Cardinals Trounce Wranglers in Cisco, 51-13
By Michael V. Hannigan
CISCO -- TVCC Coach Sherard Poteete told his team that Saturday was a business trip. The Cardinals responded by going to Cisco and working over the Wranglers.
TVCC blew Cisco off Chelsey Field Saturday night, building a 22-0 first half lead and then coasting to a 51-13 Southwest Junior College Football Conference victory.
The win gives the Cardinals a 2-0 conference record while Cisco falls to 0-2.
Any suspense over the game quickly evaporated after watching the Cardinal defense throttle the Wranglers' triple-option. In the first quarter, Cisco had three possessions and gained minus-12 yards and no first downs.
It never got any better for the Wrangler offense which had 112 yards of total offense for the game, 70 coming on their last play from scrimmage.
"What a job by our defense," said Coach Poteete after the game. "Discipline all night long on defense."
On the other side of the ball, Cardinal Darion Peace threw three second quarter touchdowns to build a substantial lead TVCC never relinquished.
The Cardinals turned mostly to the run in the second half with Quincy Thompson acting like a workhorse throughout the game. Thompson had 55 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
The Cardinals are off next weekend before returning to host Blinn for Family Day 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8.
Observations
While the game wasn't a nail-biter, it was interesting. Here are my observations from a successful, but sometimes strange, night in Cisco.
-- Going on the road to play Cisco will make you appreciate the atmosphere at Bruce Field. I don't remember ever being in a quieter stadium. TVCC brought out its own speaker and music for pregame warm up because there wasn't any music or hoopla coming from the home side.
-- I have no idea what was up with the place kicking, but between the two teams there were four field goal or extra point attempts blocked, plus three more that were blocked but cancelled out by penalties. That's seven attempts blocked! I'm not sure I've seen that many in a season let alone one game.
-- The Cardinals' special teams made some pretty big plays. First, Javion Mays recovered a muffed kickoff for the Cards. Then Zayteak McGhee blocked a field goal attempt and returned it 72 yards for a TD. Then, kicker extraordinaire Jack Gaster threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Butler on a fake punt.
"There are games to be won and games to be lost on special teams, and we've proven that this season," said Coach Poteete.
-- Speaking of McGhee, he also recovered a fumble in the first quarter. Coach Poteete has spoken of the freshman as a leader in the secondary and you can see it with his play.
-- Some big plays don't make the stat sheet and there was an important one for the Cardinals Saturday night. In the second quarter, TVCC lost a fumble which was scooped by a Cisco defender and it looked like the Wranglers were on their way to a 65-yard touchdown. But Cardinal Rashawn Glover tracked down the runner and caught him on the TVCC 14 yard line. The defense then came out and shut down Cisco. Glover's hustle saved points. Huge effort play.
-- In the Nice Touch Department, the Cardinals turned to the stands and said thank you to their fans who traveled to the game. The stadium was quiet enough that it felt like we were all sitting in a big living room, so it was a pretty personal moment. Like Coach Poteete pointed out after the game, it looked like TVCC had more fans in the stands than Cisco.
SCORING SUMMARY
TVCC - 10:34, 1Q - Jake Gaster 46-yard field goal. -- 3-0
TVCC - 14:34, 2Q - Darion Peace 6-yard pass to Gabe Berardi. Jake Gaster kick good. -- 10-0
TVCC - 7:20, 2Q - Darion Peace 10-yard pass to Trent Hudson. Kick blocked. -- 16-0
TVCC - 1:01, 2Q - Darion Peace 31-yard pass to Kaleb Johnson. Kick blocked. -- 22-0
TVCC - 12:02, 3Q - Zayteak McGhee returned blocked field goal attempt 72 yards. Kick blocked. 28-0
TVCC - 10:10, 3Q - Cisco punter mishandled snap for a safety. -- 30-0
TVCC - 8:44, 3Q - Jake Gaster 66-yard pass to Jalen Butler. Jake Gaster kick good. -- 37-0
CISCO - 4:00, 3Q - Vashawn Thomas 38-yard punt return. Kick blocked. -- 37-6
TVCC - 14:00, 4Q - Quincy Thompson 10-yard run. Jake Gaster kick good. -- 44-6
TVCC - 8:11, 4Q - Hymond Drinkard 24-yard run. Jake Gaster kick good. -- 51-6
CISCO - 1:10, 4Q - Jadarrius Thomas 70-yard run. Harley Fuller kick good. -- 51-13
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