Cavaliers fall short at Kingwood

HUMBLE, Texas - All season long, College Park head football coach Richard Carson promised his Cavaliers would have a shot to make the playoffs entering the final week of the regular season.

And, despite Saturday’s hard-fought 29-21 loss to the Kingwood Mustangs, the never-say-die Cavs unbelievably still have a shot to earn District 16-6A’s fourth playoff spot.

College Park, despite its 2-7 overall and 1-4 conference record, needs a win over Conroe, The Woodlands to beat Kingwood and Oak Ridge to take care of Summer Creek in the final week of the season to force a three-way tie for fourth at 2-4.

If all three scenarios happen, College Park would advance to the postseason because it has the best point differential between the three teams.

College Park quarterback Robert Ferguson scored on a nine-yard run with 22 seconds to play to cut the final score to 29-21. Kingwood recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to win the game, but Ferguson’s touchdown gave College Park the point differential over Summer Creek and Kingwood should the three teams wind up tied.

“Us scoring at the end was very big for our playoff hopes,” Carson told the media after the game. “We needed a touchdown to have some life. It’s going to be what I said we’re going to come down to the last week of the season with a chance. I would have liked to have done it some other way, but I don’t care how we get in as long as we get in.”

College Park could have clinched a playoff berth outright had it simply won the game. But the Cavaliers are not known for doing things the easy way.

The Cavs took a 7-0 lead when Dane Nichols scored his fifth touchdown of the season on a two-yard run with 1:38 left in the first quarter, and Zachary Collins added the extra point.

Kingwood cut the lead to 7-6 with six minutes left in the first half when Randall Graves, who was pinpoint accurate for most of the game, hit Chandler Teeters with a 29-yard post pattern for a touchdown.

The Cavs clung to a one-point lead after Diego Garcia missed the ensuing extra-point, but Kingwood capitalized on a special teams breakdown late in the first half to grab the lead.

After failing to move the football, College Park lined up to punt from its own 47. But the punt snap sailed over Ferguson’s head and Kingwood took over the ball on downs at the Cavs’ 23.

Three plays later, cat-quick Sewo Olonilua scored from four yards out and Garcia tacked on the point after, to give the home-standing Mustangs a 13-7 lead with 2:55 left in the half.

The Cavs, however, looked to determined to earn their playoff berth the hard way as Dominic Garcia capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring jaunt to give College Park a 14-13 lead at intermission.

College Park, which came out sluggish to start the third period, remained one point ahead until Garcia booted a 34-yard field goal to give the Mustangs a 16-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. To his credit, Garcia had missed two field goals and an extra point, but knocked through the biggest kick of the game. College Park also missed a field goal in the contest.

After College Park failed to move on its next drive, Graves hit Robert Hammersmith with a 63-yard score and Garcia added the extra point, to give Kingwood a 23-14 advantage with only 5:40 left in the contest. The Cavs went for the interception on the crossing route and Hammersmith had clear sailing down the left sideline until he went into a head-first dive at the pylon.

Graves finished 12 of 19 for 199 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.

After College Park turned it over on downs, Olonilua put the game on ice with a 64-yard touchdown run up the middle, with only 1:43 left to give the Mustangs a 29-14 lead. He finished with 97 yards on eight carries.

But, while most of the crowd was heading for the exits, the Cavs put together one last scoring drive to keep alive their playoff hopes despite the tough loss.

The Woodlands will host Kingwood at 4 p.m. Saturday at Woodforest Bank Stadium. Atascocita and Oak Ridge have clinched the district’s first three playoff spots. Oak Ridge will take on Summer Creek at 7 p.m. Thursday at Woodforest, while College Park will host Conroe at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Woodforest.

Kingwood and Summer Creek both are currently tied for fourth with identical 3-6 overall and 2-3 district records. Conroe enters Friday’s game 3-6 overall and 0-5 in the league.

“To be honest with you, it came down to the fact that we had chances, and we didn’t score,” Carson said about the difference in the game. “They’re very similar to us, and the closeness of the game shows it, but we had some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of, and we did give up a couple of plays.”