DEER PARK - The closeness of the contest went as advertised. The League City Senior Cowboys’ struggles protecting the football didn’t.
The Cowboys, two yards away from a possible tying touchdown in the final minutes of the game, coughed up the ball, enabling the Dickinson Gators to hold on for a 25-18 TIFI quarterfinal-round win at Bubba McLean Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Gators, seeded fourth, now advance to the TIFI semifinals on Dec. 5 at Barbers Hill High School’s stadium. The rest of the Final Four will feature the Baytown Broncos, La Porte Texans and the Barbers Hill Eagles. The Cowboys, seeded fifth for the playoffs, faced all four during the regular season.
The team lost three fumbles on the day. Another one in the second quarter gave the Gators an extremely short field and they capitalized, scoring their second touchdown with 6:08 left in the first half, giving Dickinson a 13-6 advantage.
“We played a good game, they played a little bit better game. It was tight, but good luck to them. Hopefully, they go on a little further,” said Cowboys head coach Brice Towles, who can take solace in the fact the game was easily the closest Seniors game of the entire day. But when a four-seed and a five-seed collide, that’s probably what will transpire.
The Gators were led by such names as K. Boyd, Payton Ware and quarterback Brayden Arceneaux. It was Boyd who may have saved Dickinson’s season when he recovered the loose ball at the two-yard line. It was also Boyd who rambled 45 yards down the left sidelines, creating the final score with 5:31 remaining.
It was a tough defeat to swallow for Towles’ young men. Not many football teams walk off the field on the short end of a score when your running back rushes for 200 yards.
The hard-charging Michael Pugh, Jr. rushed for that amount to go with two touchdowns over 29 carries, but it wasn’t enough.
“I tried my best today. Tough game, tough team. I used to play for them (Dickinson) in Pee Wee. My dad coached there,” Pugh said.
Quarterback Maddux Joy tried to take advantage of Pugh’s size and height by utilizing him in the passing game. On third and fourth downs during one first-half series, Joy’s passes were pinpoint perfect, but credit Dickinson’s secondary for knocking down the balls, barely preventing Pugh from maybe scoring as a wide receiver.
Just 21 seconds into the game, the Cowboys were leading 6-0, thanks to Pugh’s longest run of the day, a 50-yard scamper to paydirt down the right sidelines. Very tall for his age, Pugh makes the most of some long strides when he gets a full head of steam behind him. But the ensuing PAT attempt failed, one of three that the Cowboys were unable to convert.
The team’s fifth possession saw Pugh score his second touchdown, getting the team within 13-12. A 15-yard face mask penalty helped the team travel 45 yards in just three plays. A seven-yard run scored the points and pushed Pugh over 100 yards for the day.
After a 13-yard touchdown pass gave the Gators some additional breathing room, the Cowboys staged their sweetest possession of maybe the entire year. The team bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 12-play, 67-yard scoring drive. No fumbles, five first downs and a 19-18 score with 6:47 left in the game.
In addition to Pugh eating up the yardage, Graysonn Sneed rushed three times for 20 yards, including a touchdown run of three yards. With terrific work by the offensive line, it was a Sneed 12-yard run up the gut that had the team knocking on the touchdown door, delivering the team to the four-yard line. That’s when two plays later, they lost the ball.
Unlike Pugh, Sneed isn’t overly tall or overly anything. He’s just a gritty player, who surprisingly can move the pile for three more yards because of his determination.
“I want to thank number 3. Michael did a lot of good for us this season. He kind of gave me the drive to make me a better player,” Sneed said. “Michael’s such a good player and teams expected him to get the ball all the time. I guess I was the surprise factor. I want to thank the coaching staff. I’ve improved so much this year,” Sneed said.
Towles noted that between last year’s juniors team, boys who moved up, and the returners on the seniors team, this was the same group of players that only won two games last year.
“It’s all the same kids, too. We didn’t bring anybody in, really. They worked their butts off this year. They earned it. The offensive line was leagues better, running game was better, defense was sturdy. We had a couple games where they weren’t sturdy, but they were good,” Towles said.
And almost good enough to earn a berth in the Final Four.
ravery@hcnonline.com
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