College Park Cavalier football fights to the end, falls to Katy Taylor Mustangs

KATY, Texas -- The College Park Cavaliers (0-3) traveled to Rhodes Stadium to take on the Katy Taylor Mustangs (2-0) tonight in a battle of bend-but-don’t-break defenses. In the end, the Mustangs bent just a little less, and, after a missed extra point for College Park late in the game, came away with the victory 14-13.

Leading the way for the Mustangs was quarterback, Brett Vinzant, who went 10-12 for 164 yards. Six different receivers had at least one catch for Katy Taylor. For the Cavaliers, running back, A.J. Sanders, had a strong game, running for 121 yards on 20 carries. Running back, Dane Nichols, also cleared the century mark, running for 102 yards on 13 carries. Total yards for the contest were nearly identical, as the Mustangs accumulated 248 yards, and the Cavaliers finished with 244 yards for the game.

College Park was 3-0 last year when they fell in their contest to Katy Taylor, also by a score of 14-13, and have fallen in eight of their last ten contests since that game.

“It was just a few mistakes,” said College Park Head Coach Richard Carson. “Just a few things, and we’re going to fix those things, I can promise you that.”

The Cavaliers jumped out the gate on fire in their first drive of the game. An A.J. Sanders run up the middle for 9 yards, a Dane Nichols run of 61 yards to the Katy Taylor 5-yard line, and a Sanders run up the gut from 5 yards out, gave the College Park Cavaliers a quick 7-0 edge with just over a minute gone in the game. Each run had nice lanes created by the offensive line, as none of the plays saw a running back get touched until they were in the Katy Taylor secondary.

On Katy Taylor’s first possession, they drove the length of the field without too much resistance, but stalled at the College Park 7-yard line and were forced to settle for a field goal attempt. During the attempt, defensive lineman Roosevelt Henderson, broke through the line and blocked the kick, deadening the ball immediately. This gave the ball back to College Park, still leading the contest 7-0 late in the first quarter.

With 10:16 left in the second quarter, a Ferguson to Sanders handoff wasn’t handled well and the ball fell to the foot of a Katy Taylor defender. The fumble recovery gave the ball to the Mustangs at the Cavalier 30-yard line. The Mustangs would drive down to the College Park 2-yard line, but on 4th-and-goal defensive lineman, Connor Weaverling, broke through the line and made a big tackle for loss to end the threat. The score remained 7-0 College Park with 5:30 left in the half.

Late in the second quarter, another unfortunate exchange for College Park resulted in a turnover that gave the Mustangs the ball at Cavalier 37-yard line with 1:13 left in the half. The first play after the turnover saw Katy Taylor looking to strike quick with a deep ball. The throw was perfect and connected with wide receiver, Jacob Yohr, for the touchdown. That evened the score at 7-7 heading into the locker rooms at halftime.

The first drive of the third quarter saw the Mustangs preparing to punt from their own 35-yard line on 4th-and-5. However, a tough call went against the Cavaliers as they were called for offsides, giving Katy Taylor a first down and new life on the drive. They didn’t waste the opportunity, as they play-action passed their way down the field, eventually hitting wide receiver, Brad Vaile, for a 12-yard strike to end the 71-yard drive that took 5:48 off the clock, and made the score 14-7 Mustangs with 6:14 left in the third quarter.

College Park immediately responded with a 46-yard punt return of their own, setting up shop at the Katy Taylor 43-yard line. A busted play on 4th-and-3 saw Ferguson scramble up the middle for seven yards and earn a new set of downs for the Cavaliers. A second attempt at a 4th down conversion wasn’t in the cards, and a 4th-and-2 quarterback sneak ended just short of the line to gain, giving the Mustangs the ball at their own 8-yard line, leading 14-7 with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

With the Mustangs driving into Cavalier territory again and looking to end the contest, Cavalier defensive lineman, Avery O’Callaghan, saw the ball on the turf and came up with a huge fumble recovery to stop the drive. The turnover gave the ball to College Park at their own 45-yard line with 10:03 left in the game.

After the turnover, the Cavalier drive saw a 4th-and-1 from the Mustang 39-yd line with 8:39 left in the game. This time Ferguson ran a quarterback sneak for the yard and a first down. The next play saw Sanders get free and juke from the left side of the field to the right for a 38-yard touchdown. However, the crucial extra point was blocked and Katy Taylor maintained a 14-13 lead with 7:31 left to play in the contest.

The Mustangs received the ball with 4:30 left in the game, and managed to make some crucial conversions, notably a 3rd-and-9 pass for 15 yards to wide receiver, Robert Harris, to extend the drive under three minutes. Another first down by running back, Eli Walters, for nine yards, brought the clock under two minutes. On 3rd-and-9 with1:30 left and College Park out of timeouts, the Mustangs ran yet another bootleg looking to end the game. This time the Cavaliers had it covered, and the Mustangs gave the ball back to College Park at their own 22-yard line with only 30 seconds left in the game. The Cavaliers couldn’t get down the field in time, and the Mustangs finish the game with the win, 14-13.

“If you lose the turnover battle, you’re probably going to lose the football game, and ultimately that’s what it was,” elaborated Carson. “Our kids aren’t going to quit, I’m proud of that. It’s all getting ready to play our first district game. What doesn’t kill us, we will grow from. This didn’t put a dagger in us."

College Park will look to rebound next Friday, September 19th at 7pm, on the road against Aldine Davis.