Tigers Suffer First Lost,Fall To Brownsboro 28-15

Wills Point—On a soggy homecoming night, the Wills Point Tigers failed to take an early lead for the first time this season, and not coincidentally, fell for the first time this season. The Brownsboro Bears opened a 14-0 first half lead, and held off a Tiger comeback, for a 28-15 win.

The Bears’ rushed for 313 yards, including 178 on 21 carries by Cameron Warren. Quarterback Zach Bailey added 60 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. The Bears’ only passed for 58 yards, but 31 of those came on a second quarter touchdown pass to Ryan Cawthorn.

The Tiger failed to score on four possessions inside the Bears’ 30-yard line, including a first-and-goal inside the five. Wills Point totaled 201 yards of offense for the night (124 rushing, 77 passing).

The Bears scored on the opening drive of the game, moving 71 yards on 14 plays. An offside penalty on fourth-and-four at 30 kept the drive alive, and four plays later, Jon Jon Thompson scored from three yards out. The kick was good and Brownsboro led 7-0 at the 7:31 mark.

A Brett Bradshaw return of 27 yards gave set the Tigers up at their own 48, and the offense moved to the Brownsboro 18, but were unable to score. Trent Jurica ran for 10 yards, and followed that up with a 13-yard pass to Marquis Burch. The Tigers converted a fourth-and-one at the 24-yard line, but a holding penalty stalled the drive.

Warren took off on a 40-yard run on first down, but the Tiger defense stiffened after that, forcing an incompletion on fourth down.

Wills Point went three-and-out, and were forced to punt form their own 25. Brownsboro’s Austin Adair field the punt form Junior Hamilton a bounce, and got the sideline for a 25-yard return to the Tiger 31. On the next play, Bailey hit Ryan Cawthorn for a touchdown, and with 11:55 left in the half, the Bears led 14-0.

Wills Point picked up one first down on their next possession, but was again forced to punt. A personal foul penalty on the Bears in the their next possession put them in a punting situation, but an incompletion on a fake punt attempt gave the Tigers possession at the 33.

On third-and-11 from the 34, Jurica found Brett Bradshaw over the middle for a 29-yard gain, and a first-and-goal at the five. Three runs and an incompletion later, the Bears took over at the two, and ran out the final 1:34 of the half.

The rains came harder during the halftime homecoming festivities, but that didn’t keep either drill team from performing from the track in front of their fans. Nor did it keep the Sissy Johnson from being crowned the Wills Point homecoming queen for 2009.

The rain began to lighten as the players took the field, but the up-hill battle for the Tigers did not. A Jurica fumble on the first play from scrimmage gave the Bears the ball at the Tiger 31. Seven plays later, Bailey hit Cody Strickland for an 11-yard touchdown. Thompson converted a two-points, and Brownsboro led 22-0 with 9:20 left in the third.

The Tigers got on the board on the next drive. Brandon Morris (12 carries 59 yards) picked up 39 yards, and Jurica connected with Bradshaw for 20 yards to the 11. Jurica carried twice, scoring from the three on second down. Cyle Henderson scored the two-point conversion to make the score 22-8 with 6:41 left in the third.

Zach Schaubroeck fell on a Warren fumble on the first play following the kickoff, and the Tigers had the ball at the Brownsboro 32. The Wills Point offense could only pick up eight yards on four plays, though, and the ball went back to the Bears.

Brownsboro then proceeded to march 76 yards in nine plays, wit Warren carrying four times for 60 yards. The final carry was a one-yard touchdown. The try for two was no good, but the Bears led 28-8.

The Tigers final score came with 5:35 left in the game. With Brownsboro lined up to punt near midfield, the snap got away from the Brownsboro punter J.D. Minyard. His attempt to pass after retrieving the ball resulted in an interception and return for a touchdown by Seth Butler. The kick by Evann Padilla was good, closing the gap to 28-15.

The Tigers recovered an onside kick, and took possession at the Bear 30, but once again the ball went back to Brownsboro after four plays failed to pick up a first down. Brownsboro ran out the final four minutes of the game.

The Tigers will have an open date next Friday night, then travel to Kaufman on October 2 for the final pre-district contest.