Indians Excel In First Half, Hold

COMO — With a defensive unit forcing turnovers and an offense quickly turning those into points, Grand Saline posted its first win of the season Friday night.

The Indians bolted out to a 31-point lead then weathered a fourth-quarter rally by Como-Pickton for a 33-23 win.

"I’m very proud of these kids. We had several out with injuries and others have been sick this week. Some got sick during the game…but I was proud of the way this team came together to get a win," Grand Saline Head Coach Kenny Phelps said.

The win also evens up the Indians at 1-1 in District 13-2A, a fact that is very important, Phelps said, as the team looks ahead to this Friday’s home date with Caddo Mills.

"We know we are going to be tied with other teams at 1-1 at this point. If we can win some of these other games, we’ll have a (playoff berth) chance," he said.

Grand Saline showed it could make other teams pay for giving up the football. The defense was outstanding in the first half, allowing just 131 yards total while taking the ball away from the Eagles on three fumbles and two interceptions.

Quarterback Thomas Miller and the Indian offense wasted very little time transforming turnovers into touchdowns. Getting the ball back just two plays after suffering their own giveaway on a fumble, the Indians registered the evening’s first point on Michael Martin’s 58-yard run.

Martin also kicked the extra point to make it 7-0 at the 8:36 mark in the first quarter.

Grand Saline’s only hiccup of the first half came on a pass play that went awry deep in Indian territory and led to a safety for the Eagles with 5:34 remaining in the first quarter.

However, Martin struck again on a running play early in the second quarter. With excellent upfield blocking clearing the way to the right, Martin raced along the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run and followed again with the PAT kick for a 14-2 Indian lead.

Miller recovered a Como-Pickton fumble on the second play of the Eagles’ next possession. He then fired off what would be the first of three touchdown passes, finding Josh Carpenter for a 45-yard play into the end zone.

Grand Saline had other opportunities to put an even larger gap between itself and the host team, but did not do so until the very end of the first half.

Obed Gaspar intercepted a deep pass from Eagle QB Zack Carpenter and returned it to the Como-Pickton 43. With just seconds remaining before the break, Miller launched a pass down the center of the field to Greg Evans, who made a great catch while turning, for another Grand Saline touchdown.

"Our defense really held them in check during the first half and forced turnovers. Then we just took what they gave us offensively," Phelps said.

It was not all good news in the first half for the Indians, though. Grand Saline lost running back Emmitt Kindle to a leg injury on a play, and he was taken off the field on an immobilization board.

Late in what turned out to be a somewhat sloppy third quarter for both teams, Grand Saline pushed its advantage to 33-2 on a second Miller pass to Evans for a touchdown. This one was from 24 yards out and Saulo Galvan added the extra point.

While that might have been the proverbial back-breaking straw for most teams, Como-Pickton refused to concede the game.

It made for some nervous moments for Phelps and his team in the fourth quarter.

"A lot of times, when you are up on somebody by a big margin, you lose that momentum and it is hard to get it back," he said.

"I think we might have let up some and they got some scores on us. It makes it very hard to get that momentum you had back again," Phelps added.

Eagle running back James Carter scored on runs of 10 and 12 yards, sandwiching a big 66-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter to Trevor Cagle.

Fortunately for Grand Saline, special teams players stepped up big. Derek Calvert came up with the cover of a high squib kick early in the quarter as Como-Pickton tried to get the ball back immediately.

With less than two minutes remaining, Brice Thompson’s pressure on Carpenter led to an incompletion on a two-point try, keeping the Eagles two scoring drives away.

Thompson recovered an onside kick right after that play, and the Indians were able to run off enough time to secure the win.

Miller finished with 117 yards passing, connecting on seven of 16 attempts with one interception. Martin ended the night with 150 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Carter was a fleet workhorse for Como-Pickton in its comeback effort. Carter wound up with 207 yards on 29 carries, the bulk of that coming in the fourth quarter.