olddawggreen
10-11-2004, 11:01 AM
Overtime eats up Cougars, Unicorns
By Will Wright
The Herald-Zeitung
Published October 09, 2004
That the Canyon Cougars, along with Burnet, New Braunfels and Lake Travis were pegged as the teams to fight it out for one of District 27-4A’s three playoff spots wasn’t any big surprise.
That all four football teams would begin 27-4A play punching each other Friday, deciding their games after a total of six overtimes, was.
Comal County came out on the short end of the stick, as both Canyon and New Braunfels lost their league openers Friday. New Braunfels lost to Lake Travis 38-31 in two overtimes in Austin Friday. But the biggest and best tug-of-war was at Cougar Stadium, where Burnet edged Canyon 36-34 in the fourth overtime for an upset victory.
Jordan Pawelek caught a 25-yard pass from J.D. Kunz to get the Cougars within a two-point conversion of sending the contest into a fifth overtime. But the Bulldogs’ Shane Guthrie and Austin Taras swallowed up a running Kunz at the Bulldog 3, sealing the victory for Burnet.
“We were very fortunate to have stopped them on that two-point play and come away with a big victory,” Burnet coach Bob Shipley said. “Everybody knew that these two games tonight would give somebody a big boost going into the district race. This is my third overtime win, so I feel very fortunate. The kids did a great job.”
Burnet quarterbacks James Parks and Cullen Stifflemire played big roles in the win. Parks passed to Austin Kuenstler for the 25-yard go-ahead score, and followed by passing again to Kuenstler for the two-point conversion.
Canyon quarterbacks Cameron Henk and Kunz did their damage as well. Henk, who rushed 29 times for 154 yards, ran for a TD in regulation and in the third overtime, one he followed by running for the two-point conversion. Kunz completed three of his four passes for double-digit gains.
“It’s unfortunate that either team lost tonight — you have to give Burnet a lot of credit,” Canyon coach Les Davis said. “We had our chances, they had their chances. We had to kick a 39-yard field goal just to stay in it.”
That boot, a career-first by sophomore lineman Reece Zunker, knotted the score at 20 at the end of the second overtime. In the first OT, Jerris Springfield’s 4-yard run was answered by a 1-yarder by Stifflemire, a sophomore who exchanged snaps with starter James Parks.
Behind Parks, Burnet (5-1, 1-0 in 27-4A) had stifled the Cougars in the first half. The Bulldogs led only 7-3, despite owning the ball for 17 1/2 of the 24 minutes and running 36 plays before the break.
“We missed several opportunities there in the first half,” said Davis, who had only 8 yards rushing by Chase Wilke and 39 more by Henk to show for the first half. “We overthrew one pass and dropped another — you know, little things that wind up making a big difference.”
They had outgained Canyon in yardage 190-47, and was in control of the game until midway through the third quarter, when a combination of Canyon resurgence — and flags — turned momentum the other way.
A critical and questionable pass interference call against the Bulldogs sent Shipley and his coaches onto the field. Two plays later, the bench was again flagged, setting up Canyon at the Burnet 7.
“The pass interference call — it was obvious — it gave us new life on that play,” Davis said. “But I don’t know, it’s one of those things in many that go with ball games.”
The Cougars (5-1, 0-1) scored on Henk’s two-yard run to lead for the first time in the game.
“We didn’t come out very well in the second half and we made too many mental mistakes,” Shipley said. “Obviously Canyon’s a great football team that plays good defense. But I’m not going to discuss the calls — they’re part of the game.”
In all, Burnet was flagged nine times for 73 yards — three times alone on Canyon’s scoring drive.
“There’s not any game where’s there’s not mistakes made by players and officials, and I was prepared to accept the loss if that was what it came down to,” Shipley added.
It didn’t have to. Trailing 10-7, the Bulldogs tied it on a 32-yard field goal by Ross Evans after a 15-play, 55-yard drive. Canyon’s next two drives ended in Rowdi Bizzell’s diving interception of Henk in the end zone and a blocked field goal as time expired in regulation.
Canyon by then had caught up in yardage, having exposed Burnet’s scheme. The Cougars continued to move the ball well in the overtime frames.
“We finally figured out that they were leaving us open on the edge and we came back with the option,” Davis said. “It opened up some other things for us. We just had to find a weakness to exploit, but we finally did.”
The Cougars wound up with 276 yards offense. The defense, on the field three-quarters of the night, surrendered a season-high 356 against one of the more complex offenses in the area.
Canyon came up a few yards short, though it sure wasn’t because the Cougars lacked effort.
“I love these kids — they’re so fun to work with,” Davis said. “We’re going to come back to work tomorrow morning and go forward, and I know that all of them will show up ready to go.”
BURNET 36,
CANYON 34, 4 OT
Burnet 0 7 0 3 7 3 8 8 — 36
Canyon 0 3 7 0 7 3 8 6 — 34
Second quarter
B — Chad Heiligmann 18 run (Ross Evans kick), 1:53
C — Orlando Ayala 27 FG, 0:15
Third quarter
C — Cameron Henk 2 run (Ayala kick), 4:56
Fourth quarter
B — Evans 32 FG
First overtime
C — Jerris Springfield 4 run (Ayala kick)
B — Cullen Stifflemire 1 run (Evans kick)
Second overtime
B — Evans 27 FG
C — Reece Zunker 39 FG
Third overtime
C — Henk 3 run (Henk run)
B — Stiffenmire 1 run (James Parks pass to Tex Reyes)
Fourth overtime
B — Austin Kuenstler 25 pass from Parks (Kuenstler pass from Parks)
C — Jordan Pawelek 25 pass from J.D. Kunz (run failed)
Team statistics
Burnet Canyon
First downs 18 16
Rushes-yds. 54-248 44-170
Passing yds. 108 106
Total yards 356 276
Passes (C-A-I) 11-20-0 7-17-1
Punts-avg. 3-37.3 5-33.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yds. 9-73 1-15
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Burnet: Brodie Reynolds 30-157; Chadd Heiligmann 3-129; Dallas Ferguson 1-2; James Parks 7-20; Rowdi Bizzell 1-(-5); Joe Saldivar 1-1; Cullen Stiffenmire 12-54; Canyon: Chase Wilke 6-15; Cameron Henk 29-154; Jerris Springfield 6-13; J.D. Kunz 2-16; Jacob Martin 1-2
PASSING — Burnet: Parks 8-15-0—79; Stiffenmire 11-20-0—108; Canyon: Henk 4-13-1—45; Kunz 3-4-0—61
RECEIVING — Burnet: Bizzell 2-19; Gable Bostic 1-13; Ferguson 1-10; Tex Reyes 3-22; Austin Kuenstler 4-44; Canyon: Jesse Zamora 2-19; Jaimin Shah 1-14; Jordan Pawelek 3-51; Shawn Thompson 1-22
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By Will Wright
The Herald-Zeitung
Published October 09, 2004
That the Canyon Cougars, along with Burnet, New Braunfels and Lake Travis were pegged as the teams to fight it out for one of District 27-4A’s three playoff spots wasn’t any big surprise.
That all four football teams would begin 27-4A play punching each other Friday, deciding their games after a total of six overtimes, was.
Comal County came out on the short end of the stick, as both Canyon and New Braunfels lost their league openers Friday. New Braunfels lost to Lake Travis 38-31 in two overtimes in Austin Friday. But the biggest and best tug-of-war was at Cougar Stadium, where Burnet edged Canyon 36-34 in the fourth overtime for an upset victory.
Jordan Pawelek caught a 25-yard pass from J.D. Kunz to get the Cougars within a two-point conversion of sending the contest into a fifth overtime. But the Bulldogs’ Shane Guthrie and Austin Taras swallowed up a running Kunz at the Bulldog 3, sealing the victory for Burnet.
“We were very fortunate to have stopped them on that two-point play and come away with a big victory,” Burnet coach Bob Shipley said. “Everybody knew that these two games tonight would give somebody a big boost going into the district race. This is my third overtime win, so I feel very fortunate. The kids did a great job.”
Burnet quarterbacks James Parks and Cullen Stifflemire played big roles in the win. Parks passed to Austin Kuenstler for the 25-yard go-ahead score, and followed by passing again to Kuenstler for the two-point conversion.
Canyon quarterbacks Cameron Henk and Kunz did their damage as well. Henk, who rushed 29 times for 154 yards, ran for a TD in regulation and in the third overtime, one he followed by running for the two-point conversion. Kunz completed three of his four passes for double-digit gains.
“It’s unfortunate that either team lost tonight — you have to give Burnet a lot of credit,” Canyon coach Les Davis said. “We had our chances, they had their chances. We had to kick a 39-yard field goal just to stay in it.”
That boot, a career-first by sophomore lineman Reece Zunker, knotted the score at 20 at the end of the second overtime. In the first OT, Jerris Springfield’s 4-yard run was answered by a 1-yarder by Stifflemire, a sophomore who exchanged snaps with starter James Parks.
Behind Parks, Burnet (5-1, 1-0 in 27-4A) had stifled the Cougars in the first half. The Bulldogs led only 7-3, despite owning the ball for 17 1/2 of the 24 minutes and running 36 plays before the break.
“We missed several opportunities there in the first half,” said Davis, who had only 8 yards rushing by Chase Wilke and 39 more by Henk to show for the first half. “We overthrew one pass and dropped another — you know, little things that wind up making a big difference.”
They had outgained Canyon in yardage 190-47, and was in control of the game until midway through the third quarter, when a combination of Canyon resurgence — and flags — turned momentum the other way.
A critical and questionable pass interference call against the Bulldogs sent Shipley and his coaches onto the field. Two plays later, the bench was again flagged, setting up Canyon at the Burnet 7.
“The pass interference call — it was obvious — it gave us new life on that play,” Davis said. “But I don’t know, it’s one of those things in many that go with ball games.”
The Cougars (5-1, 0-1) scored on Henk’s two-yard run to lead for the first time in the game.
“We didn’t come out very well in the second half and we made too many mental mistakes,” Shipley said. “Obviously Canyon’s a great football team that plays good defense. But I’m not going to discuss the calls — they’re part of the game.”
In all, Burnet was flagged nine times for 73 yards — three times alone on Canyon’s scoring drive.
“There’s not any game where’s there’s not mistakes made by players and officials, and I was prepared to accept the loss if that was what it came down to,” Shipley added.
It didn’t have to. Trailing 10-7, the Bulldogs tied it on a 32-yard field goal by Ross Evans after a 15-play, 55-yard drive. Canyon’s next two drives ended in Rowdi Bizzell’s diving interception of Henk in the end zone and a blocked field goal as time expired in regulation.
Canyon by then had caught up in yardage, having exposed Burnet’s scheme. The Cougars continued to move the ball well in the overtime frames.
“We finally figured out that they were leaving us open on the edge and we came back with the option,” Davis said. “It opened up some other things for us. We just had to find a weakness to exploit, but we finally did.”
The Cougars wound up with 276 yards offense. The defense, on the field three-quarters of the night, surrendered a season-high 356 against one of the more complex offenses in the area.
Canyon came up a few yards short, though it sure wasn’t because the Cougars lacked effort.
“I love these kids — they’re so fun to work with,” Davis said. “We’re going to come back to work tomorrow morning and go forward, and I know that all of them will show up ready to go.”
BURNET 36,
CANYON 34, 4 OT
Burnet 0 7 0 3 7 3 8 8 — 36
Canyon 0 3 7 0 7 3 8 6 — 34
Second quarter
B — Chad Heiligmann 18 run (Ross Evans kick), 1:53
C — Orlando Ayala 27 FG, 0:15
Third quarter
C — Cameron Henk 2 run (Ayala kick), 4:56
Fourth quarter
B — Evans 32 FG
First overtime
C — Jerris Springfield 4 run (Ayala kick)
B — Cullen Stifflemire 1 run (Evans kick)
Second overtime
B — Evans 27 FG
C — Reece Zunker 39 FG
Third overtime
C — Henk 3 run (Henk run)
B — Stiffenmire 1 run (James Parks pass to Tex Reyes)
Fourth overtime
B — Austin Kuenstler 25 pass from Parks (Kuenstler pass from Parks)
C — Jordan Pawelek 25 pass from J.D. Kunz (run failed)
Team statistics
Burnet Canyon
First downs 18 16
Rushes-yds. 54-248 44-170
Passing yds. 108 106
Total yards 356 276
Passes (C-A-I) 11-20-0 7-17-1
Punts-avg. 3-37.3 5-33.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 2-1
Penalties-yds. 9-73 1-15
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Burnet: Brodie Reynolds 30-157; Chadd Heiligmann 3-129; Dallas Ferguson 1-2; James Parks 7-20; Rowdi Bizzell 1-(-5); Joe Saldivar 1-1; Cullen Stiffenmire 12-54; Canyon: Chase Wilke 6-15; Cameron Henk 29-154; Jerris Springfield 6-13; J.D. Kunz 2-16; Jacob Martin 1-2
PASSING — Burnet: Parks 8-15-0—79; Stiffenmire 11-20-0—108; Canyon: Henk 4-13-1—45; Kunz 3-4-0—61
RECEIVING — Burnet: Bizzell 2-19; Gable Bostic 1-13; Ferguson 1-10; Tex Reyes 3-22; Austin Kuenstler 4-44; Canyon: Jesse Zamora 2-19; Jaimin Shah 1-14; Jordan Pawelek 3-51; Shawn Thompson 1-22
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