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Tiger charge in the second half drops the Cougars
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Stony Point beat Connally 42-3 on Thursday evening.
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On a warm late summer evening at the Palace, in the first half of their home opener, the Stony Point Tigers brought the worst of the first, without the best of the rest. Eventually running roughshod over the Cougars, the Tigers won 42-3, but the first half was a reprisal of the mistakes that marred the Zero Week victory over Alamo Heights limited the early Tiger offensive Thursday night against the Cougars – fumbles and penalties.
Five accepted penalties in all against the home team ground the Stony Point offense to a halt, compounded by two fumbles, one by senior linebacker David Fulgencio on a punt return and one on a botched exchange between quarterback Gus Ferrara and running back Jihad Johnson – an inherent risk in a zone-read based offense with many such option hand-offs.
Yet, none of the Zero Week success that led to a commanding early lead against the game Mules of Alamo Heights accompanied the first-half Stony Point mistakes.
While the offense sputtered with holding penalties and the fumbles, the Tiger defense met the challenge of two short fields in the second quarter on quick turnarounds, once rebuffing a Connally drive with a blocked field goal by senior cornerback Kevin White and holding the Cougars to a long field goal on the second. Continually-misfiring Conally quarterback Dustin Babola contributed to the Tiger cause, underthrowing a wide-open Anthony Bryant and allowing White to make a play on a would-be touchdown.
Alternating at quarterback from the quick and diminutive Gus Barrera to the taller, sturdier Aaryn Sharp on virtually on every play, the Tiger offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, unaided by a dropped interception by Fulgencio on the first Cougar pass of the evening and a booming 80-yard strike-and-roll by the Connally punter.
All-District linebacker Zak Aossey, by far the best Connally player, helped slow the zone-option Tiger rushing attack with his constant presence in the backfield. Stuffed Stony Point run? Aossey was there, right in the middle of it all.
Barrera misfired twice with pressure in his face and holding penalties called back several precise Sharp passes with would-be, chain-moving results.
The play following Connally’s field goal with under a minute left in the first half epitomized the opening-frame effort by Stony Point. Finding a seam in the Conally kick-off coverage, the electric Stephen Williams sliced up the field for a momentum-swinging return to Connally’s 30-yardline. Called back, not once, but twice. A Stony Point hold and unsportsmanlike conduct following the play stymied the last-second drive before it even began.
Entering the half-time intermission, Stony Point remained without a mark upon the board, the weight of expectations squarely on their young shoulders, hope rising in the heart and mind of the opposition with their unexpectedly competitive first half.
Though ever fickle, Lady Momentum remained squarely on the visiting side at the beginning of the second half as Connally readied to kick the ball. Or so it seemed. As the Tiger upmen turned for the return, the Cougar kicker dribbled the ball of the tee downfield, recovering in Stony Point territory.
A quick three-and-out by the Cougars finally put the ball into the hands of the Stony Point offense, which rode the back of two long receptions by Stephen Williams (six catches for 151 yards) and a long keeper on the zone read by Sharp down the field. A 3rd-and-12 on the Cougar 15-yardline left the drive in doubt as Barrera, seemingly the weaker passer of the two Tiger signal-callers, entered the game in his alternation with Sharp. Barrera answered with a jump ball delivered perfectly to a split-wide Gerard Shillow outleaping the outsized defender.
Just then, the hitherto-warm evening turned with the temperature dropping 10 degrees in a matter of minutes just as the game turned as well. Ironically, it seemingly took a cool breeze flooding through Round Rock ISD Stadium to heat up the Tiger effort, as Stony Point ran off 35 unanswered points in less than a quarter of play by taking advantage of two Connally fumbles, one knocked lose by defensive tackle Jordan Wade after tossing the running back like a rag doll, and an offense finally in rhythm.
Following the first turnover, Tiger head coach Craig Chessher, like all good head coaches, sought to consolidate momentum with a big play after the quick change. After using Aaryn Sharp as a second tight end early in the half, Chessher broke out a trick play directly after Wade’s forced fumble – a throwback pass from Barrera to Sharp, who found Williams sprinting deep and uncovered on the other side of the field. Despite being slightly underthrown, Williams adjusted to the ball and found the endzone, pushing the lead to 14-0 and beginning the route.
A Gus Barrera touchdown run on a zone read late in the third quarter, sprung by an Aaryn Sharp block, put the game completely out of reach for Connally. After yet another Stony Point touchdown, Fulgencio made up for his earlier dropped interception by jumping a route by Anthony Bryant and returning the subsequent interception 28 yards for a touchdown and 35-3 Tiger lead.
So while the expected blowout eventually came to pass, it didn’t happen as Craig Chessher and Tiger partisans would have liked with the lethargic first half, but the second half turnaround could presage more disciplined and less fumble-prone performances as the season progresses. Once again, the Tiger defense stymied the opposition, holding Connally to 128 yards on the evening and limiting Cougar quarterback Dustin Babola to three completions on 13 attempts.
Ultimately, with another blowout victory marking the second in two games for Chessher’s squad, all is right in Tiger country.
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