CL Hawks Lose, 27-21 but ‘We will be Back’!
Great Game
Canyon Lake has been down this road before….it was four years ago when the Hawks lost in the second round on a field goal try that missed crossing the bar by inches.
This time the heartbreak was in the form of an overtime game, a first for Canyon Lake and Rockport-Fulton pulled out a squeaker, 27-21.
Senior Linebacker Austin Acosta making the stop
“My hat goes off for them,” Head Coach Charley Drum said. “They made the stop and we didn’t.”
Coach Drum was speaking about the two possessions during that overtime period.
“This is one of the toughest losses,” Drum said with finality. “Especially when you are looking at the Seniors after the game….I’m proud of our Seniors.”
CL started this game with a lot of energy as the defense held the Pirates to two punts on their first two possession while Canyon Lake sandwiched those defensive stops with a Josh DeVries 60 yard bolt down the left sideline and a quick Hawk lead, 7-0.
That drive encompassed just two plays for 63 yards and a huge momentum shot.
“He (DeVries) is a great player, this was a great game, and every week we were in the ball games,” Coach Drum said.
DeVries had another standout game as his speed resulted in multiple explosive plays.
Quarter Yards Situation Result First 60 2nd and 7 Touchdown First 15 3rd and 6 First Down Third 54 3rd and 4 First Down in the Red Zone Third 41 1st and 10 Touchdown Fourth 10 1st and 10 1st play of drive CL on 49 yd line Fourth 14 4th and 5 Last Play of Regulation
Then one of those little mistakes happened on the Hawks second drive, when on a third down play, an interception stopped a chance for a score as the Pirates were given another opportunity to tie the score.
Senior Safety Matt Adams finishing off another tackle in game with Rockport-Fulton
That they did when R-F drove nine plays and 49 yards for their score as the second quarter was just getting started, 7-7.
Two explosive plays by run and pass for 19 yards each, did the damage on this Pirate drive.
The other seven plays added up to 11 yards but that was still good enough for a R-F score.
Canyon Lake was stopped on their next possession and after a 39 yard punt, Rockport-Fulton would have the drive of the night for 89 yards and almost the whole second quarter.
Just two snaps over 10 yards on the 20 play march and this drive was what the Hawks had done to countless teams this year, but this time it left Canyon Lake with just 20 seconds to respond, to no avail.
After the halftime festivities, CL was on fire, as they were held with just 15 plays on the offensive side of the ball in those first two quarters.
“We talked about how flat we were during the second quarter,” Coach Drum said. “We needed to switch the momentum and make up the deficit.”
That they did, when Canyon Lake moved the ball 80 yards on just 7 plays and a Skyler Tschoepe 7 yard run brought new life into the never say die Hawk team.
A great kick-off return by the Pirates had Rockport-Fulton on the Hawk 39 yard line with another answer from that Hawk defense
Sophomore Guard Keith Hutson paving the way as Josh DeVries surveys his next move
Starting with a false start on this series of downs, R-F was needing 15 yards for a first. Three plays resulting in seven yards had this Pirate team going for a first but an incomplete pass stopped that drive.
Canyon Lake would not take long to take their first lead since the opening touchdown in the first quarter.
One key play on this drive had Robert Woods going right up the middle on a misdirection play for 13 yards.
The play helped convert a third and nine yards needed for a first and a fresh set of downs.
On the next play, DeVries broke open down that left sideline again for 41 yards this time, and a 21-14 lead.
With three minutes left on the third quarter clock, Canyon Lake had moved the ball 148 yards for a 10.6 yards per carry and a seven point lead after that second half kick-off.
This game had resembled a boxing match as Rockport-Fulton would answer with a 44 yard run and a tied game going into the fourth quarter.
That is where the game would stay as both teams traded shots but could find a way to end this game in regulation.
Canyon Lake had to punt on their first drive of the 4th quarter and that punt would only travel 11 yards.
Now Rockport-Fulton had the ball on Canyon Lake’s 36 yard line, another stop by the defense was needed to save the season.
Then on a 4th and one yard needed for the Pirates, Colton Avey had a great play when he broke through the offensive line and swung QB Resendez to the ground for a minus yardage.
“I was fired up and no one was going to stop me,” Avey said with resolve. “I did not want to lose with any regrets.”
The Hawks would have over nine minutes to milk the clock and take the lead for good.
Hawk Defense was impressive during game with the Pirates
Senior Hayden DuBois helped when he toted the ball two yards in converting a fourth down play. That play was huge for CL based on having the ball on their own 37 yard line.
Another DuBois run for 17 yards would move the Hawks to the Pirates 44 yard line. But that would be Canyon Lake’s last first down on this drive as the Hawks ran out of gas on the Pirates 40 yard line with 3:44 still left in the game.
A great play by Austin Acosta, on the next R-F drive, as he rushed through the line and held onto QB Resendez’s foot, as he could only ground the ball while looking for a receiver. That resulted in a loss of down and yardage for the Pirates.
Movement in the line on the next play, set R-F back another five yards, leaving the Pirates needing 22 yards for a first.
Tanner McGill broke through the line and was called for a questionable face-mask after finishing off a Pirate runner for a loss and all of a sudden Rockport-Fulton had a fresh set of downs.
A fumble on the next play did show poetic justice for Canyon Lake as Linebacker Jared Bruckman recovered the ball with two minutes still on the clock.
“I was reading the back when the ball got away from him,” Senior Bruckman recovered. “We knew they were going to be fired up and we just knew we would have to be higher.”
The Hawks would cover 30 yards after that fumble, but were left short as the clock went 0:00 and time to call out the Coaches for a coin flip to start Overtime.
After gaining two yards on three plays, fate had Canyon Lake needing 8 yards for a first. Mike Thorpe would try a 40 yard field goal but was just short giving Rockport-Fulton their try for a score and game.
Taking just four plays later, QB Resendez scored from 2 yards out and an end of the season for Canyon Lake, 27-21.
Some parting shots from some of the players:
“You don’t want to leave anything left on the field…nothing,” Bruckman said. (talking about the returning players)
Tanner McGill diving for a chance to tackle a Pirate
“Use it to get this nasty feeling gone,” Junior Robert Woods said with conviction. “To come back again next year…that is what we have to do, to come back on top.”
“We will push it harder than we did this year,” Junior Tanner McGill said in response to how they take this loss into next season. “We will get ready and double what we did and we will get the underclassman to step it up.”
Senior Colton Avey laid it on the line when he said, “Come to work everyday because high school will not last forever.”
“This was great accommodations” Coach Drum talking about the setting in the Alamodome….”and this was the best year for Canyon Lake football from Middle school on up….we’ll be back!”
The ReSporter enjoys more than anything seeing the Mountain Valley football teams play.
As The ReSporter was doing some stats the other day….and reading about a Mountain Valley Middle School game five years ago, the stats from a game that was labeled, 8th Grade ‘B’ Team, The ReSporter noticed a name that based on his high school career could not be right.
The ReSporter has always wondered how players on ‘B’ squads would work, knowing they are not on the ‘A’ team.
The player that stuck out to The ReSporter was, Josh DeVries. Yes, DeVries was on the ‘B’ squad for both his 7th and 8th grade years.
This young man certainly made his mark in Hawk lore as he became the second leading rusher on the charts trailing only Zach Henshaw.
In this game, after rushing for 213 yards, DeVries became the second leading rusher for a season with 1,356 yards.
“I’m not naturally a great athlete,” DeVries said humbly. “After the seventh grade year we went 0-8 as a team and I did not want to be someone that did not aspire to anything…..I just wanted to give myself a chance…..so I told myself that I was going to work as hard as I could to move up.”
“Don’t ever doubt yourself on your ability….talent is minimal to hardwork and that is what will get you anywhere you want to go in life.” Sage DeVries closed.
1 2 3 4 OT Final CL Hawks 7 0 14 0 0 21 R-F Pirates 0 14 7 0 6 27 Scoring Summary: CL-Josh DeVries 60 yard run (Mike Thorpe kick), 9:19, 1st RF-Austin Reynolds 3 yard run (Jonathan Barragan kick), 11:19, 2nd RF-Anthony Resendez 7 yard run (Barragan kick), 0:20, 2nd CL-Skyler Tschoepe 7 yard run (Mike Thorpe kick), 8:41, 3rd CL-Josh DeVries 41 yard run (Mike Thorpe kick), 2:58, 3rd RF-Austin Reynolds 44 yard run (Barragan kick), 0:14, 3rd RF-Anthony Resendez 2 yard run (no kick), 0:00, OT Game Stats Pirates Hawks Total Yards 283 306 First Downs 15 14 Rush/Yards 65/264 43/300 Comp/Att/Int 1/4/0 1/5/1 Passing Yards 19 6 Punts/Average 2/35.0 2/25.0 Fumbles/Lost 2/1 0/0 Penalty-Yards 5-49 3-30 TOP 26:18 21:42 Passing Comp Att Pct Yds Int TD Skyler Tschoepe 1 4 .250 6 0 0 Josh DeVries 0 1 .000 0 1 0 Rushing Att Yds Ave Lg TD Josh DeVries 16 213 13.3 60 2 Hayden DuBois 15 55 3.7 17 0 Robert Woods 7 24 3.4 13 0 Skyler Tschoepe 4 4 1.0 7 1 Evan Schuller 1 4 4.0 4 0 Receiving No Yds Ave Lg TD Evan Schuller 1 6 6.0 6 0
Hawks busting through for next year when the Hawks will be Flying High!!
