I have never been in a situation where the winner is in and the loser is out! But, I bet these kids were excited and also nervous! Isn’t this what you dream of as a young kid? Wow! Talk about motivation!!! I would have loved to hear the coaches pep talk before the game!
O’Connor finally got there leading rusher back in Darryle Surney. But, the starting quarterback, Allen Wright, was suspended for violating team rules. Zach Galindo, a Sophomore, made his first start at quarterback. Surney had 18 carries for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns. Galindo was 10 for 20 passing with 120 yards and 1 touchdown. He also had 46 yards rushing. Pretty nice debut for Galindo. The Panthers had 1 turnover and 45 yards in penalties. They ran 53 plays for 297 yards.
The Cougars struggled offensively in the first half. They ran 30 plays for 96 yards and no points. When the gamed ended, there numbers were impressive; 75 plays for 338 yards but only 8 points scored! They also had 3 turnovers and 150 yards in penalties. Kweku Larbie, the running back for Clark, had 23 carries for 104 yards. Josh Kern, the quarterback, had 22 carries for 108 yards. Kern was 8 of 24 passing for 113 yards with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown. Even though Kern has committed to Arizona, I am still not impressed with his passing game. Maybe Arizona likes his potential; he is 6’5 and weighs 190!
Our player of the game was Joseph Ramos, an O’Connor safety. He had both interceptions for the Panther defense and he was also the main culprit of why Clark struggled. Unfortunately, Ramos got hurt in the 2nd half and was on crutches afterwards. I hope he will be available next week.
The O’Connor Panthers won the game 31-8 and clinched a playoff spot. Clark still has a chance of making the playoffs, but they need the Stevens Falcons to lose tonight to the Taft Raiders! I know where the coaches for Clark will be tonight! I think Stevens will have a very easy win tonight over Taft, but you never know. Anything can happen!
O’Connor will play at Corpus Christi Carroll next Friday, that is if Stevens wins tonight. We call this game the Archie Bunker bowl!!!
As the playoffs approach next week, there will be a lot of coin flips from teams to see where they are going to play. Will they play at home or on a neutral site? They will meet anywhere! So, if you are eating at Denny’s at 2:00am and see some coaches and officials flipping a coin, don’t be alarmed!!!
Around 11:00pm last night, Bobby and I popped our heads in the Farris stadium ticket office where Stan Laing, the Athletic director, and Kevin Hamilton, the Assistant Athletic director, were trying to figure out what teams were coming to there stadiums (Kevin was the assistant basketball coach at Clark when I was the manager of the team from 1991-1995, I have known him for 20 years!). Bobby heard one thing and Stan and Kevin heard something different. It was kinda funny and a really cool insight for me!
Well, let the playoffs begin next week!
Friday, I will be at Rutledge stadium for the Judson Rockets and the Madison Mavericks. The Rockets beat up the Mavericks in Week 4.
