Canyon Cowboys 20, West Ranch Wildcats 10
Said it before, say it again: little things matter.
In a game that was perhaps even more frustrating than the Hart game, your Wildcats could not manage to secure a victory Friday night, despite some heroic efforts by many of our players.
We did many things right: we intercepted a pass and ran it back about seventy yards to set up a score; we drove the ball on offense and capitalized on field positon; we kicked a field go to go ahead 10-7 late in the game, and we put together a two-minute drill drive with no timeouts to put us in position to score. Our defense allowed one score (the other two came from offensive mistakes, one of which was meaningless late in the game) and forced Canyon to punt several times.
Unfortunately, our opponent was not giving up anything. The few mistakes we made were quite costly: a miscommunication that resulted in a fumble and a Canyon touchdown, a crucial penalty when we were driving to score, and a misjudgement on a coverage all added up to a loss for us.
The final score, 20-10, does not accurately reflect the closeness of the contest: We were down 7-0 early in the game due to a mistake on our part, then spent a while battling back and forth, neither team able to do much, until the interception set up our score. We tied the game, 7-7, then late in the game kicked the field goal to go up 10-7.
As fate would have it, we made another costly error, this time on defense, and allowed the Cowboys to score with roughly 2:00 left to play.
Our two-minute offense went into action (with no timeouts remaining, having used them all on defense to stop the clock) after the kickoff, moving the ball from our 20 to the Canyon 35 in an
impressive, and quick, 45-yard drive. With under 10 seconds in the game, we had put ourselves in position for a miracle: a miracle that did not come true. We were not able to connect into the end zone with 10 seconds left and down 14-10. The interception and subsequent return for touchdown was academic: if we had not caught the ball, the game would have been over no matter what.
There is lots to be proud of in our performance, but I honestly hope our players realize how we cost ourselves the game.
Once again, the final message: little things matter.
Next week: Valencia!
In a game that was perhaps even more frustrating than the Hart game, your Wildcats could not manage to secure a victory Friday night, despite some heroic efforts by many of our players.
We did many things right: we intercepted a pass and ran it back about seventy yards to set up a score; we drove the ball on offense and capitalized on field positon; we kicked a field go to go ahead 10-7 late in the game, and we put together a two-minute drill drive with no timeouts to put us in position to score. Our defense allowed one score (the other two came from offensive mistakes, one of which was meaningless late in the game) and forced Canyon to punt several times.
Unfortunately, our opponent was not giving up anything. The few mistakes we made were quite costly: a miscommunication that resulted in a fumble and a Canyon touchdown, a crucial penalty when we were driving to score, and a misjudgement on a coverage all added up to a loss for us.
The final score, 20-10, does not accurately reflect the closeness of the contest: We were down 7-0 early in the game due to a mistake on our part, then spent a while battling back and forth, neither team able to do much, until the interception set up our score. We tied the game, 7-7, then late in the game kicked the field goal to go up 10-7.
As fate would have it, we made another costly error, this time on defense, and allowed the Cowboys to score with roughly 2:00 left to play.
Our two-minute offense went into action (with no timeouts remaining, having used them all on defense to stop the clock) after the kickoff, moving the ball from our 20 to the Canyon 35 in an
impressive, and quick, 45-yard drive. With under 10 seconds in the game, we had put ourselves in position for a miracle: a miracle that did not come true. We were not able to connect into the end zone with 10 seconds left and down 14-10. The interception and subsequent return for touchdown was academic: if we had not caught the ball, the game would have been over no matter what.
There is lots to be proud of in our performance, but I honestly hope our players realize how we cost ourselves the game.
Once again, the final message: little things matter.
Next week: Valencia!
