CROSBY — In a battle of high-powered offenses, it was the New Caney defense that made enough plays on defense to put the Eagles over the top in a 63-38 win over the previously unbeaten Crosby Cougars.
The first quarter was a full offensive display on both sides. Crosby struck first, highlighted by a 42-yard catch by star Cedric Peterson III which set up an opening touchdown. Both teams battled it out, exchanging touchdowns until the Eagles defense came up with two consecutive stops allowing the offense to get their first lead of the game and through 12 minutes, New Caney was up 20-13 and quarterback Jordan Cooper had 150 rushing yards.
Early in the second, New Caney scored once again, Cooper got his first passing touchdown of the night to is favorite target, sophomore Dwight McGlothern for a 40-yard touchdown.
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For the first time all year, Crosby was playing from behind and they looked flustered, quarterback Jaiden Howard threw an interception midway through the second, and they were behind 35-13 with 6:15 remaining in the second. With Crosby’s inability to move the ball the entire second half, the New Caney offense took advantage and went into the half with a 42-13 lead.
Crosby’s defense came out at halftime stopping New Caney but their offense offense continued to sputter, going three-and out once again. New Caney capitalized and within two minutes of the second half had scored. Crosby held the ball for almost eight minutes on their next drive, and scored to close the deficit to 28 points with a minute remaining in the third quarter. The Eagles only needed those 60 seconds to bring the lead back to 35 as Cooper-McGlothern connection worked for a 60-yard completion that set up a three-yard touchdown run.
Early in the fourth, Crosby finally showed the big-play ability people expected out of them, with a 62-yard touchdown catch and run by Cedric Patterson III. With under six minutes remaining, the Cougars were in the red zone once again, but had to settle for a field goal. Like they have done all night, New Caney responded and scored off a 16-yard touchdown rush by Anthony Robles, his second of the night.
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Last week CJ Sanders was the standout freshman running back, tonight, Anthony Robles was the freshman in charge. Robles finished with 109 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Jordan Cooper had another standout game 201 rushing yards, 261 passing yards and five total touchdowns on the night. He paired with elite sophomore athlete Dwight McGlothern for two of them. For the second week in a row, McGlothern shut down his side of the field, while making notable contributions on the offensive side.
“Wow, he showed up big, he’s a special player,” New Caney Head Coach Brady Pennington said after the game, “There’s a lot of guys blocking for him but he made some big time plays tonight, did a great job on defense and offense and I’m glad he’s on our team.”
The Eagles have their second straight quality win, if they can continue to run the option with Jordan Cooper and their wide array of running backs and continue to shut down teams defensively, this team is poised for playoff greatness, and it starts next week against Vidor.
With the fight they showed in the second half and a proven quarterback-running back combo in Jaiden Howard and Craig Williams, expect this team to rally in the playoffs, starting against Port Neches-Groves next weekend.
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