Game Report for October 5, 2007
Tom Bean-12; Pottsboro- 48
Cats’ First District Road Trip
Ends in Yet Another Loss, and
Another QB Injury
Clear cool weather greeted the Tomcats as they arrived at the home of an intimidating Pottsboro who are looking to be one of the top teams in the district this year. With the Cats’ homecoming coming up, it was important that they go into that week with some improvement. Now that the offense had put points on the board, the fans were expecting more of the same from a team that is out to prove they have what it takes to compete in a tough district.
Injury problems have continued to be an issue for Coach Sanders. Chris Nash, Jeff Randolph, Brad Montgomery, and Daniel Harrison were all sidelined due to injury for this game. Tom Bean did start well, however, after a Cody Ottmo kick return to the 36 yd. line. Drew Hodge gave the Cats their first 1st down with a nice run, but the drive ended on a punt which brought the defense onto the field. The Cardinals offense was stubborn, though, and ended a long drive with a touchdown as their QB ran across for 6 points. The extra point made it 7-0 ‘boro with 6:30 left in the half. A slow first quarter provided for little excitement. Hunter Hendry was leading the offense yet again, but seemed a bit nervous when throwing the ball. He threw three incomplete passes in the 1st, which didn’t help the Cats’ offensive statistics. We did, however, manage to hold the Cardinals to a punt, and later recovered a fumble. Overall, Pottsboro finished the quarter up by a touchdown, but they could have scored more. On a lighter note, Tomcat fans where cheerful when they heard that Whitewright was losing to Gunter 21-0 after the first quarter. Suddenly, the saying “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” made perfect sense.
The Cardinals made it 14-0 shortly after the re-start. A big pass set them up on the Cats’ 18 yard line, and it didn’t take long for the running back to dive into the end zone to increase the lead. Justin Ragsdale couldn’t find the magic that gave Tom Bean its first touchdown last week. A pass directed to him was just out of reach, and resulted in a Tomcat punt. However, the defense held strong again to force Pottsboro into a turnover on downs. The troubles got even worse on the ensuing drive, as quarter back Hunter Hendry, who has been showing promising play, suffered an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Colton Miller would get the call to replace Hendry under center, and made some nice runs, but not before ‘boro got a third touchdown on a QB keeper. This made it 21-0 with 4:38 left in the half. Miller continued to lead the offense well, but the Cardinal defense just wouldn’t budge. Another offensive mistake by the home team gave the Cats a touchdown opportunity late in the half, and Colton Miller made sure we capitalized on it. After a missed extra point, the score was 21-6 with 56 seconds left. But, the elation didn’t last long. Pottsboro went into half time by scoring another touchdown. 28-6 Cardinals at half time, and the Tomcat coaches were not happy about it. Let’s just say that I would not have wanted to be in the Tom Bean locker room during that half time talk.
The assumed fate of Hendry was made fact as the Cats came out for the second half. He was on crutches, which meant that the young starlet might be out for more than just one game. But, the Cats had to press on. The defense started with a sack on the Cardinals quarter back. Tom Bean seemed to fall asleep after that, as a long throw and a quick run from ‘boro made the score 35-6 with 8:45 left in the half. Then, after a blocked punt, the home team scored again and made it 42-6 less than 2 minutes later. The quarter ended with ‘boro up 45-6 after a field goal attempt was good for 3 more points.
Tom Bean’s first turnover of the match came at the beginning of the fourth. A fumble was recovered by the Cardinals, and that resulted in a 29 yard field goal to make the score 48-6. Another touch down from a Colton Miller run made the score 48-12, and that was ‘all she wrote’ for this night. That score was the final, but Tom Bean will be more worried about Hendry’s injury, as well as another injury to lineman Jacob McMinn who also could be out for quite a while.
With another quarter back injury to cope with, the times just don’t seem to be getting any better for the Tomcat offense. How will they deal with yet another QB change? “Well, we’ve been dealing well with it all year. It’s nothing new, so I guess we will just make another change; just go with it,” said senior receiver Cody Ritchson.
The report is that Hendry will be out for around three weeks with a torn muscle in his groin, which means that he might return for the game against Gunter. So, how will this affect a Tomcat offense that doesn’t need any drastic changes right now?
“It’s going to affect us some, because he was the quarter back. But, our new quarter back does some great stuff, too. So, we will arrange it for him and make it work. It’ll all be good,” said Sanders.
Homecoming is always a big deal for any school, but it is especially so for this year’s team. With Bells coming to town, most players and fans see this as a perfect opportunity to finally record that ever elusive win. That would certainly be a great gift to give to the town, and it would make the homecoming celebrations just that more enjoyable for everyone.