Canadian Slashes Stinnett West Texas

By Chris Doelle
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Updated: September 2, 2018

Photos by Michael Kerrigan

Canadian Begins Season with
35-6 Win Over West Texas

The Stinnett West Texas Comanches had to be a little apprehensive about how they would match up with Canadian for the season opener not just because some polls have Canadian ranked in the top three state-wide, but the Wildcat JV had just left the Stinnett city limits the night before with a 57-0 win of their own.

After Canadian held the first West Texas offensive series to a 3-and-out, the Wildcats' second offensive play indicated that the fast playing, no-huddle spread offense led by QB Casen Cavalier was already in fine form. The flea flicker play used a pitch from RB Caleb Martinez to WR Trent Evans faking an end-around reverse so Evans could pitch back to Cavalier who found a wide open Grant McCook for a 33-yard TD. McCook is in his second tour of duty backing up Cavalier at QB with the talent to start at QB for a lot of programs in the Panhandle. That talent isn’t being wasted, as he fills in for any skill position on offense and starts as a DB on defense. Kicker Edgar Salazar took care of the PAT, the first of his 5-for-5 PAT night.

Another 3-and-out by the Comanches found Canadian on the West Texas 43 and seven plays later WR Garrison McCook got behind Comanche DB Jonah Villanueva on a post pattern to receive another 33-yard strike from Cavalier for the TD. Garrison, for the record, is Grant McCook’s older brother.

As is usual in most season openers, both teams struggled at times with communication and execution. West Texas also, running a no-huddle spread offense, was penalized at least three times for delay of game along with even more false start calls.

The usually stingy Canadian defense was burned in the second quarter by the speedy Comanche QB Avian Cruz, who took advantage of some missed tackles and found the end zone 54-yards later for WT’s lone score of the night. A 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful. Cruz is a slippery, hard to bring down, scrambling QB that will certainly be an asset to the Comanches offensive attack this season. Cruz is only a sophomore, so Comanche fans should be encouraged. Although he missed a few open receivers that were 40 plus yards downfield, he will improve on his ability to get the ball on target deep.

The Wildcats made the last three minutes of the first half an exciting score-fest. Canadian returned a punt to their own 39-yard line with 4:03 left in the half taking 4 plays to reach the end zone with a 31-yard Cavalier-to-Grant TD pass. Yet another 3-and-out defensive stop by Canadian gave the Wildcats the ball on their own 17-yard line with 1:27 left in the half and used a six play drive that featured a 43-yard rush by Cavalier that setup a 20-yard TD pass to Garrison McCook with 0:10 left in the half. Kicker Edgar Salazar, after placing several kickoffs in the end zone already, executed a perfectly unexpected onside kick which was recovered by Canadian’s WR/DB Bill Koetting. The Wildcats then ran out the clock to halftime.

The McCook Brothers Show.

One look at the stat sheet would make one ask if Canadian had any other receivers and running backs on the field in this game. The final score of the game came with 10:23 left in the 3rd quarter ending a 6-play drive with a 4-yard rushing TD by Grant McCook taking a handoff from the RB position. The supporting cast of RBs, Hayze Hufstedler, Caleb Martinez, and Jesus Perez certainly did their work all night, but it was a McCook Brother that had the ball every time it went in the end zone for a score in this game.
Canadian will travel to Amarillo River Road next Friday, September 7th, while the Comanches will host the Stratford Elks at home in Stinnett.

Stats courtesy of Ron Shrader, Canadian ISD