Published: September 24, 2008 01:53 pm            

Kemp comes from behind to beat Rains; Mabank loses

The Kemp Yellowjackets put away their suicidal tendencies of the early season last Friday, and in the process, may have learned how to win.

In fact, they did win, defeating Emory Rains 24-20 in a thriller.

The Mabank Panthers should have been as fortunate. Instead, they squandered some perfect opportunities, then watched helplessly as Blake Pennington kicked the game winning 37-yard field goal with four seconds left for the Vandals.

It gave the Van a dramatic 17-16 come-from-behind victory.

And then there were the Dogs. What are you gonna do with the Eustace hounds, now 2-2? They’re making old people out of young people sitting in the Boneyard.

They thoroughly whipped Quitman in the first half, fell into a coma in third quarter and got behind, 32-28...

Only to rally for a 41-32 victory.

Then, when the going got tough, Eustace got Dog nasty and growled their way to an unlikely 41-32 victory.

For the first time this season, two of the three lake area teams earned victories.

Mabank, the lone loser, goes back to the chalkboard this week and will look within itself during this open-week of self-discovery.

The Panthers return to open 15-4A competition against Terrell a week later.

Kemp goes to Palmer this week, polishing up for its district opener a week later against Van, and Eustace travels to Ferris, then takes a week off before opening district play on the road against Mineola.

Both teams playing Friday have the potential for victory, barring any third-quarter sleepovers.



KEMP 24, RAINS 20

The Jackets had been their own worst enemies during the first three games, and the trend continued for a while last weekend.

But enough was enough for frustrated fullback Josh Carr and his teammates.

Carr had fumbled the ball away while trying to get into the end zone from a yard away earlier in the game, already with visions of a three-fumble game a week earlier.

But Carr redeemed himself big-time in the end.

Not only did Carr, who had 113 yards rushing, score what turned out to be the game-winning points for the Jackets with 39 seconds left, he provided some dramatic coffin-nailer insurance to put a lid on the clock.

With Rains quarterback Taylor Marshall trying to rally his team with a couple of Hail Mary’s, Carr managed to sack him two straight times.

That’s all it took to waste the clock and for Kemp to claim its first victory.

The Jackets’ rushing game was convincing with both Carr and Korey Henderson (112 yards) rushing for more than 100 yards.

Kemp Coach Gregg Anderson, who has won just twice since taking over a program with mountains to climb, savored his team’s last-minute victory.

The Jackets got the ball with three minutes left and drove 51 yards for the winning touchdown.

But of course, it wasn’t easy. Like when Kemp was facing a fourth-down and 22 situation and the clock winding down.

“I don’t like calling those,” quipped Anderson, as if anyone else did. “We were down there, wanting to gain five or six yards, then kick a field goal and go into overtime,” he said.

So much for best-laid plans.

Here’s how Anderson saw those final minutes:

“We line up and flair a pass to Carr that loses a ton of yards.

“Now, we’re fourth and 22 and too far out for a field goal”.

Good, makes the decision-making process easier. Nothing to do now but go out and win the game.

Here’s how they did it:

“Our offensive line did a great job protecting and Jeremy Quick made a great throw, and James Trim caught it between two defenders for a 32-yard gain,” Anderson explains.

Fine. Need 22, get 32.That’ll work every time.

“At this point they (the Jackets) believe they’re going to score, and we just shove it down their throats the next three plays, Anderson says.

To do it, Anderson put the game on Carr’s back and he responded with gains of eight, two and two yards to put the ball in the end zone, turning a 20-16 deficit into a 24-20 Kemp lead.

As already explained, Carr was all over Pennington during those final 39 seconds.

“This win gives us a big boost of confidence going to Palmer next week,” Anderson said.

It’ll be the last non-conference game for the Jackets, who begin district competition one week later.

Cautionary note: Palmer had an open date last week.

“They were up in the stands watching us,” said Anderson.

Palmer has lost to Hico and Roanoke.

Palmer has two good running backs and a good wide receiver, according to Anderson.

“We’ve got to do a good job of containing their speed,” he said. “We’ve got to execute offensively, then we’ll feel good about our chances defensively.”

The Jackets are getting some players back this week. Dudley Chambers, the center, Brandon Brewer, a defensive lineman and Brent Hibbon, a safety are all expected to return from their injuries.



VAN 17, MABANK 16

“We just gave it away,” said Coach Jimmy Cantrell Monday while sizing up his Panthers disappointing road loss to Van.

“We just didn’t get it done in all three phases of the game.

First, the defense.

“On the drive where they kicked the winning field goal, we had them fourth and four, and we let their quarterback scramble for a first down. That led to the winning field goal.

Special teams:

“We missed a field goal from 37 yards, and we botched an extra point on a bad snap. Michael Blackburn did connect on one field goal earlier in the game.

Offense:

“We missed a couple of scoring opportunities in the second half,” Cantrell said.

Guilty parties:

The Mabank Panthers and their coaching staff, if Cantrell is to be believed.

“We’re not going to play the blame game,” he said. “It was a team effort. They made as many mistakes as we did.”

Is star quarterback Kolton Browning trying to do too much?

A QB known mostly for his passing ability, had 155 yards rushing. But the Vandals held him to 126 yards passing, well below his normal standard.

Is it becoming a tradeout, and if so, is it worth it?

Worse, Browning was responsible for four turnovers himself, two critical fumbles and two interceptions.

There is some semblance of a running game. But it’s almost entirely Browning out of the backfield.

The Panthers have been relying on Brandon Rasco, but he’s been used heavily as a receiver on screen passes.

That could be wearing thin. Browning was only able to find him three times last Friday.

Cantrell says what the Panthers are missing so far this year is a chain mover.

Rasco did that pretty well toward the end of last season, but with changes in the offensive line and with his added duties, the running game has suffered.

And when it’s there, sometimes Browning is suffering. He’s come up limping several times.

The guy is a target, and everyone is game-planning the Panthers’ passing game, Cantrell says.

The Panthers have some sure-handed, swift receivers, some big enough to play in the backfield.

But then you’re meddling with the team’s strengths, its receivers.

The versatile Rasco, on the other hand, can play almost anywhere, and he’ll give you everything he’s got.

Anyway, the Panthers have two weeks to make those problems go away.

Something else Cantrell says this year’s team has yet to learn, and that’s playing well on the road.

The Panthers are 2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road.

Cantrell wasn’t terribly pleased with the officiating in Van, though he was quick to say it didn’t cause his team to lose.

“I don’t bellyache about the officiating,” he said.

Then again, he wasn’t nominating it for “Crew of the Year.”

“It wasn’t the best in the world, but I’ve seen worse,” he said.

Whatever.

He knows the refs didn’t cause the Panthers to lose three of four fumbles, or miss a field goal or throw two interceptions and miss an extra point in the one-point loss, so this is still very much a work in progress.

EUSTACE 41, QUITMAN 32.

(See this week’s CSI report on this game).

        

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