By Patrick Luecke Photos by Jason Bowie The Pirates packed up the buses for the first road trip of the season. They were headed to the famous Tomato Bowl, in Jacksonville, for a matchup with the 0-2 Fightin’ Indians. Crandall came in with a 2-0 record and a confident team that controlled Kaufman last week in convincing fashion. Jacksonville won the toss, deferring to the second half, giving Crandall the ball to start the game. Senior Luke Moffitt and Junior wideout Joshua Smith are a great one-two punch that would be used a lot against the Indians. On the second play of the drive Moffitt connected with Smith for a 36-yard gain, putting the Pirates deep in Indian territory. Three plays later Moffitt would hit 6’4” Smith in the back of the endzone for the touchdown. It took Crandall 78 seconds to put the first points on the board.
The Indians’ first drive would be successful as well. Ryan McCown connected with Jermaine Taylor on a 52-yard pass. This put them on the Pirate 35-yard line. Six plays later the Indians scored, tying the game up at 7-7.
Chris Abron would only need one rushing attempt and 41 seconds to answer Jacksonville’s score. The excitement of a quick score jolted the Pirates defense to life. They came on and forced a quick three and out. What the Pirates weren’t ready for was a fake punt attempt. The Indians converted a first down and then were stopped again on three straight plays. This time they punted, pinning the Pirates back on their own 15-yard line.
Moffitt came out and led the offense on a convincing seven play scoring drive. He connected with Smith for a 56-yard touchdown pass. This made the score 21-7 Crandall early in the second quarter.
The Darryl Lewis-led defense came out and stopped the Indians in their tracks. A bad snap by the Indians long snapper put Crandall in great field position to start the next drive. The Pirates didn’t take advantage of it, missing a field goal from 36 yards out. The Indians’ luck didn’t last long, throwing an interception on the third play of
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