Edna win battle of top 10 teams
By Jeremy Hadley
Contributing Writer
The Edna Cowboys faced off against the Bay City Blackcats, the eighth ranked team in 4A division 1, on Friday night. Another solid defensive performance and big fourth quarter from the offense helped the Cowboys win an exciting game 28-21.
The Cowboys first series on offense was riddled with penalties, but they were able to clean it up and move down the field behind some fantastic offensive line play and hard nose runs by Karmyne Williams. With the Blackcats defense on their heels, Jaiden Clay was able to find Braylen Harris with a short pass that he took for a forty yard gain down inside the twenty yard line. A few plays later, Clay rolled to his right and hit Jaykub Reyes for an eight yard touchdown pass to put Edna on top 7-0 halfway through the first quarter. The Blackcats evened the score a few minutes later with a touchdown pass of their own, but the second quarter would be ruled by defense for both teams.
A quick three and out ended the Cowboys next offensive series, but their defense came out determined to get the ball back. Bay City tried to convert a fourth and two, but a mob of Cowboy defenders, led by Reyes, stuffed them in the backfield. Riding the momentum from the big stop, the Edna run game got fired up and Ryland Slusher ripped off back-to-back runs that covered thirty five yards. The Cowboys drove the ball deep into Blackcat territory, but eventually stalled out on a fourth down attempt at the ten.
Bay City couldn’t get much going on offense as Tyson Owens and Braylen Harris made crushing hits on would-be recievers to cause incompletions, and the Cowboys front seven kept the quarterback under constant pressure. Both defenses continued to dominate as the second quarter ticked down, and at halftime the score remained tied at 7.
The Blackcats came out fired up in the third quarter and wasted no time breaking the tie with a touchdown run from five yards out. A fumble on the kickoff was recovered by Bay City and put the Cowboys defense in a tough spot, backed up to their own fifteen yard line. Bay City quickly cashed in on the Edna mistake and extended their lead to 21-7 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. The Edna defense tightened up after those two quick scores and with a tackle for loss by Edgar Perry and another deflected pass by Owens, they were able to keep them off the board.
The waning seconds of the third quarter saw the Cowboys offense come alive with long runs by Clay and Rodas and a beautiful throw over the middle Harris snagged before sprinting to the end zone from forty yards out. Harris said, “We started off not on the same page, but then we just went out and made plays and finished the game like we know how to do.”
A third down tackle by Kody Smith forced a punt at the seven minute mark in the fourth quarter and a few plays later, Clay sprinted eighty-five yards through a gaping hole to tie the game at 21. The next time the Cowboys offense came out they got the same result as the offensive line opened a big hole and Rodas went eighty yards untouched. Dylan Buehring said, “We called the exact same play both times and our guard and tackle got the double team and Clay and Rodas took off for big touchdowns.”
The Cowboy defense shut down the Blackcats comeback bid at the fifty yard line with a fourth down stop and gave the ball back to the offense to run out the final four minutes of the game. On third and ten the game was sealed when Rodas hurdled a defender and landed past the sticks to give the Cowboys a first down and a win over Bay City 28 to 21.
About the fourth quarter comeback, Cowboy Head Coach Jimmie Mitchell said, “That says alot about them, but I have to get all the marbles in the right place where we are playing four quarters, because we aren’t doing that and our next two games aren’t getting any easier.”
Next Friday night the Cowboys will hit the road and take on the number two ranked Refugio Bobcats.