Bryce Shepherd ‘'kick-starts'' the Coldspring Trojans Offense

At the Goal Line

Bryce Shepherd ‘'kick-starts'' the Coldspring Trojans Offense

Bryce Shepherd ‘'kick-starts'' the Coldspring Trojans Offense to bring home a 20 to 3 win and secure a coveted place in the Texas UIL Playoff bracket. I will talk more on the fantastic catch in just a moment.

If you loaded the truck and headed south on Hwy 59 Friday night to the town of Huffman you would have seen a different looking town. There were a lot of Coldspring Trojan signs all over the Falcon Stadium. First of all, the Falcon stadium is second to none. Video score board, artificial turf, superb lighting and a super concession stand. Oh, and did I mention a great game ? What was slated to be one of the Coldspring Trojans toughest games proved to be just about as close as any Trojan fan would want it to be.

After rolling over most of the 22-AAA district opponents Coldspring finally got to test their many skills. If you ask any Trojan who was wearing the jersey with the number 12 on it for the Huffman Falcons, I am sure you would get the answer Townley. Preston Townley, quarterback for the Huffman Falcons was on his best game Friday night. He came to the field with one thing on his mind. That was to throw an aerial assault against the Coldspring Trojans and keep the win at home. HOWEVER; That is not exactly what happened. Although Townley did throw about 85% of the time he did not secure a district 22-AAA title. That my friends now sit totally in the hands of the "MIGHTY COLDSPRING TROJANS”. With back to back district titles under their belts, the only other item that would put the icing on the cake would be to beat the Liberty Panthers next Friday and have an undefeated season. More on Liberty in just a second.

The Trojans managed to win the opening toss and to secure the first ball position; but what the Trojans were not expecting was the "Salty Defense” of the Falcons. The first set of downs proved to be a wash. With a third and long, Alfred Scott quarterback for the Trojans, sent the ball deep into Falcon Territory. The Falcons went straight to the air and kept throwing at will. They managed to secure a first and ten, but then the Trojan defense stopped the Falcons and they had to punt. This went on for the first 12 minutes of the game. The first quarter ended with the scoreboard silent and sitting at 0 – 0. With the second quarter under way and the Falcons on the march, they proceeded to secure a good field position but could not punch the ball over the goal line. The Falcons, sitting on the 19 yard line bring in a field goal kicker to secure the first points on the score board. The ball looked like it was kicked by a pro kicker. It went through the uprights dead center and mid ways up the uprights. It was a great shot, and with this kick the Falcons drew first blood.

The Trojans started on their own 20 yard line and marched down field with the help of Colton Monroe and Sherman Gilbert. Sitting on the 8 yard line, Alfred Scott quarterback for the Trojans finds wide receiver Bryce Shepherd standing between the upright of the goal post and fires the ball into Shepherds hands. Shepherd grabs the ball with a death grip as 3 Falcons hit him and try to force him to drop the ball. Shepherd erupts for the end zone with the ball in his hand and the Ref shows a touch down for the Trojans. After a somewhat cold Trojans first quarter, this "TD” seemed to spark a bit of fire in there attack. The two point conversion attempt, by Colton Monroe, was good and the score now shows the Trojans 8 to 3, and well on their way to securing a district title.

Early during the third quarter with 8:46 on the clock, Jerrell Sykes grabs a toss from Scott and shoots up the side line for a 14 to 3 lead. The conversion points were not good and the score stands at 14 to 3.

After the Sykes "TD” the Trojans try an onside kick, but is covered by the Falcon line and put the Falcons in very good field position. The Trojan defense is spot on. The defense hold the Falcons after they manage to get in the red zone and force another attempt at a field goal. However, this time the ball goes way wide. The score stands at 14 – 3.

The third quarter ended with the score standing at 14 for the Coldspring Trojans and 3 for the Huffman Falcons. The Falcons only other close chance to score was early in the fourth period. They were down on the 5 yard line with 4 and goal. The Falcons elected to try and punch it through the Trojans "Goal Line Stand”, but were unsuccessful.

With the clock showing 6:45 Sherman Gilbert, gets his one and only TD of the game. Twisting and turning fighting for every yard Sherman managed to inch his way to the goal line for the 20 – 3 score.

In the final few minutes of the game the Falcons tried to throw a few very long "Hail Mary” passes but were batted down by the Coldspring Trojans defense.

The final Score of 20- 3, a 22- AAA title and a seat in the Texas UIL State Play-Offs was awarded to the "Might Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojans”.

Stats

Sherman Gilbert had 21 attempts with 124 yards and 1 TD.

Colton Monroe had 15 attempts with 74 yards and 1 two point conversion.

Alfred Scott had 4 attempts with 32 yards rushing, and passed for 135 yards with 14 attempts and 6 completions .

Receiving:

Jerrell Sykes had 1 catch for 67 yards and 1 TD.

Bryce Shepherd had 2 catches for 27 yards and 1 TD.

Sherman Gilbert had 2 catches for 23 yards.

Punt Returns:

Douglas Johnson had 1 attempt at 4 yards.

Summary: One thing that I did notice, the Falcons would rather kick the ball to the sideline than give it to Johnson, or Gilbert. This is the first time that I have seen a team give the ball to a team in good field position, rather than risk a long run back. The Falcons did their homework very well. They put several defensive players on Gilbert and every step that Gilbert took they were right with him. This put the passing very effective for the Trojans. It also opened up Cooper, Monroe to advance the ball more.

Who's next; that would be the Liberty Panthers? Next Friday night will be Senior Night at Trojan Stadium. Liberty was in the run for a playoff berth but the Cleveland Indians knocked them out last week with a Cleveland win. The game Friday night will be a pride game. The Liberty Panthers would like to end the season on a win and the Coldspring Trojans would like to take a win to secure an "UNDEFEATED SEASON” for the 2011 year. The outcome of the game will have no bearing on the playoffs. Huffman will go into Division 1 play to represent 22-AAA and the Coldspring Trojans will go into Division 2 play to represent 22-AAA play. The Cleveland Indians will be the number 3 team and will play in division 2.

One last item:

As I was leaving the stadium several of the fans asked me if I was going to comment on the job the refs did. I said last week that I like to leave the comments to the fans and I just report on the game. HOWEVER: I will say that the Trojans have a true mark of a Championship Team. Most high school teams would have folded during the first two quarters of this game. Coldspring had 13 penalties totaling 135 yards, and Huffman had 4 totaling 20 yards. Is that one sided..? Were the refs calling it both ways…? Hey, were the refs from Huffman….? I guess these questions that will never be answered. The Coldspring Trojans played a top notch game. After defecting a top rated passing team and then having to deal with one sided calls, I indeed would say that the Trojans are a Mark of a Championship Team.

And that is the way I see it "At The Goal Line”

C U N Trojan Stadium Friday Night….! (GT)