The Forney Jackrabbits and the Crandall Pirates did their best on Halloween afternoon to imitate a “Rocky” movie. The last 4 overtimes looked like two prize fighters standing toe to toe, exchanging blows until the final bell.
After spotting the Crandall Pirates a 38-14 lead at the half, the Jackrabbits stormed back to tie the game at 38 with a Cameron Newell field goal with 25 seconds remaining in regulation after an interception and return by Alijah Merkson stopped a Crandall drive and put the Jackrabbits into position to tie the game. The Jackrabbits and Pirates traded touchdowns in the first overtime, field goals in the next two, before Crandall scored the game winner in the 4th overtime. This game truly had everything: a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon, great offense, great defense, spectacular special team plays, a boisterous crowd, and a bunch of young men battling to the very end for victory. Both teams were physically and emotionally spent at the end. In all, there were 195 plays in this game.
Starting with special teams, Cameron Newell and his extra point/field goal unit played amazingly. Cameron and crew were 6 for 6 in PAT’s and 4 of 5 in field goals of 24, 30, 22 and 39 yards, with the only miss coming at the end of the first half, a long attempt into a very stiff wind. Josh Stephens handled the holding chores, and Cody Bricker did a fine job of deep snapping. Cameron also had 3 touchbacks on kickoffs. Braden Merchant did a fine job of punting, with 5 punts for a 32-yard average.
On defense, it was a tale of two halves. In the first half, it didn’t seem that the Jackrabbits could catch a break, giving up a couple of long touchdown passes while chasing down the quarterback and another that went through everyone’s hands except the receivers. The Jackrabbit defense shut down the Crandall offense and pitched a shutout in the 2nd half. Seth Bell led the down men with 2 solo tackles and a tackle for a loss. Cade Crawford added 2 each, Cannon Donlay had 4 solos, and Alex Ramirez had 3. Chase Berg produced his best game of the year with 3 assisted tackles, 2 solos, 4 hits on the QB and a fumble recovery. Peyton Negri had 3 hits on the QB and was cited by his coaches for extra effort. Caden Cross had 7 solo tackles and 1/2 a sack at linebacker, while Dylan Patrick led the team with 9 solo tackles, 8 assisted tackles, 3 for a loss, had an “OOH!!” hit, and recovered a fumble and caused 2 more. Josh Stephens had 7 solos, 2 for a loss, and caused a fumble. Jaden Balina-Ayers added 3 solos, a sack (with a nifty dance), extra effort, caused a fumble and broke up a pass. Seth Hyder had 5 assists and 3 solos. Aaron Flowers had 4 solo tackles, extra effort, a pass break-up and an interception. Alijah Merkson had 4 solos, a pass break-up and an interception.
Offensively, the Jackrabbits leaned on the offensive line and the legs of Jon’Richard Washington, which had 38 carries for 175 yards and 4 rushing TDs! Josh Stephens added 56 yards on 12 carries and a rushing TD. Noah Garcia was 20 of 38 for 237 passing and 1 touchdown. Ronnie Harrison had 4 receptions for 59 yards and a TD. Zack Fuller had 3 for 51 yards, and Brayden Kirkland had 7 catches for 59 yards. Braden Benjamin had 5 catches for 32, and Andrew Gafford gathered in 4 for 41 yards. The offensive line of Garret Andaverde, Reece Mercer, Adam Long, Stephen Thrasher, Ivan Cook, Alex Bowen, Bryce Coleman and TE Zach Brown battled and fought for over 100 snaps of football Saturday afternoon.
Although disappointed, Coach Woods and his coaches are so very proud of the young men who poured everything they had into Saturday afternoon. Lesser young men could have given up and looked forward to trick or treating, but your Jackrabbits showed grit and determination and never backed down or gave up.
The Jackrabbits need to recover quickly and have a short turn around. They travel to Royce City Friday, November 6, 2020, for a 7:30 game with major playoff implications at stake. Make the short trip up to Hunt County for a good old fashion Friday night football game, or tune in to sportsgram.net for livestream coverage of the game.
All photos by JIM KLENKE
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.