34-27 Final
Fine.
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Fine.
There's roughly 2:15 left in the game and Matt Handler just scored on a 25-yard pass to make the score 34-27, Snyder. The onsides kick attempt didn't go Argyle's way and that should be the season for the Eagles barring a turnover.
And stick a fork in Argyle, you know the rest. Will Clay just took the first play of the drive 65 yards to ice the game for the Tigers with 3:49 remaining in the game. Score: Snyder 34, Argyle 20.
JJ Harp was just stopped inches short on a 4th-and-5 scramble to turn the ball over on downs at the Snyder 35 with 3:59 remaining. Argyle still has three timeouts, but it's looking dreary for the Eagles, much like the weather.
The Tigers just took a 28-20 lead with around five minutes left to go in the game on a 50-yard from Will Clay after Argyle was stopped and missed a 43-yard field goal just left from Ben Parks. Clay also converted the two-point conversion. Argyle has 4:51 to tie the game, but they'll need a two-point conversion.
Snyder is facing 3rd-and-15 from its 28-yard line to start the fourth quarter. This would be a huge stop for Argyle to make. With Snyder's relatively pedestrian passing game, it shouldn't be a problem, but Will Clay could bust one at any time. Score's still 20-20.
This kid is legit. He just took a 70-yard run up the middle on a play which Argyle was flagged for offsides for the umpteenth time tonight. They appeared to kind of think the play was dead as Clay streaked up the middle and took in the two-point attempt to tie the score at 20 with 4:10 left in the third quarter.
There is no more clock. Time is being kept on the field. Fantastic.
I just heard a fan say "most of the time you've gotta love him, but some days...boy!" That was after he danced around in the backfield eluding tacklers before finally being sacked for an 11-yard loss.
Harp found Justin McGuffey open in the end zone after scrambling around some more for a 23-yard scoring strike on 3rd-and-19. Argyle leads 20-12 with 6:10 left in the third.
The Eagles aren't getting the game they probably would've liked -- netting only three first-half possessions if you don't count the 1-play kneel to run the clock after the late interception. Head coach Todd Rodgers says he wants six possessions per half to run his offense effectively. The Eagles have at least scored on all three drives but it easily could be 21-12 right now if not for some boneheaded penalties and a few miscues that stalled their drives.
Harp was once again near-flawless in the first half like he was last week against Graham, completing his first nine pass attempts before his 10th was dropped despite being perfectly placed.
SIDE NOTE: Interesting...there's a guy walking around right below me wearing a Clyde hat. For those who don't remember, Clyde is the team Argyle beat in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
Snyder running back Will Clay came into the game with more than 2,000 yards on the ground and has put up 86 on 15 carries in the first half. More than half came on two carries of 23 and 21 yards. He's explosive, all right, but the Eagles are holding him in check somewhat, at least for a kid who came into the postseason with 2,034 yards.
Matt Moore just jumped an out route and picked off a pass to kill Snyder's attempt to score before going into the locker room. Snyder's clearly a running team, and the pass was fully telegraphed as Moore picked it off at the Argyle 15-yard line with seven seconds left. The Eagles lead 13-12 at the half.
The Eagles just went up 13-12 on a JJ Harp-Brady Brown 6-yard connection. It was a perfectly executed 2-minute drill, except there's still 2:15 left in the half. Snyder's been getting good KO returns all night and takes possession at its 36.
This time it was running back Will Clay, who's already near 100 yards and it's not even halftime. The extra point attempt was blocked and on the run back Snyder was flagged for a personal foul, forcing the Tigers to kick from their 25. Argyle has the ball at its 49 with 3:41 left in the half. This tempo is definitely favoring Snyder, which leads 12-6.
JJ Harp just threw his first two incompletions of the game on 2nd- and 3rd-and-3, and the star kicker featured in the DR-C today, Ben Parks, just tied the game at 6 with a 37-yard field goal that would've been true from 50 easily.
This is what I was talking about...a 12-play scoring drive. Snyder scored on an option keeper from QB Lance Day, who missed the extra point attempt. 6-3 Snyder with 10 minutes to go in the half.
The Eagles just struck first on a 30-yard field goal from Ben Parks after a rollercoaster drive marred by penalties and fumbled snaps. Argyle leads 3-0 with 3:43 left in the first.
Today, I learned where Graham is. I'm sitting in the most cramped press box I've ever been in. But I actually expected it so it's not so bad, unlike Tarleton's last week.
Also, Brad McCoy, Graham's head coach and father of UT quarterback Colt McCoy is a great guy. I take back everything I said about him last week. Now, he's the Graham coach/father of a marginally talented Big 12 quarterback/great guy.
I'll do my best to keep up with the blogging, but I'm basically writing in my lap because my laptop takes up all the working space. I'll see what I can do.
I do have to give props Foy's Steakhouse in Graham. As the waitress told me, the chicken fried steak was indeed "the bomb." You know you're at a good steakhouse when people walk in with spurs on. But then again, that kind of got offset by the Red Hot Chili Peppers blaring from the kitchen.
As for the game, this could really go either way. If Snyder controls the clock like its fully capable of, it'll be a long night for the Eagles.
The Eagles are up 21-8 with 3:48 remaining and are running the clock down with Frizzell. He just busted a 17-yarder to put him at 118 on the night with a touchdown. The Eagles are at the Graham 29-yard line.
Graham just executed a 67-yard quick kick on 3rd-and-17 from its own 23-yard line. OK, it went 67 yards, great. But when you're down 13 points with 10 minutes left, is that really the most sound move? Argyle's grinding out the clock with Kyle Frizzell, who's having a tremendous game running the ball. He's approaching 100 yards.
The Eagles just scored on a 5-yard jaunt from Kyle Frizzell, which was set up by a 21-yard pass on 3rd-and-13 from Harp to Justin McGuffey down to the 5. Argyle leads 21-8 with 11:48 remaining in the game.
Argyle holds a 14-8 lead still after the third quarter and is driving at the Graham 26-yard line facing 3rd-and-13.
Against his own team.
Case McCoy just threw his second interception in his last two attempts with Graham driving in to score and take the lead. After the interception, he was flagged for a personal foul for headbutting Argyle linebacker Patrick Dawkins.
Harp was just picked off by Kensy Parker at the Argyle 33-yard line. Case McCoy was injured on the interception and Cody Stansell is in at quarterback for the Steers. First play out, delay of game. Well, now McCoy's coming back in.
Case McCoy continued his McCoy-ish night. He's now 1 for 6 for -1 yards and an interception. Matt Moore just picked off McCoy at the Argyle 15-yard line after the Steers had run the ball down Argyle's throats. That's a big stop and the Eagles preserved their six-point lead.
He is not related to former Texas Tech/Kansas City Chief great E.J. Holub.
Argyle's quarterback JJ Harp is 10 for 11 for 85 yards and a score and has a couple of key runs for first downs. It also appears running back Kyle Frizzell will be buying his linemen and Harp a fat, juicy steak because he's gone over 1,000 yards, 1,028 to be exact. He needed seven yards coming and has 35 at the half. I wonder where he'll be taking them. If I were Harp and boys up front, I'd suggest Grotto in Highland Village.
Over on the Graham sideline, Case McCoy is trying to upstage his big bro, but isn't doing so hot right now. He's 1 for 5 for -1 yards at the half. Running back Jake Holub appears to be the bell cow in this offense, gaining 70 yards on 11 carries in the first half.
In Stephenville, mind you, I just poetically killed a yellow jacket. Back to something not so funny, this place is horrible, and I hope area coaches refrain from scheduling playoff games here in the future.
OK, let's see if I can recite this wacky turn of events...
Graham running back Jake Holub appeared to be on his way to running out the clock on a 14-yard run at the end of the first half, but instead he fumbled to Argyle's Trevor Cantrell at the Graham 31-yard line with two ticks left on the clock.
Argyle's stud kicker Ben Parks lined up for a 48-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 9-point lead, and then the wackiness ensued.
Graham coach/father of mid-level talent Big 12 quarterback Brad McCoy called one of the lame timeouts right before the kick that's becoming all the rage of football, apparently on all levels now.
Then, Parks got another chance and drilled it wide right with plenty of distance to spare. Half over, right? Wrong. Graham was called for illegal touching, which on a field goal block means the players tried to hurdle over the line, essentially playing leap frog, to block the kick. That's a 15-yard penalty. Now Parks is set from 33 yards on an untimed down. Oh wait. False start, Argyle. So there's still 0:00 on the clock, and Argyle gets pushed back five yards to the Graham 21. This time, Parks' 38-yard attempt was blocked and half finally ended.
Argyle leads 14-8, and JJ Harp is still near-perfect, going 10 of 11 in the first half for 85 yards and a score. His only incompletion was a drop in the end zone. Pretty salty night so far for Harp, who's playing in some serious "conditions" here in Stephenville.
Ben Parks hit a pretty 35-yard punt down to the Graham 11 where Nolan Waggoner muffed the punt and it was recovered by Argyle's Matt Thompson. Argyle scored on a 1-yard plunge from Brandon Doubek. JJ Harp is 9 of 10 on the night with his only incompletion coming on a dropped TD pass by Matt Handler. His night has been pretty amazing so far considering the nasty weather.
The Eagles just six plays to answer Graham's score and opted for the extra point and now trail 8-7 with 3:29 in the first. JJ Harp hit Brady Brown in the corner of the end zone and was 4 for 4 on the drive.
The Steers just scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and curiously went for two points instead of making it a sure two-score game. It got even stranger after a Graham penalty gave the Steers the ball at the 7-yard line and they still didn't kick it. The pass failed and Graham now leads 8-0 with 5:52 left in the first quarter.
Argyle QB JJ Harp just bobbled a snap in the end zone with the Eagles starting from their 5-yard line and an Argyle offensive lineman fell on the ball for a Graham safety. The Steers lead 2-0 three minutes into the game.
The weather here in Stephenville, as I'm sure it is in a lot of places tonight, is awfully nasty. It's about 36 degrees, with a stiff wind and is raining. You couldn't really ask for a worse environment, but then again, it's football, right?
I'm at Memorial Stadium at Tarleton State University at what is by far the most media unfriendly venue I've ever been to. Because of that, the blogging will likely be sporadic. Also, the glare on this window is ridiculous. I might not be able to see the game.
Enough of my self-entitled whining, I did eat the best BBQ I've ever eaten at Hard Eight here in Stephenville. I ate a 2-inch-thick pork chop doused in garlic butter and a nice piece of sausage. The pork chop was amazing. Perfect. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my co-worker Sandy Segrist and former co-worker Ethan Szatmary for recommending the place.
Keep checking back for blog updates, but unfortunately I don't know how frequent they'll be. I will say this however, this will be a very tightly contested game. Graham is led by quarterback Case McCoy, who, you guessed it, is the younger brother of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy and son of head coach Brad McCoy.
Brad better hope Case has a better day than Colt did yesterday.
Andrew Loch is dominating the Panthers in every aspect of the game.Loch has thrown for 215 yards and five touchdowns. He's rushed for 83 yards on four carries and one touchdown – Oh, and for good measure, he intercepted the opposing teams’ quarterback -- twice.
There's 3:42 left in the third quarter.
God will definitely have his omnipresent eyes focused on the Gopher Bowl tonight as the Liberty Christian Warriors take on the Parish Episcopal Panthers. It should be a good one--no cussing though.
Well, I used my best Stuart Scott lingo for the headline, but here's the story...
I heard a crazy rumor that Liberty Christian senior/OU signee Whitney Hand beat an NBA player in a game of one-on-one, so I had to look into it. Turns out, Hand actually beat Dallas Mavericks sharpshooter Jason Terry in a 3-point shooting contest -- no one-on-one, but still very impressive. I know I couldn't do it.
She also scored 36 points yesterday in a win over Flower Mound at its own tournament to advance to the championship game to face 5A powerhouse Duncanville.
Argyle is moving on to the area round to face the winner of Saturday's game between Graham and Dalhart. Graham beat Clyde 12-0 earlier this year. Argyle beat Clyde 17-0 tonight in Aledo.
The Eagles saw some intense pressure from Clyde's defense, but the often-overlooked Argyle defense one-upped the Bulldogs, pitching its first shutout of the season.
JJ Harp finished with 21-of-31 passing for 271 yards and two touchdowns. He had two sure touchdowns dropped by Justin McGuffey and Brady Brown. McGuffey caught a TD pass on the next drive, and Brown caught 10 balls for 117 yards.
Clyde's offense leaves a lot to be desired being basically a one-man show from running back Curtis Kevil, who was held to under 100 yards after coming in with 1,410 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season.
However, the shutout by Argyle's defense is a shutout, regardless of who it came against it. This game should do wonders for the Argyle defenders' confidence being the first shutout of the season.
After Fossil Ridge went up 24-20, AUstin Axtell threw an interception straight to Panther linebacker Peyton Gonzales, and Fossil Ridge capitalized with a touchdown. The Panthers lead 31-20.
After falling behind 35-14, Lake Dallas has the wind and James Franklin just led a 25-yard touchdown drive capped by a 7-yard run by Franklin. It's now 35-21 West Mesquite early in the fourth.
A personal foul penalty on Ryan set Fossil Ridge up on the 50-yard line. Rico Minor took a screen 46 yards, and Jordan Shea scored on the next play. Fossil Ridge leads 24-20 with 11 minutes left in the game.
The Panthers lined up to go for it on their own 8-yard line, then Ryan blocked the punt and needed just one play to capitalize. D.J. Beshears caught his second touchdown on the next play, but Nick Rinks missed the extra point. Ryan leads 20-17 early in the fourth quarter.
After Ben Parks sacked Clyde QB Jacob Gonzales and forced a fumble which was recovered by David Johnson, Argyle needed two plays to put the game away on a 25-yard strike from JJ Harp to Tyler Sweatt. Argyle is now up 17-0 with 5:41 left in the game.
Brady Brown just dropped what would've been a 28-yard touchdown pass that would've put the game away for Argyle. It was the second dropped TD pass of the night for the Eagles. Now Clyde has the ball at its 19 with 7 minutes left.
All the Bronco players hopped on the back of Fred Hunter Friday night, as the senior led Denton to a 65-50 win. Hunter finished 12 of 19 for 34 points. He added 10 rebounds, one block and one steal also. He's good.
This time he hit a 52-yard punt straight up in the air before it bounced for about 40 down to the Clyde 9-yard line. Though he's been shaky on field goals tonight, he's given Clyde horrible field position all night. The Eagles still lead 10-0 with 9:16 remaining in the game.
On West Mesquite's opening drive of the second half, Scott Stanfield took the ball from Wrangler quarterback Kendall Thomas and on the next play, James Franklin found Alvin Blackmon for a 24 yard TD pass. 21-14 West Mesquite with 8:46 left in the third.
Ben Parks just missed another field goal wide left, this time from 41 yards out. The Eagles still lead 10-0 with 3:50 left in the third quarter. Luckily for Argyle, Clyde's offense can't get anything going, except for running the clock.
Argyle will take the ball to open the second half. You have to think that if they can put it in the end zone on this drive the game could, in essence, be over. Clyde doesn't seem to have the offense to play from much more than 10 points behind.
The Aledo press box is full of reporters, coaches and Aledo dignitaries.
It appears the winner of this game will draw the winner of the Graham-Dalhart matchup tomorrow in Amarillo. If Graham should win, the Steers would play Argyle/Clyde at Tarleton State on Saturday evening at either 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.
West Mesquite has scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter against Lake Dallas. The score is 21-7 at halftime.
Argyle QB JJ Harp is 9-of-14 for 134 yards and a touchdown. He's also been sacked four times. Brady Brown leads all receivers with four catches for 57 yards. Justin McGuffey has two grabs for 40 yards and the lone touchdown.
Clyde running back Curtis Kevil is clearly the Bulldogs' workhorse with 65 yards on 15 carries. The Bulldogs are executing their game plan of milking the clock as Argyle's had just four possessions in the first half.
I just witnessed the shortest half I've seen all season, I think. This first half just took 54 minutes, and that's assuming the game got started right at 7:30, which I doubt. Just as suspected, Clyde is trying to control the clock, and actually doing a good job of it. The Bulldogs just don't have anything to show for it.
The game didn't stay tied long. Jay Catlin scored on a 70-yard fake reverse. Every Fossil Ridge defender looked at the receiver while Catlin was going up the middle. Ryan leads, 14-7, with 4:30 left in the half.