For the past two weeks, I’ve closed out my Durant High School preview on the Gridiron Report by telling Cougar fans to celebrate all night if they beat one of Tampa’s top teams.
I hope you all did that last Friday night, because that game was the perfect excuse for you to let your hair down.
That win over Sickles not only reinforced what I always thought about the Cougars — that these kids could compete with the marquee schools — but also proved they could win some of those games. Durant also has had a problem winning tight games since last season, but this game didn’t prove that they’ve figured out how to win those.
This one was pretty much a blowout.
How did it happen? I made note of the things I saw on the field that evening and can give you a pretty good rundown.
Sickles quarterback Isaac Holder had one completion in the first half, and it came on the very first play of the game. After the opening kickoff pinned the Gryphons on their own 20-yard line, Holder threw an 80-yard touchdown pass. It would be the only lead that Sickles would have for the entire game.
Earlier in the week, head coach Mike Gottman told me he and the Cougars knew exactly what the Gryphons were going to do for much of the game: Hand it off to Ray Ray McCloud III, who is normally awesome. Gottman was right — that’s what they did, and Durant’s defense seemed to know exactly when Holder would hand the ball off. Whatever the team did to plan ahead in practice worked beautifully out there.
Speaking of Durant’s defense, I can’t say the unit played as though each player had a chip on his shoulder. If you went to the game and didn’t know anything about Sickles or Durant, then you’d have guessed the home team was considered an area powerhouse. Holding that offense to 14 points up to the final 40 seconds of the game is an impressive feat. Bravo, dudes.
Maybe part of the Gryphons’ problem was the fact that their special teams work was awful. If you combine punts and kicks, then they might have only fielded cleanly three times. Drops, fumbles, bumbles and stumbles gave them sketchy field positioning, of which the Durant defense took full advantage.
The score probably should have been 36-20, at the very least. Austin Resendez probably should have finished with two touchdown catches, but he was the victim of a pass interference non-call in the end zone later in the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen DPI so blatant at the high school level in my four years of covering the sport, and you can see the photo for yourself online and in today’s paper.
Yeah, the non-call doesn’t matter now that Durant already won, but it would have been nice of the refs to pay attention.
What might have helped Durant was its third-down success. Erick Davis, in his second game as Durant’s starting quarterback, looked confident and collected out there and wasn’t afraid to air it out on third and long. Enough of his risks paid off to keep the Cougars alive and leading. Accounting for two total touchdowns helped, too.
This was the program’s biggest win since the 2012-13 season and can probably already be counted as one of the best regular-season games in the school’s history. If you’re a Durant Cougar, then it’s been a pretty good week to be one.
P.S. Friday at halftime was the first time I can recall someone selling hot and iced coffee from a tent at a football game, and it was there that I bought one of the best iced coffees I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry and do not remember the name from the tent, but I now believe this kind of thing should be everywhere.