Canadian Advances in Dramatic Fashion over Idalou

By Chris Doelle
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Updated: November 14, 2021

Canadian Comeback Earns Bi-District Win
Over Idalou in Overtime, 27-24

The first round of 3ADII playoffs resulted in what was thought to be a promising representation from District 3-3ADII being decimated and left with only one team from that district, Canadian, to advance to the Area Round. Those eliminations started Thursday night with what has been deemed to be the biggest upset in the State (all classes) by a four seed with a 4-6 record, Stanton, beating the undefeated 3-3ADII one seed, Childress (favored by 47-points), 39-34. The other two came Friday night as Roosevelt beat fourth seed Spearman and Abernathy beat third seed Friona. A hobbled with injuries Canadian Wildcats returned a couple of key players for this Bi-District match-up, however, had lost other starters within the last weekly cycle, making the net gain of healing up key players a net zero.

FIELD POSITION AND PENALTIES PLAUGE CANADIAN

Every team that’s been down three touchdowns at any point in a game knows how difficult it is to convince themselves psychologically that they are still “in the game”. That is exactly what Canadian faced until they finally scored on an 11-yard run by RB Luke Flowers with 3:21 left in the second quarter. Although still down by two TDs going in at the half, it obviously gave the Wildcats a reminder that they knew where the end zone was located and that they could actually get there. The scrappy Idalou squad, also “The Wildcats” had control of practically the entire first half due to great field position play. Every time a Canadian fan looked down on the field it seemed that their Wildcats had stalled out before crossing mid-field and Idalou was driving in Canadian territory. Five or six penalties totaling 65 yards was another issue keeping Canadian in check and on their end of the field. That field position advantage left Idalou with opportunities to score with 2:12 left in Q1 with a 1-yard run by Tyler Jack, a 30-yard TD pass from Landin Fulcher to Riley Hall, and another rushing TD from 5-yards out by Malakhi Brisco. Mark Phillips provided all three PATs, and with 5:11 left in the first half, the scoreboard had tallied 21 points for Idalou, 0 for Canadian. There were probably some sports reporters and fans from both sides that thought the game had reached blowout alert status. When you check the first-round playoff scores. Blowouts are not unusual due to matching the one-seeds with the four-seeds. Well, of course, with the exception of the Childress loss to 4-seed Stanton, Thursday.

A SMALL DOSE OF MOMENTUM GROWS

It is well known that football is a game of momentum; that sometimes-mysterious collective team spirit that can appear at different levels. For Canadian, the additional momentum, ever so slight, came with the score just before halftime. That would be, for Canadian, along with the adjustments made by Coach Chris Koetting and his staff in the halftime locker room, was an obvious game-changer. The impending blowout alert was turned into a “we might have a game here” status. The second half shaped up to be more favorable for Canadian gaining better field position and the key to playing comeback football was Canadian’s defense. They continued to bend-but-not-break, leading to the most significant development in this game, shutting-out Idalou in the second half. The Canadian offense, huddling more and operating in more of a semi-NASCAR mode than it has in the past, was also able to no-huddle and go fast at will trying to catch Idalou off-guard and was able to find the end zone twice in the third period. Already having dealt with a strong well coached Idalou secondary in the first half, early in Q3, QB Camren Cavalier bravely let loose a throw on a very well covered Luke Flowers that resulted in a 50-yard TD pass that after Flowers had received, fought off Idalou DB Xaveon Cavazos from the 20-yard line all the way into the end zone. The Flowers show continued as the third period ended with a 1-yard TD with Emiliano Hernandez adding another PAT, going 3-for-3 on the night. Canadian had just tied the game 21-21. The game status immediately changed to “we HAVE a game here”.

STALEMATE: A SCORELESS FOURTH QUARTER

The defensive battle continued through the last period with neither team finding a way to the end zone. In the last minute of regulation, a wild play that started with Idalou’s QB Landin Fulcher overthrowing Cavazos into the hands of Canadian Safety Preston Miller. Cavazos proceeded to strip Miller of the ball as he made the tackle and a scramble for procession was on with Canadian’s Jake Krehbiel recovering. At the end of four, the 21-21 tie would be broken with overtime. Coach Koetting won the overtime coin toss and deferred the first possession to Idalou going North-to-South from the 25-yard line as per UIL rules.

OVERTIME

Idalou’s overtime possession produced a 1 st down on 2 nd and 6 to go to the 15-yard line. Canadian’s defense stifled the Idalou offensive attack once again by holding Idalou at the 7-yard line on 3rd and 2-to-go. The 4th down caused Idalou Coach Jeff Lofton to send in Mark Phillips for the 24-yard field goal. 24-21 Idalou. Canadian’s possession began with an incomplete pass and a huge stop by LB Kelly Koch at the line of scrimmage on Luke Flowers. The critical 3rd and 10 play was made after Cavalier couldn’t find an open receiver downfield as planned and stepping out of the pocket found Flowers open on the West sideline, making the catch for the 1 st down to the 12-yard line. Cavalier then handed off to Flowers up the middle for a couple more yards, then on 2nd and 8 from the 10-yard line, Cavalier faked the counter handoff to Flowers going to the weak side then followed a pulling Corbin Throgmorton on a keeper to the strong side. Cavalier stumbled a bit at the 5, but regained his stride and plowed into the end zone over LandinFulcher at the goal line. Canadian’s persistence had earned them the overtime win for a Bi-District Championship. Idalou finished their season 8-3, while the 8-3 Wildcats from Canadian will move on to face Sonora in the next round; date, time, and venue TBA.

The entire playoff bracket can be found at:

https://www.uiltexas.org/football/playoff-brackets/3AD2

Jerry Brunson for Lone Star Gridiron
@CHSWildcatNews (Facebook & Twitter)
chswildcatnews (Instagram)
Photo courtesy Alan Hale
Stats courtesy of Ron Shrader, CISD

SCORING

          1ST 2ND 3rd 4th OT - Total
CANADIAN    0   7  14   0  6 - 27
CHILDRESS   7  14   0   0  3 - 24

IDA – Tyler Jack 1 yd run (Mark Phillips kick) 2:12

IDA – Riley Hall 30 yd pass from Landin Fulcher (Phillips kick) 10:06
IDA – Malakhi Brisco 5 yd run (Mark Phillips kick) 5:11
CAN – Luke Flowers 11 yd run (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 3:21

CAN - Luke Flowers 50 yd pass from Camren Cavalier (Hernandez kick) 10:31
CAN - Luke Flowers 1 yd run (Hernandez kick) 1:57

NO SCORES

IDA – Mark Phillips 24 yd FG
CAN – Cavalier 10 yd run

IDA - CAN
FIRST DOWNS 11 - 13
YARDS RUSHING 143 - 133
YARDS PASSING 98 - 148
TOTAL YARDS 241 - 281
COMP-ATT-INT 5-10-3 - 13-30-2
PUNTS 5-34 - 8-32
FUMBLES-LOST 2-1 - 2-0
PENALTIES 7-28 - 7-75

Passing – Camren Cavalier: 13-30-148 yds
Rushing – Luke Flowers, 27-64 yds

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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.

2020 Canadian - The 2020 Wildcats won the Texas 3A DII Championship 35-34 over the Franklin Lions. It was their 5th state title.