burnet44
08-31-2007, 12:48 PM
August 31, 2007: Graham defense punishes Rangers
Jack Marrion
Midland Reporter-Telegram
08/31/2007
Greenwood was just 2-of-12 on third down conversion attempts and 0-for-5 on fourth downs and Graham took advantage for a 20-0 victory at the Champions Classic at Shotwell Stadium. Graham would turn three of those fourth down stops into touchdowns.
"It was huge to stop (the Rangers) on third down," Graham coach Brad McCoy said. "We knew coming in we had a good defense led by some good players."
The Rangers (0-1) appeared to move the ball at times but either a missed blocking assignment, a penalty or a fumbled snap would put them in a tough spot.
"We had three fourth downs and we don't hit the hole on one, our guard goes the wrong way on another and then the quarterback fumbles the ball on the other on fourth-and-inches," Greenwood coach Steve Taylor said. "We just had bad stuff happen to us on fourth down. We could have made them all pretty easy but that's part of being young and making mistakes."
The first fourth down conversion attempt probably set the tone for the Rangers on this night. Greenwood faced a fourth-and-1 from its own 13 when Bryce Williams was stopped for no gain, giving the Steers excellent field position.
Two plays later, Jake Holub scored on a 5-yard scamper to give Graham the early 7-0 lead.
"We felt like (the Steers) could move so well, we wanted to keep the ball away from them," Taylor said. "We felt pretty good running behind Dean Smith. But that's the one where if we hit the hole we make it easy, plus we didn't have any outside blocking. If I had a crystal ball I wouldn't do that again."
On the following possession, Greenwood would go on one of its best drives of the night, marching 58 yards to the Graham 2. But once again, Williams was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-goal.
The Steers would then go on a back-breaking 98-yard drive behind the running of Holub, who capped it off with a 2-yard TD run to give Graham a 14-0 lead with 8:02 left in the first half.
"We felt it should have been tied 7-7 at the half," Taylor said. "We felt good about our offense in the first half. We felt like they weren't stopping us, we were stopping ourselves."
Holub was the big weapon for Graham (1-0) as the senior running back rushed for 138 yards on 16 carries and two scores. He probably caught Greenwood a little off guard as the Rangers were expecting the Steers to throw the ball a lot more.
"We know Jake had a great off season and added more power, and we felt he showed that tonight," said McCoy, whose team avenged two losses to the Rangers in 2006. "He had some holes up front too, but we're really happy with the way he ran the ball tonight."
Greenwood would go on another solid drive right before the end of the first half, going 60 yards before stalling at Graham's 27-yard line and turning it over on downs.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, their bad luck on fourth downs would continue in the second half as they were stopped on fourth-and-1 at their own 34. One play later, Case McCoy found John Wright for a 34-yard scoring pass for a 20-0 lead after the missed extra point.
Case McCoy, the younger brother of University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, was just 12-for-27 for 165 yards with that one touchdown and no interceptions. The outcome could have been much worse for the Rangers in the second half if it wasn't for a pair of goal line stands by the Ranger defense.
Junior Kinsey Williams led the Rangers on offense with 85 yards on 19 carries.
Graham 20, Greenwood 0
Graham 7 7 6 0 --20
Greenwood 0 0 0 0 --0
First Quarter
GRA -- Jake Holub 5 run (Josh Elkins kick), 7:12
Second Quarter
GRA -- Holub 2 run (Elkins kick), 8:02
Third Quarter
GRA -- John Wright 35 pass from Case McCoy (kick failed), 8:08
GRA GRE
First Downs 15 11
Rushes-yards 28-132 44-186
Passing Yards 165 44
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-27-0 6-13-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-2
Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 4-35.25
Penalties-yds 7-45 6-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Graham, Jake Holub 16-138, Trevor Sparks 4-7, Cody Parilla 2-1, Case McCoy 3-(-9), Sean Monk 1-3, Matt Ferguson 2-(-8). Greenwood, Bryce Williams 12-39, Noe Rodriguez 8-43, Kinsey Williams 19-85, Blake McColloch 2-6, Cody Brooks 3-13.
PASSING -- Graham, McCoy 12-27-0 165. Greenwood, Rodriguez 6-13-1 44
RECEIVING -- Graham, Hubbell Allen 4-39, John Wright 3-84, Cody Stansell 3-17, Holub 1-8, RB White 1-1. Greenwood, B. Williams 2-11, Brandon Herring 2-12, McColloch 1-5, Colby Gilbert 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS -- Graham, Monk 1-4
Jack Marrion
Midland Reporter-Telegram
08/31/2007
Greenwood was just 2-of-12 on third down conversion attempts and 0-for-5 on fourth downs and Graham took advantage for a 20-0 victory at the Champions Classic at Shotwell Stadium. Graham would turn three of those fourth down stops into touchdowns.
"It was huge to stop (the Rangers) on third down," Graham coach Brad McCoy said. "We knew coming in we had a good defense led by some good players."
The Rangers (0-1) appeared to move the ball at times but either a missed blocking assignment, a penalty or a fumbled snap would put them in a tough spot.
"We had three fourth downs and we don't hit the hole on one, our guard goes the wrong way on another and then the quarterback fumbles the ball on the other on fourth-and-inches," Greenwood coach Steve Taylor said. "We just had bad stuff happen to us on fourth down. We could have made them all pretty easy but that's part of being young and making mistakes."
The first fourth down conversion attempt probably set the tone for the Rangers on this night. Greenwood faced a fourth-and-1 from its own 13 when Bryce Williams was stopped for no gain, giving the Steers excellent field position.
Two plays later, Jake Holub scored on a 5-yard scamper to give Graham the early 7-0 lead.
"We felt like (the Steers) could move so well, we wanted to keep the ball away from them," Taylor said. "We felt pretty good running behind Dean Smith. But that's the one where if we hit the hole we make it easy, plus we didn't have any outside blocking. If I had a crystal ball I wouldn't do that again."
On the following possession, Greenwood would go on one of its best drives of the night, marching 58 yards to the Graham 2. But once again, Williams was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-goal.
The Steers would then go on a back-breaking 98-yard drive behind the running of Holub, who capped it off with a 2-yard TD run to give Graham a 14-0 lead with 8:02 left in the first half.
"We felt it should have been tied 7-7 at the half," Taylor said. "We felt good about our offense in the first half. We felt like they weren't stopping us, we were stopping ourselves."
Holub was the big weapon for Graham (1-0) as the senior running back rushed for 138 yards on 16 carries and two scores. He probably caught Greenwood a little off guard as the Rangers were expecting the Steers to throw the ball a lot more.
"We know Jake had a great off season and added more power, and we felt he showed that tonight," said McCoy, whose team avenged two losses to the Rangers in 2006. "He had some holes up front too, but we're really happy with the way he ran the ball tonight."
Greenwood would go on another solid drive right before the end of the first half, going 60 yards before stalling at Graham's 27-yard line and turning it over on downs.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, their bad luck on fourth downs would continue in the second half as they were stopped on fourth-and-1 at their own 34. One play later, Case McCoy found John Wright for a 34-yard scoring pass for a 20-0 lead after the missed extra point.
Case McCoy, the younger brother of University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, was just 12-for-27 for 165 yards with that one touchdown and no interceptions. The outcome could have been much worse for the Rangers in the second half if it wasn't for a pair of goal line stands by the Ranger defense.
Junior Kinsey Williams led the Rangers on offense with 85 yards on 19 carries.
Graham 20, Greenwood 0
Graham 7 7 6 0 --20
Greenwood 0 0 0 0 --0
First Quarter
GRA -- Jake Holub 5 run (Josh Elkins kick), 7:12
Second Quarter
GRA -- Holub 2 run (Elkins kick), 8:02
Third Quarter
GRA -- John Wright 35 pass from Case McCoy (kick failed), 8:08
GRA GRE
First Downs 15 11
Rushes-yards 28-132 44-186
Passing Yards 165 44
Comp.-Att.-Int. 12-27-0 6-13-1
Fumbles-lost 3-2 4-2
Punts-Avg. 2-34.5 4-35.25
Penalties-yds 7-45 6-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Graham, Jake Holub 16-138, Trevor Sparks 4-7, Cody Parilla 2-1, Case McCoy 3-(-9), Sean Monk 1-3, Matt Ferguson 2-(-8). Greenwood, Bryce Williams 12-39, Noe Rodriguez 8-43, Kinsey Williams 19-85, Blake McColloch 2-6, Cody Brooks 3-13.
PASSING -- Graham, McCoy 12-27-0 165. Greenwood, Rodriguez 6-13-1 44
RECEIVING -- Graham, Hubbell Allen 4-39, John Wright 3-84, Cody Stansell 3-17, Holub 1-8, RB White 1-1. Greenwood, B. Williams 2-11, Brandon Herring 2-12, McColloch 1-5, Colby Gilbert 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS -- Graham, Monk 1-4