SAN ANTONIO — For a little while at least, it seemed the Clark Cougars could almost hang with O’Connnor.
The first six minutes were what gave the Cougars (2-8 overall, 0-5 6a Region IV District 28-B) hope. The defense found a way to stop the powerful Panther offense for about 5:37 of game time.
Panther coach David Malesky said he and his team were frustrated at that point.
“Those guys have been coached very well and they do a great job coaching those guys and getting ready,” Malesky said after the game.
Offensive Explosion
Photo Via Moe Ortega
Then,(9-0, 5-0) Panther coordinators began to realize what was going wrong. That moment is when all hope was lost for Clark.
O’Connors’ Trey Patterson took a handoff and cashed it for six from 22-yards out, taking a 7-0 lead and never looking back.
The score was the first of many for the Panthers as they would go on to win 41-7. 34 of those points were scored between the 5:37 mark of the first quarter and five-minute mark in the second quarter.
Before tonight, the Cougars had only lost by more than one touchdown once in 2017.
Malesky said his team playing so well against a better-than-advertised defense was a huge boost in confidence.
“It feels good, it’s what you want to do going into playoffs,” Malesky said. “You want to be able to play well. They gave us some new challenges, some things we weren’t expecting and our kids did a great job adjusting to it.”
No Flores, Big Problem
Unfortunately for Clark, its starting quarterback Jayson Flores was out with injury. The Cougars looked to receiver Kenneth Bivins to take the snaps. All things considered, Bivins did not play terribly. He moved around the collapsed pocket at all times and didn’t have terrible throws.
But the Panthers were ready for him, despite his extreme athleticism.
“It was a completely different offense because they put in a young man, that kid’s an exceptional athlete, he’s tough to bring down,” Malesky said of Bivins. “So once our kids got accustomed to him.”
The second half went by quick, as the Panthers put in their backups and the defense held sturdy. The Cougars grabbed their first and only touchdown on a beautiful 16-yard catch from Luke Gibson.
We’ve got tons of games left but this one from Luke Gibson has to be in the running for the best. Right? @texashsfootball pic.twitter.com/sBWUX8D7ZJ
— Gerald Tracy (@GTracyTV) November 3, 2017
Clark would put its backups in during the fourth quarter, and sophomore quarterback Truett Heintzelman got a chance to show off his arm. However, his receivers were constantly either too slow, or dropped a few deep passes that would have made for easy scores.
O’Connor plays another Thursday game next week as it takes on Brennan and will try to complete its undefeated season.
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