Canadian Demolished Dimmitt to Win Koetting’s 150th

By Chris Doelle
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: October 18, 2021

Dimmitt Becomes Latest Canadian Victim in District 3-3A, 62-6

Canadian took to the road to give Dimmitt their shot at pulling off what would be a huge upset in a season where even the Wildcats have faced multiple new challenges with somewhat fewer veteran players and some nagging injuries. But the Wildcats were still able to unleash the effective NASCAR offense coordinated by Coach Hayden Merket. So effective, in fact, that despite a few changes in personnel almost weekly, they were able to score exactly the same point total, 62, as the previous week.

A coaching staff can’t hide the fact there are issues with personnel for whatever reason whenever junior varsity players are moved up to help on Friday nights. This particular Friday night saw the Wildcats move up two Freshmen from the JV and one of them, Keeton Giffons, made the absolute best of his opportunity. On the opening kickoff Giffons fielded the kick on the 17 yd line and squirted through blocks by Cree Waite and Isay Ramirez, then found a clear sideline for a sprint to the goal line. The only Bobcat that had an angle to knock Giffons out-of-bounds was Sabian Martinez. But Wildcat D’Wayne Moran raced with Martinez downfield and continued to make contact with Martinez at the 15 yd line, giving Giffons the room he needed to make it to the end zone pylon for the score. It had to be the ultimate way for a freshman to begin his varsity playing career. How many varsity players have run back a kickoff for a touchdown after stepping on the field for their very first play of varsity football?

This night would also produce win number 150 for Head Coach Chris Koetting in his 12th season as head coach of the Wildcats, his first assignment as a head coach. So, it was a rather special game to remember for both Giffons and Koetting. The story behind the opening kickoff would definitely set the tone for Canadian’s offensive assault on the Bobcats. The Wildcats would go on to score four more times before the 1st period buzzer would sound. Isay Ramirez would take in a 5 yd TD run, Matt McClanahan had a 1 yd TD run, and QB Camren Cavalier would throw two TD passes, both to Trace Mitchell from 32 and 2 yds out.

The Canadian defense was dialed in too, but the issue of allowing their opponents to score on a big play from scrimmage did show up once. Early in Q2 Bobcats QB Daunte Perez ran a keeper to the weak side end on their own 15 yd line. Once Perez got around the edge, he was able use his impressive speed to jet down the sideline nearest his home crowd 85 yds for a TD. Unfortunately for Dimmitt, it would be their only score of the game after the 2-point conversion try using a swinging gate formation failed. The rest of the 2nd quarter became the Isay Ramirez show. He not only scored on runs from 65 and 2 yds out, but also caught a 9 yd Cavalier pass for a TD. The 3rd period saw a lull in scoring and the 4th quarter produced only one other score by Canadian’s Aiden Dickinson with an 8 yd TD run.

Next week will begin a three-game stretch for Canadian that will test the younger Wildcat players to their limits of their learning curve of varsity play. The Wildcats will take on the up-and-coming Friona Chieftains at home after Friona’s loss in a close 40-35 matchup with Childress. They’ll then travel to play Tulia, also much improved, on October 29th . The last District 3-3A conference game will be back home for the Wildcats against a very tough and mature Childress Bobcat team, of which many have already considered to be the favorite to win the district and advance to a regional final.

Jerry Brunson for Lone Star Gridiron
@CHSWildcatNews (Facebook & Twitter)
chswildcatnews (Instagram)

Stats courtesy of Ron Shrader, CISD

SCORING

  
          1ST 2ND 3rd 4th - Total
CANADIAN   34  21   0   7  - 62
DIMMITT     0   6   0   6  -  6

CAN – Keeton Giffons 80 yd kickoff return (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 11:46
CAN – Isay Ramirez 5 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 9:36
CAN – Matt McClanahan 1 yd run (Hernandez kick) 6:45
CAN – Trace Mitchell 32 yd pass from Camren Cavalier (Hernandez kick failed) 6:29
CAN – Trace Mitchell 2 yd pass from Camren Cavalier (Hernandez kick) 3:41

DMT – Daunte Perez 85 yd run (2-pt conv. run failed) 10:17
CAN – Isay Ramirez 65 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 9:50
CAN – Isay Ramirez 2 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 5:55
CAN – Isay Ramirez 9 yd pass from Cavalier (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 2:33

NO SCORES

CAN – Aiden Dickinson 8 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 6:19

DIM - CAN
FIRST DOWNS 13 - 15
YARDS RUSHING 125 - 162
YARDS PASSING 53 - 124
TOTAL YARDS 178 - 286
COMP-ATT-INT 10-15-0 - 9-16-1
PUNTS-AVG 6-27 - 1-50
FUMBLES-LOST 6-2 - 1-0
PENALTIES 7-47 - 11-105

Passing – Camren Cavalier: 7-12-0, 112 yards, 3 TDs
Rushing – Isay Ramirez, 5-97 yds, 3 TDs

Friday Night Legends Historic Teams
For Friday Night Legends Board Game

Want to see how the Canadian teams stack up against some of the best all time?

We have the 2015 Championship and 2017 teams already created and football fans and game board players around the world are coaching the Canadian Wildcats against some of the greatest teams in history.

2015 Canadian - The Wildcats won the Class 2A Division I State Championship with a convincing 41 point win over Gulf Coast power Refugio. This was Canadian's 4th Championship win in 5 Championship games since 2007.

2017 Canadian - The Wildcats extended their winning streak to 16 years. All 16 years they have had 8+ wins. This team made it to the Semifinals with a high scoring offense and great defense.