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Turning the tables: East feasts on West
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
Football is a game of inches.
That axiom was proven again Friday night as it was one inch, maybe even less, that squashed any hope of a Plano West comeback and further fueled the Plano East rout in a 35-14 Homecoming victory.
“This was a big game,” said Lyndell Johnson, East senior defensive back. “We lost last week, so we needed a big win this week and we got it.”
West was already down 22-0, but for the first time since their initial drive the Wolves offense was showing signs of life. West drove down to the East 14-yard line where it faced 4th-and-2.
“That was big right there,” Johnson said. “Our coaches talk about doing the little things and we knew we had to stop them.”
The Wolves decided to give the ball to Jarrett Horan as the senior running back had already ready moved his team the bulk of the way down the field. Horan, who had 81 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, got as close at possible without actually moving the chains as the East defense celebrated and the West offense feverishly pleaded that the nose of the football was at the marker.
“No,” said Mike Hughes, West head coach, “we were a half-inch short.”
East took over at its own 13-yard line and promptly marched 87 yards in six plays.
Half of those touches went to junior running back Dante Taylor with the last one being a 33-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Corey Wesley with 2:16 remaining in the half. The extra point sent East to the locker room with a 29-0 lead.
“Getting the stop was big,” said Wesley, who completed 15-of-20 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns, “and then getting the touchdown right after was huge.”
That was par for the course in the first half as West’s only other drive into East territory ended with a 32-yard field goal attempt blocked by junior Corey Bassett.
“That first drive was so huge,” Hughes said. “Not only did we not get in the end zone, but then we had the field goal blocked. We have got to get in the end zone if we want to be successful at this level. But I guess that has been our M.O. the last couple games; we can move the ball until we get into the red zone.”
The Panthers would have no such first-half misfortune.
West’s defense forced punts on two of East’s three first-quarter possessions, but sandwiched in between was an 80-yard touchdown drive. The Panthers got on the board when senior Gabe Dunlap turned his body and made a leaping grab on an inside screen pass, running the remainder of the 15 yards for the score to make it 7-0 with three minutes to go in the first frame. Dunlap had five grabs for 85 yards on the night.
East wouldn’t score again in the first, but had to wait just 39 seconds into the second quarter to return to the end zone.
That short-field drive was set up by an interception from Panthers junior Kylon Higgins. A 1-yard touchdown run by junior Nathan Meadors and 2-point conversion run by senior Ryan Garrey, who also had seven receptions for 86 yards, made it 15-0.
In the meantime, West switched quarterbacks from junior Carson Smith to senior Nick Glogau.
It made no difference though as West punted again to put an East scoring drive in motion. That drive featured another lengthy reception from Dunlap and a steady dose of Taylor as he took the final four carries, including a run for 5 yards that resulted in a touchdown. Taylor had 75 yards rushing on 11 carries to go with two receptions for 30 yards. Taylor’s touchdown run made it 22-0 with 6:51 left in the half and was part of three consecutive scoring drives from the Panthers to close the half.
“We were trying to stay aggressive throughout the game,” Wesley said, “and score as many points as we could.”
East would score twice more in the second half courtesy of a pair of fourth-quarter field goals from senior James Saulnier. The first one, a 32-yarder, made it 32-0 and the second one, a 34-yarder with 1:37 remaining, set the final score at 35-14.
Saulnier’s first field goal was set up after Johnson intercepted a triple-reverse pass from West. In addition to the two forced turnovers, East’s defense held West’s offense to 232 yards for the game.
“There are always little problems you can fix,” Johnson said, “but I think our defense did a good job across the board tonight.”
As the final would indicate, West scored twice between the East field goals.
West got on the board with 6:02 left in the game after a nine-play, 69-yard drive engineered by Glogau, who completed 11-of-21 passes for 141 yards, and aided by a lengthy reception from senior Ryan Doyle, who had four catches for 67 yards.
“I was looking to give our offense a shot in the arm,” Hughes said, “and [Glogau] deserved the opportunity to play.”
The finish to the drive came on a 2-yard run from Horan, who was also successful on the 2-point conversion to make it 32-8. The Wolves would pull to within 32-14 shortly thereafter as junior Grant Cooper scooped up an East fumble and took it to the house from 80 yards out.
“We played a lot better in the second half than we did in the first, both offensively and defensively,” Hughes said. “But that doesn’t work in this district.”
West’s ensuing onside kick attempt was unsuccessful as the Wolves found themselves on the wrong end of a 35-14 decision and in an 0-2 hole to start district play.
“I don’t know what it is,” Hughes said, “but we aren’t playing like we did in the first three games of the season.”
With the win, East evens its 8-5A mark at 1-1, but knows plenty remains to be done.
“It’s a big victory,” Wesley said. “This will be good to build our confidence, but we’ve still got to get better.”
East will attempt to prove just that at 7:30 p.m. Friday when it travels to Eagle Stadium to face Allen. At that same time, West will host Flower Mound Marcus at Clark Stadium.
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