The Crandall Pirates made it back to the playoffs for the first time in two years under the direction of a new head coach. Kyle Hardin is in his second year at Crandall and has transformed the program to be able and compete in a tough 5A division.
Crandall snuck in as the fourth-place team from their district into the playoffs. This landed the Pirates a matchup with one of the toughest teams in the state. The Lovejoy Leopards are currently ranked the number twelve team in the State of Texas.
This did not sway the Pirates as they would prepare and practice like any other week in the season. Coach Hardin and his staff focused on getting their athletes prepared to play a physical and very fast team.
The Pirates won the toss and would defer to the second half. It would not take long for the Leopards to show why they are ranked so high in the state. They took only two minutes to strike first on their opening possession. Crandall started with the ball on their own twenty-four-yard line. They would stall against a strong defense forcing a three and out. Lovejoy would take over after the punt from their own forty-yard line. The Leopards put together an eight-play scoring drive that took them two minutes to score. The score was 14-0 Lovejoy midway through the first quarter.
The rest of the first was all Lovejoy. The defense would stop anything the Pirates attempted to do and the offense put up another twenty-one points. Lovejoy was ahead 35-0 after one quarter of play
Coach Hardin has always pushed his players throughout the season to never give up no matter the outcome of the game. Quarterback Jamonte Gordon-West took that to heart for the first offensive series of the second quarter. The Pirates marched the ball down the field setting up a manageable third and goal situation. West dropped back and found Samuel Omosigho in the corner of the end zone for the score.
The rest of the second quarter was all Leopards. They put up a whopping thirty-five point of offense. Firing on all cylinders in the run and pass game. Lovejoy’s defense stood firm after giving up the one score at the beginning of the quarter. At halftime the score was 63-7.
Halftime was a much needed break for the Pirates and a good learning moment for the team as a whole. Before heading back onto the field Coach Hardin spoke of integrity and finishing the fight. The Pirates ran back on the field with a don’t give up kind of attitude.
The Pirates would put together two scoring drives in the third quarter. The first on a short out route to sophomore receiver Joshua Smith for an eightyard score. The second on a rush by sophomore running back Andrew Anderson from one-yard out. The score was 77-21 at the end of three quarters of play.
Crandall would find the endzone one time in the fourth off a twenty-one-yard rush from Andrew Anderson. The Pirate defense would finish strong not allowing a score in the fourth quarter. The final score was 77-27 Lovejoy.
There is a lot of promise going into the offseason for the Crandall Pirates. Fifteen seniors are graduating and a lot of young and developing talent is coming up. Crandall is forever grateful to the hard work and dedication of this senior class!
All photos by JASON BOWIE
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