The Pirates came into last Friday night’s game 2-1 in district play after a tough triple overtime loss to Forney last week. They would be facing an opponent in Ennis who has a very talented offensive skills group and defense to match.
Ennis won the toss choosing to defer to the second half. The Pirates started out with the ball on their own twenty-three-yard line. A stout defensive line allowed nothing to get going for Crandall forcing a quick three and out. Crandall’s first punt of the game netted only twelve yards setting up amazing field position for Ennis. The first play was a run that was stopped in the backfield for a oneyard loss by the Pirate defense. After that the Lions offensive line and running back had their way on the field. Ennis handed the ball off three times to their running back who quickly rushed into the endzone.
The Pirates’ second possession of the game did not gain any momentum. The Lions defense forced another three and out. Ennis would start deep in Crandall territory after a penalty. On the third play of the drive the running back fumbled the ball and linebacker Samuel Omosigho recovered it. The Pirates defense came up with a huge stop on their own fourteen-yard line. Yet again this offensive series would stall after four plays forcing the Pirates to punt. Punter Phillip Olivares lined up for his third punt of the night which was blocked deep in Pirate territory. Ennis ran their only play of the drive scoring from four yards out. The Lions would score again quickly with four minutes left in the first making it 21-0 Ennis.
Coach Hardin’s offense took the field to get some sort of momentum going before the end of the first quarter. The Pirates managed to do just that on a nine-play drive resulting in a two-yard rushing touchdown for Andrew Anderson. The score was 21-7 Ennis at the end of one quarter of play.
The second quarter would be much of the same for the speedy number three running back of Ennis. The Lions would score three touchdowns in seven minutes making the score 42-7 Ennis in the blink of an eye. The Pirate offense put together a good drive coupled with two big penalties on Ennis right before the half. West connected with Omosigho on a crossing route for the fourteen-yard touchdown reception. The score was now 42-14 Ennis.
There was eighty-two seconds left before halftime. Ennis only needed fifty-five seconds to score another touchdown before the half was over. The score at halftime was 49-14 Ennis.
The message from Coach Hardin and his staff at halftime was one of teaching and encouraging to finish the game with everything they had left out on the field. Crandall’s defense would put together some big stops in the third quarter only allowing two scores. Unfortunately, the Lions defense wasn’t allowing anything to come about on the offensive side of the ball. The score was 58-14 Ennis after three quarters of play.
Ennis would tack on one more score before the night was over. Pirate running back Andrew Anderson ran it in from twenty-four yards out for his second touchdown on the night, making the final score 66-21 Ennis.
The Crandall Pirates will host the Royce City Bulldogs this Friday at Pirates Stadium. It’s senior night for Crandall and the gametime is set for 7:30pm.
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