HOUSTON — Marquez Perez-led College Station defeated Max Perez-led McCallum High School 49-21 in a battle of electric offenses Saturday night at NRG Stadium — especially considering College Station has averaged 50 points per game since the beginning of the playoffs.
The Knights entered undefeated after defeating Calallen last week, but couldn’t contain the backfield duo of Marquez Perez and DaDa Anderson. College Station played stout defense all night, holding a McCallum offense that had never scored less than 20 points in a game, to just 14.
Marquez Perez sets the tone early
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College Station won the toss and elected to receive and did not take long for the Cougars to strike. Marquez Perez ran it in from 38 yards out for a score just 43 seconds into the game.
The defense stood tall, making a big play of their own as Ryan Stapp intercepted McCallum’s Max Perez. The Cougars offense converted, as Marquez Perez and Anderson led a 98-yard touchdown drive capped by the former’s 25-yard run with 2:07 left in the first quarter.
After making it to the state semifinals and falling short a year ago, College Station had revenge on its mind. The defense was physical early, battering and bruising the Knights’ Alex Julian and Max Perez.
After another McCallum punt, College Station scored again. The Cougars finally got around to passing the ball, but still turned to the ground game to score, as Anderson ran it in from seven yards out to increase their lead 21-0.
On McCallum’s ensuing possession, it seemed they had figured out the Cougars’ defense and relied on the legs of Julian. The Knights scored with 2:52 remaining in the half. College Station almost put the game in jeopardy, as Marquez Perez fumbled, but one of his offensive linemen managed to jump on it.
Two plays later, the senior quarterback overcame the mistake and found Spencer Maxwell for a 48-yard touchdown to extend the lead back to 21 points.
A Knight comeback falls through
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A big return by Alex Julian on the opening kickoff of the second half set up a three minute, 48-yard touchdown drive capitalized by a one-yard Max Perez rush to bring the Knights within two scores.
“That was the one drive that was concerning we gave up the big kick return and set up the score,” Cougar Head Coach Steve Huff said. “But we were able to answer and wiped it away.”
Two early penalties set the ensuing College Station drive at their own 3-yard line, but the Cougars didn’t even blink, as Jaelin Campbell “Mossed” a Knight cornerback on his way to a 56-yard score to cap a 97-yard drive, the second 95-yard plus drive the Cougars had during the matchup. After forcing McCallum to punt, Harrison Wellman returned the punt 32 yards to put the Cougars in Knight territory.
Wellmann had a solid night filling in for the injured Quandree White at cornerback while maintaining his steady offensive production at wide receiver. He finished with a number of deflections and seven catches for 63 yards.
“We gave him the ball in open space, some little quick screens, and he balled out on defense and special teams,” Huff said, “He’s definitely one of the guys replacing him [Quandree White] he’s in that rotation, defensively.”
Marquez Perez capitalized off the punt return, running it in from three yards out to put the game out of reach before the third quarter had come to a close. After a quick three and out by McCallum, the Cougars got the ball again, and DaDa Anderson showed off his speed with a 56-yard touchdown.
“We felt our tempo wasn’t as high as it could have been the last couple weeks,” Huff said. “We got our tempo back up to where it should be and the kids honed in on that.”
With under three minutes remaining, McCallum added a touchdown push draw the game within 28 and avoid the game being a season-low in points.
What’s Next
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College Station advances to play Aledo next week in its first-ever state title game.
“We’re in the biggest game going against a good team, a very good team, they’re one of the fastest, most fundamental teams [we’ve played],”said Marquez Perez, who finished with 241 yards and two touchdowns through the air to pair with 93 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, about the looming matchup. “We’ll have to back, get into the film room and break them down.”
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