The Battle of San Jacinto County.

At The Goal Line

By Charles Ballard

The Battle of San Jacinto goes to the Coldspring Trojans 59-0

If you look due South from Coldspring Texas you may be able to see a ghostly image of smoke rising from the sun set. On April 21, 1836 General Sam Houston took only 18 minutes to defeat General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's Mexican Army and establish the true and independent Republic of Texas. In modern day many battle reenactments are carried out in order to remember your heritage. However, the booming cannons, cracking musket fire and thousands of battle cries from the Battle of San Jacinto will send chills up your spine. "Remember the Alamo” and "Remember Goliad” still ring over the battle field of San Jacinto.

There is a San Jacinto County tradition that holds true to the Texas Tradition. It is called the Battle of San Jacinto County. This tradition is when the Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojans football team face off against the Shepherd Pirates Football Team. It really does not matter which school is rated higher than the other school. Both schools and fans fill the stadium. This year was no different.

From the stadium in Coldspring, Texas, The Battle of San Jacinto gets under way at 7:30pm. The excitement is ramped way beyond the charts. Many faces are painted Blue and White on the visitor's side of the stadium and many faces are painted red and black on the home side. The Referee calls for the Team Captains to enter the field. Sherman Gilbert number 1, Colton Monroe number 8, Kedrick Harrison number 44 and Chance Andries number 52 enter from the Trojan side of the field. Felix Gonzalez number 30, Charlie Courvelle number 60, Ryan Reeves number 66 and Nathan Pippin number 77 enter from the Shepherd Pirate's side of the field.

This time the visiting team wins the opening toss and elects to receive the ball (duh….!). For some reason, during the last few games the winning toss elected to defer and give the ball to the Trojans. The Trojans burned the opposing team bad with a touch down within the first few seconds of the game. The Pirates elected to receive. After two sets of downs the Pirates got in trouble with a fumble and allowed the Trojans to recover. This is all the Trojans need to get the score board rolling. Colton Monroe, running back for the Trojans, crashes the center of the line for a first and ten. This sets up the first of five touchdowns for Sherman Gilbert. Sherman managed to sweep around the left side of the line from the 17 yard line and put the score at 6 to 0. Greg Dunham splits the uprights to add one more PAT (point after touchdown). The score is now 7 to 0. with 10:19 on the clock in the first quarter.

The Shepherd Offense produced three downs and had to punt. This set up the next Gilbert TD. From a shot gun offense Alfred Scott, quarterback for the Trojan, pitches out to Gilbert and he goes 80 yards around the end for his second TD of the evening. The score now is 13 to 0. Again, Dunham punches the ball between the goal post for a PAT. The score stands at 14 to 0.

With 6:24 on the clock the quarterback for the Shepherd Pirates take the ball on a 4^th and long and proceeds to offer a punt but, keeps the ball and runs for a nice first down. But the next set of down proves fault and they have to punt, to put the ball deep into the Trojan field.

With 2:50 on the clock the Trojans start a drive from their own 19 yard line. The receive two penalties that place them on a 2^nd and long. As that started the drive, Gilbert and Monroe managed to force a couple of first and tens. This allow the third touchdown for Gilbert. Again Dunham get the PAT and the score rolls to 21 to 0. Gilbert managed to punch the goal line one more time during the first half posting the score at 28 to 0.

The play of the game would have to be during the first part of the second half. The Trojans were popped with illegal procedure, and illegal block which put them back on there own 2 yard line. Alfred Scott hands off the ball to Colton Monroe. Colton's job is to secure yardage, so they will have some room to operate. As Colton makes his way up field, open field blocks begin to fall in place. Colton reverses his field and begins to find more yardage he grabs it. When Colton Breaks open in the secondary there was no stopping the Monroe "Bulldozer”. Colton shot up the sideline and popped the Shepherd defense for a 99.5 yard run. We are still looking as the state records. As all of the records were not in by this writing, but Colton is sitting on a state record of 99.5 yards. We will post the record as we find out.

Well, as you can tell it was a scoring barrage. So with that said. I am excited to grant one of my coveted "At A Boy” awards. What do you get for the AAB award? As the award sounds you get a true to heart "at a boy” pat on the back. During the last few games there have been several Trojan to score three touchdowns in one game or another. When Colton Monroe scored 4 in one game I thought that the event was monumental. However; the bar has just been rising by one of the most feared running backs in the State of Texas. Sherman Gilbert topped the scales with five (5) touchdowns during the game. Congratulations Sherman Gilbert for a true Trojan effort. The "At A Boy” award goes to Sherman Gilbert.

The final score of 59 to 0 was showing as the "Trojan mobile” sounded the last blast of the air horns of the ‘'Battle of San Jacinto County'' for the year of 2011.

I am sure that General Sam Houston would be proud of both supporting teams of the battle. A great effort from the Shepherd Pirates, and a job well done by the Trojans, would be the General's statement.

Game Stats: Grab you hats this one is impressive.

Sherman Gilbert had 10 attempts with 222 yards rushing with 5 touchdowns.

Colton Monroe had 9 attempts with 163 yds, with 1 touchdown and one kickoff return of 66 yards.

Donte Scott had 3 attempts with 18 yards.

Patrick Giddens had 1 attempt with 22 yards.

Trey Cooper had 1 attempt at 9 yards.

Josh Pierce had 1 attempt at 9 yards.

Chance Andries had 1 attempts at 5 yards.

Alfred Scott had 3 attempts passing and a total of 28 yards of completions.

Bryce Shepherd had 1 Catch at 28 yards.

Douglas Johnson had 2 attempts at punt returns and produces 13 yards.

Greg Dunham punched 5 PAT with 9 attempts.

Folks: I'm running out of room. So I will make this next segment short and sweet.

Who's next:

The Splendora Wildcats host the Coldspring Trojans next Friday in Wildcat Stadium at 7:30. The Wildcats will be hungry for a win. The Cleveland Indians just passed the Wildcats on a 27 to 21 victory. So the Wildcats will be looking for a home field advantage. I am sure that the Trojans stand will again be filled to capacity, so get there early and be prepared to root the team on for the 7 and 0 record.

The Trojans, as of now are undefeated in any play and are looking to push through the 22-AAA district, so come out and help the Trojans defeat the Splendora Wildcats.

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