- File Photo: Joseph Nguyen/Texas HS Football
CRAWFORD, Texas — The Crawford Pirates played host to the De Leon High School in a district battle of top 10 teams in Class 2A, falling 38-18 in an upset Friday night at Pirate Stadium.
While Associated Press No. 9 Crawford (3-2) was looking to avoid its first loss at home since the 2009 season, De Leon was looking for a signature win over the Pirates.
“We did some good things up front tonight, creating some holes for our running back and quarterback,” De Leon head coach David Yeager said, “Having the lead at the half is nice, but stopping them on 4th down, that’s what I’m proud of. That was huge for us.”
The De Leon offense was quick striking and a bit too much for the Crawford defense to contain. The Bearcats were able to get the win on the road against the state-ranked Pirates with a ruckus crowd cheering them on.
De Leon won the toss and deferred to the second half, giving Crawford the ball to start the game. The Pirates hit the ground running. putting together a methodical drive capped off by a 3-yard Casen Ewing touchdown run. With 5:24 left to play in the first quarter and on the ensuing kickoff, Chris Cox took the ball 70 yards giving the Bearcats excellent field position.
The Pirates defense held on strong though forcing a De Leon field goal by Kevin Yeager closed the gap to 6-3 with 4:21 left in the first quarter. The De Leon defense forced the Pirates into back-to-back stalled drives, forcing a Bearcats’ fumble and a punt after the Colton Smith sacked Gage Pearson for a 4-yard loss.
The Pirates were able to get on the board once more with a 1-yard touchdown run by Koby Smith, completing an 11-play 61-yard drive. De Leon, though, quickly answered.
With Anthony Rangel’s taken toss sweep 72 yards that brought the score to 12-10 Crawford.
The Bearcats defense stuffed Casen Ewing, forcing a turnover on downs. De Leon was able to take the lead with 47 seconds left before the half, as Kevin Yeager hit Calvin Martin with a 41-yard touchdown pass.
Crawford was able to retake the lead after Trey Lacina’s 4-yard touchdown run. His touchdown, as well as the 16-play, 76-yard drive and took more than nine minutes off the clock.
The Bearcats used a single play — a late touchdown pass to shrink the deficit to 24-18. Again, De Leon’s defense forced Crawford into a 4th and long, but the Pirates converted on a fake punt.
De Leon was able to solidify their victory, as they scored once more, bringing the final score
“We left way too many opportunities on the field and a good team takes care of that and that’s what they did,” Crawford Head Coach Delbert Kelm said. “We have to let that one go, it puts one game behind in district and puts us behind the 8-ball. It’s one game, it’s not the season.
De Leon moved to 1-0 in District 7-2A play and 5-0 overall. De Leon will host Hico next week and Crawford travels to Hamilton.
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