and get a win.”
Both teams were able to move the ball easily much of the game, as O’Keefe, along with Brown and fellow RB Malik Pena racked up 351 yards on the ground for the Dragons, who finished with 412 total yards of offense to end the night. The Tigers racked up a total of 648 yards, 309 passing and 339 rushing. Led by Rangel’s 296 thru the air, along with his four scores to 4 different receivers, O’Bannon’s 136 rushing yards, as well as Thomas’s 179 total yards (95 rushing, 84 receiving) and two scores, the Tiger offense produced its best game of the season. Rangel was all smiles following the win.
“It was awesome to get this win,” Rangel said. “In the locker room, we never got down and it was so great to see our team rally back together to come back and get a win. Everyone did their jobs offensively, and our defense stepped up big when we needed them to and forced the turnover that won this game. It was an awesome team win.”
Next week marks Stony Point will play their homecoming game against the Pflugerville Panthers (2-3), who are coming off a 34-27 win over McNeil (1-4). Round Rock will have their bye week, and resume play against Pflugerville the following Thursday.
by Caleb Wiesenhutter
(click photo to see slideshow)
Related Posts
You must be logged in to post a comment.