Undisputed champs — again » Sports » The Huntsville Item, Huntsville, TX

Sports

Discussion

November 7, 2009

Undisputed champs — again

New Waverly denies Buffalo share of 21-2A title with 21-14 victory

By Gene Schallenberg The Huntsville Item Sat Nov 07, 2009, 12:54 AM CST

BUFFALO — It’s not every day that being greedy can be a good thing.

The defense tightened up when it needed to and the Bulldogs held off Buffalo for a 21-14 victory Friday night. With the win, New Waverly won its second straight outright District 21-2A title.

“From the beginning of the year, we set out to be district champs by ourselves again,” senior lineman Justin Ward said. “To do that we knew we had to beat Corrigan and we had to beat Buffalo. We knew that Buffalo was going to bring it all, which they did. They brought a heck of a game. They brought everything they had and we brought everything we had. We just came out on top.

“It means everything to me that we don’t have to share this championship. I wanted, as a senior, for us to have another undefeated district season. That’s what we set out to do from the beginning of the year.”

As the top seed from District 21 in the Class 2A small-school playoff bracket, the Bulldogs, which improved to 5-0 in district and 8-2 overall, will meet Woodville next Friday at Huntsville’s Bowers Stadium in the bi-district round.

Like any path to a championship, it wasn’t easy and that certainly was the case Friday.

Buffalo did everything it could to make things as uncomfortable as possible for the Bulldogs.

Trailing by seven with just minutes to play, the Bison (3-2 in district, 7-3 overall) were driving deep into New Waverly territory and the Bulldogs needed to make a stand.

A 3-yard rush by junior running back Aurelio Dominguez put the Bison inside New Waverly’s 20-yard line.

But on fourth-and-2 from the 19, the Bulldogs defense stepped up and stuffed senior Aaron Bell at the line of the scrimmage.

“We were determined,” Ward added. “We knew that if we stopped him here, we would win the game. We came out and our defense threw everything we had and we stopped them.”

After the defense stood tall, the offense took over with less than six minutes to play. New Waverly moved the chains four times and then set up in the victory formation twice to run out the clock, remaining perfect in district.

“We did some things real nice and we did some things that were bone-headed,” said New Waverly head coach Ken Craig, still soaking after a watercooler bath.

“Overall, I’ll take being undefeated district champions two years in a row. Give (Buffalo) a lot of credit. They were coached up and they played hard from start to finish. That’s what a district championship game is supposed to be like. They wanted some of it and we didn’t want to give it up.”

The Bulldogs, who had taken the lead just before halftime on a last-second 45-yard heave from senior X’Zavious Harrison to Kyren Watts, found themselves trying to get back momentum they had lost in the beginning of the third quarter.

New Waverly was in prime position to take a two-score lead with the ball inside Buffalo’s 20-yard line.

Harrison looked to complete a quick pass to junior Dillian Scott, but Bison junior Ryan Read picked off the pass.

A little more than four minutes and 10 plays later, the Bison knotted the game at 14 on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by senior Jordan Canady.

On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs started on their own 31. Harrison helped move New Waverly in Bison territory with a 20-yard keeper. After a holding penalty, which moved the Dogs near midfield, Harrison found senior running back Tyren Watts for a 10-yard gain. Senior Colton Wyatt was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage on the next play to give New Waverly third-and-12 from Buffalo’s 37.

But the Bulldogs didn’t just look for the first down, they wanted points.

Harrison scrambled around after feeling pressure and chucked the ball toward the end zone.

Scott was wide open in the end zone and held off a defender who was quickly closing in and pulled in the go-ahead touchdown with 56 seconds to play in the third. With the lead in hand, the defense did the rest.

“Zay (Harrison) looked at me and just told me to get open,” Scott said. “I passed by the safety and when he threw it, it took forever to come down. Zay put it in the perfect spot. I was either going to catch it or I was going to drop, but there was no way the safety was going to make a play on it.”

Text Only

Sports

Kats beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-3
May 25, 2012
Alive and kicking: Bearkats still in hunt at SLC baseball tourney
With the possibility of going home early from the Southland Conference Tournament and a chance of their season coming to an abrupt end, the Bearkats needed some quality starting pitching and production from their bats in the worst way.
Like he has done all year long, Sam Houston senior Justin Jackson delivered a lights-out performance on the mound and the offense made the kind of impact the Bearkats have been looking for Thursday morning.
Both elements came together at the exact right time as the Kats stayed alive in the tourney with a 7-1 victory over McNeese State in an elimination game at Bobcat Ballpark.

May 24, 2012
Bad day for Bearkats
The Bearkats’ road to the NCAA tournament just got a little bit tougher.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi broke out for four runs before top-seeded Sam Houston even stepped to the plate Wednesday afternoon, but the Kats couldn’t find a way to counter that first punch.
Sam Houston connected for eight hits, but could not get enough of those in a row to make a dent in the deficit and are now one loss away from being eliminated from the Southland Conference tournament following a 9-2 loss at the hands of the eighth-seeded Islanders on Wednesday afternoon at the Bobcat Baseball Ballpark.

May 23, 2012
Schallenberg: Time is now for Bearkats in Southland tourney
The Bearkats look to take care of business this week in the Southland Conference baseball tournament.

May 20, 2012 1 Photo
Alpha Omega Academy trio shine at state track meet
Freshman brings home four medals, including two golds

May 19, 2012
Tough night for Kats against Rice
The Bearkats had a golden opportunity to make a lasting impression for a potential at-large bid in the NCAA tournament with fifth-ranked Rice coming to town. Sam Houston’s bats couldn’t get going early enough or be able to link enough hits together against the Owls pitching staff and succumbed to a 5-0 loss in the final game of the season at Don Sanders Stadium on Tuesday night.

May 16, 2012 2 Photos
BEARKAT BASEBALL — Plenty up for grabs against fifth-ranked Rice
For several reasons, today’s game against fifth-ranked Rice is going to be a biggie for the Bearkats.

May 14, 2012 1 Photo
SHSU MEN'S BASKETBALL — Kats sign ‘winner’ from Trinity Valley
Will Bond, a 6-3 guard from Trinity Valley Community College, has signed a letter-of-intent to attend Sam Houston State University and play men’s basketball for head coach Jason Hooten.

May 14, 2012
RUNNING SHORTS: New study confirms the benefits of running
May 14, 2012
BEARKATS BASEBALL — Sam Houston wasn't going to be denied regular-season title
With four conference games left to play, all that kept Sam Houston from a Southland Conference regular season championship was just one win. Whether it was at Central Arkansas later in the week or in the Kats’ conference home finale on Sunday, just one victory would hand Sam Houston it’s first regular season conference title in 23 years. Relaxed and ready to pounce, Sam Houston jumped all over Southeastern Louisiana’s pitching staff early and relied on a strong starting pitching performance from senior Michael Oros. The Kats cruised to an 8-3 victory over the second-place Lions and the celebration was on.

May 13, 2012 2 Photos
More Sports Headlines

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

Undisputed champs — again

New Waverly denies Buffalo share of 21-2A title with 21-14 victory

Site Map

Contact Us