Bellville 28 Gonzales 24

[Bull's-eye]

Bellville defeated Gonzales 28-24. Cooper runs for 2 scores and QB Pope throws 2 td passes to Bryant. Cooper finished with 127 yds on 16 carries, but his 4th QTR sack saved the game for Bellville. Late in the game, with Gonzales deep in Bellville territory, Cooper blitzed on a 4th down play and sacked the Apache QB. Bryant had a nice game receiving and the Brahma secondary came away with 3 interceptions. Benjamin had 2 picks, running the first back to the one yard line. On his second, he made a spectacular catch. O'conner had the other interception.

[Bellville22]

Nice win for the Brahmas on their Homecoming. Let me first say this about Gonzales. They may not be a top team in 3A, perhaps a borderline playoff team, but their offensive system is fun to watch. Their coach has some kind of game plan. They show multiple sets, run or pass out of all of them, and have mastered running the draw. They call at great times, and the QB/RB sell it well. I was very impressed with their receivers, who seemed to grab anything within reach. If this team can figure out a defensive scheme, they can be dangerous. Very fun to watch.

As for Bellville, it wasn't pretty late, but this was a great win for a young team. When the game appeared to be slipping away, the defense bowed its neck, and came up with the big stop with their backs near the end zone. Pope looked very good at QB. He appears to be settling in there and gaining confidence. Still isn't seeing things develop quite as fast as you'd like (we got spoiled w/ Buenger, who saw everything before it happened the past two years), but he's certainly improving. Not a great passer on the move, but in the pocket, he is very comfortable and very accurate. If the line can provide protection, I'd like to see him throw from the pocket more often. The emergence of Allan Cooper continued. This Soph. is growing up in a hurry. There was a moment late in this game that most may have overlooked, but told me that he is ahead of his years. On 3rd down, Bellville needed only a first down to seal the deal. Cooper took the ball, got the first, and broke one... while the game was essentially over after the first down, since the Apaches had used 2 timeouts, the young man opted not to be escorted out of bounds, instead cut it back, took the hits, and stayed in bounds. Again, in tonights situation, it wasn't huge, but I've watched seniors step out of bounds and stop the clock, yet this soph. had the presence to stay in play and keep that clock moving.

Defensive player of the game was clearly Courtland Benjamin. 2 picks, one a huge diving INT in the 2nd half. Also forced several plays, and made some great tackles. Great night.

This team is improving. They need to find some kind of way to stop the power running game, cause D20 is loaded with it. But they're learning, and they're fun to watch. Next week the real season starts. Good luck Bulls!!!

[SintonFan]

Congratulations Brahmas on winning a close, hard-faught game.:cool: Your team is learning to win at the right time.:clap:
.
Gonzales, you folks keep getting better because it sounds like you have a team that should be in the playoffs. Bellville is NO pushover.:eek: Good luck :cool:

[Bull's-eye]

Cooper stayed in bounds and also protected the ball with 2 hands. Gonzales really hurt themselves with costly penalties, starting with the opening kick-off. They faked a reverse and went all the way for a score. The play was brought back for a block in the back at the 35 yd line. The block was away from the ball and totally unnecessary as the runner had already gone by his blockers. Gonzales had another score cancelled out by a flag. The one that did them in was late in the game. On third down, Bellville stopped the Apaches for a short gain, thus bringing up 4th and short for a first. Gonzales was flagged for a 15 yd penalty that moved them back, thats when Cooper blitzed and sacked the QB. Bellville also had a great TD run by Sanders called back because of a penalty. Bellville had several procedure calls that killed some of their drives.
One thing I noticed was the poor judgement of the coaches going for the two point conversion. Trailing 22-15, Gonzales went for the 2 pt conversion. They did convert, but why risk taking the lead or winning the game with a TD and extra point. Late in the 3rd QTR, trailing 28-23 they elect to kick and make the score 28-24. If they had made 2 pts, a field goal could tie the score. Late in the game, Gonzales got in FG range, but trailing by 4 points forced them to go after the TD. Bellville scored late in the first half to make the score 28-17. They decided to go for two but were unsuccessfull. I thought they would been better off taking the extra point and leading by 12. This prevents two scores (a FG and a TD), along with the 2 pt conversion from tying the game.

[faithfuldog]

Way to go Bellville!

[BrahmaMom]

Late, but pleased with the Brahmas' performance! Benjamin came on like a train; offensively, Bryant and Sanders and Pope did their jobs well. Gonzales had some speed that could be dangerous-wow! Our defense still needs to get bigger and make those hits hard and fast (do I sing this somg every year?). But the Brahmas hung in there and played every play and I am very proud of them. My trust hasn't been misplaced. Go Bulls!

[Pudlugger]

Congrats on a big win. This should give the Bulls some momentum going into district. Gonzales is a good team. They have lost by only 3 or 4 points all season. Good luck to both teams from here on.

[BULLRUSH]

HOw about that #10 from Gonzales? That kid must have been maybe 5'3", but played like he was 6'3". I've never seen a kid play with that much hart. I hope nobody tells him he's not very big because I don't think he knows. What a blast to watch. Good luck!