SHERMAN – The Sulphur Springs Wildcats saw their four-game winning streak disappear into the October night as they fell 60-34 to Sherman at Bearcat Stadium.
The antique stadium, built back in 1940, was packed with fans who got to see plenty of high tech offense with both teams running the spread offense and combining for 94 points and 928 yards.
When the smoke had cleared, Sherman had more fire power, especially when they turned Sulphur Springs mistakes into points on the other end. The Wildcats were also whistled for 12 penalties for 126 yards which did not help the situation.
Sulphur Springs quarterback Justin Owens completed 11 of 19 passes for 249 yards with four interceptions, two of those returned by Sherman for touchdowns. Blake Macek came in at quarterback, throwing 13 passes, completing six including a touchdown for 72 yards.
Kendrick Daniels was the leading receiver for Sulphur Springs with 15 carries for 77 yards.
Cody Clayton caught six passes for 156 yards and two scores.
For Sherman, quarterback Thor Long completed 27 of 35 passes for 312 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Sulphur Springs defense was paced by Sharard Timmons with two picks, one he returned for a touchdown. Sidarius McGill and Dakota Brown got sacks.
The Wildcats fell to 4-2 for the year and evened their record in District 13-4A play at 1-1. Sherman took a giant step toward the district title going 2-0 in district and extended their season record to 5-1.
“Poor tackling and five interceptions, that’s what turned it their way,” Sulphur Springs head football coach Greg Owens said when asked to sum up the game. “You go play good people then you better be ready for what can happen. You mess up and they’re going to take it to the house on you. We played hard, we got after it. For what ever reason it wasn’t there for us. Sherman made the plays and we didn’t. They exposed some weaknesses we have to get fixed. Those five picks and we have to do better than that. We are not improving and getting better.”
Owens explained that it was the interceptions which really hurt his team.
Owens continued, “If we didn’t throw three of the interceptions then they don’t get 21 points. If we don’t do that then we got a chance. We were still in it until the third quarter. We take the second half kickoff, score and cut their lead. We still had a chance, then we come back and throw another interception. It just wears you out. The turnovers took away all our momentum. Sherman has a good team and this is just one district game.”
The Sherman squad came rolling down the field like a Sherman tank, but with artillery. The Bearcats built a 14-0 lead. Also early in the game the Wildcats lost their leading tackler for the season, Tylan Harris with a leg injury. He spent the rest of the contest riding crutches on the sidelines.
The first Sherman touchdown came on a 64-yard drive which just took three plays. The capping play was a direct snap to Zac Whitfield in a hybrid formation. Whitfield, a speedy running back by trade, took the snap and followed blockers into the end zone. The kick by Eric Hosek gave the home team a 7-0 with 11:12 left in the first period.
Sulphur Springs’ first possession did not take off and the Wildcats had to punt. Punter Blake Macek fielded a two hop low snap and still got off a 59-yard punt with no return.
The Bearcats got the ball back and made three first downs on throws by Long to Whitfield and Alex Jaeger. Two play later the Sherman squad caught a huge break when an apparent interception by Sulphur Springs’ Tre’ Dean was wiped out when the Wildcats were called for roughing the passer personal foul. With the drive continuing, now set up at the 5-yard line of Sulphur Springs the Bearcats scored their second touchdown of the quarter. Long threw to Whitfield for a touchdown pass. The kick by Hosek was true and with 6:56 left in the first quarter the Wildcats were on the short end of a 14-0 score.
Hosek boomed the ensuing kickoff for a touchback and the Wildcats had to start their next possession from their own 20. The drive went backwards six yards as Daniels was thrown for a six-yard loss. So the Wildcats went to the airway, Owens pulled up and threw a strike to Cody Clayton for a 86 yards touchdown pass. All-state kicker Fernando Arellano converted the extra point. So with 6:12 left in the first half, the Sherman lead had been cut in half to 14-7.
The Bearcats got the ball back and again were moving the ball with two consecutive passes from Long. Then Long and Sherman got a huge break when Timmons intercepted a pass, but the ball was dislodged and the Bearcats recovered the bouncy pigskin. With a new set of downs, Sherman went back to work moving down the field.
But Timmons got his revenge five plays later picking off a Long pass and returning it 56 yards for a touchdown. The snap on the extra point was low and could not be fielded. The Wildcats had to settle for being behind by a point, 14-13 with 2:20 still left on the first half clock in this high-scoring affair.
Arellano booted the ball deep and the Bearcats had to start their next drive at the 20 following the touchback.
Sulphur Springs had a defensive stand and halted the next Sherman drive, taking over on downs.
The Wildcats began their drive at their own 42-yard line. Alvin Frazier ran a fly sweep for a 13-yard gain and first down. Daniels ran wide for a gain down to the 17-yard line of the Bearcats. Owens ran for no gain and Daniels was knocked back for a loss to bring up a third and six for Sulphur Springs from the 11-yard line of Sherman. Owens went for the fade pass to Irvin Anderson in the corner of the end zone, but the pass was picked off by Robert Mason for a touchback, ending the drive.
Sulphur Springs turned up the pressure on defense. The tough hits along with a penalty for clipping on Sherman halted the drive and forced the Wildcats to punt.
Sulphur Springs took over at their own 46-yard line, but gave the ball back to Sherman when Kevin Crick jumped a route for an interception.
The Bearcats were unsuccessful with two incomplete passes, but on the next play a late hit personal foul on Sulphur Springs moved the ball to the 7-yard line of the Wildcats. On a third down Long evaded tacklers and threw a scoring pass to Nathan James. Hosek’s extra point gave the home team a 21-13 lead with 6:02 left before intermission.
Sulphur Springs got the ball and put together a 12-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Owens threw to Frazier for a key 25-yard gain. Then Daniels did one of his spinning, twisting trademark runs for 14 more. Owens went back to the air and hit Dallin Sant for an 18-yard gain. On a critical fourth and three from the 25 of Sherman, Owens threw to Dadrian Smith for 14-yards. Owens scored on a 5-yard scoring run. The try for a two-point conversion failed, but the Wildcats had sliced the Sherman advantage to 21-19.
The next drive by Sherman was fueled in part by an interference call and an offside call on Sulphur Springs. The possession was capped when James scored at the 37.5 second mark of the second period. The extra point was blocked and Sherman held a 27-19 lead with less than half a minute left in the first half.
Sulphur Springs was determined to get into scoring range. Owens threw to Clayton for a 21-yard gain and the Wildcats were on the move with a first down at the 40-yard line of Sherman. Owens’ next pass was intercepted and returned 71-yards for a back breaker of a score. The extra point missed the mark, but the first half ended with Sherman having all the momentum to go with the 33-19 lead.
The third quarter began well for Sulphur Springs as the Wildcats drove 80-yards for a score following another touchback kick by Hosek. During the drive Owens threw to Anderson for a 10-yard gain on a bubble screen. Following a short run by Daniels, Owens completed a 14-yard pass to Sant for another first down. Smith ran for an eight-yard gain setting up a key play. Owens threw a pass to Frazier across the middle, the senior wide out, followed blocks to the end zone for a 40-yard scoring pass. Arellano’s extra point gave Sulphur Springs some hope, just trailing 33-26 with 10:34 left in the third period.
It appeared Sulphur Springs had successfully pulled off an onside kick on the ensuing boot, but the Wildcats were called for a violation of the rules, touching the ball before it had traveled 10 yards.
The Bearcats were soon mounting another scoring drive. Sherman strung together a 72-yard drive for a score. Long threw to Shacody Williams for an 8-yard scoring combination. The Wildcats blocked Hosek’s extra point try, but the Bearcats still were up 39-26.
The situation got worse for the Wildcats as Kyle Crick intercepted an Owens pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown. The point after kick gave the Wildcats a big hill to climb, down 46-26 with 8:06 left in the third frame.
Sulphur Springs tried Blake Macek at quarterback as they went to reserves to try to get a spark. The Wildcats had to punt, and soon the Bearcats were driving again.
The Sherman squad went up 53-26 following a Joseph Harvey sweep for a 7-yard scoring burst.
Macek did direct a scoring drive, taking the Wildcats from their own 20 on a march down the field. Macek threw to Kris Ford for a first down. Daniels added a 12-yard run. A pass to Clayton was good for yardage, an additional 15-yards added on for a late hit by Sherman. Macek went back to Clayton who made a nifty catch, dragging his feet to stay in-bounds for the score. Macek powered over for the two-point conversion to slice the Sherman advantage to 53-34.
The Bearcats added a final score, a meaningless 24-yard toss from Long to James in the final three minutes after the game was decided. Sherman took the win by the 60-34 final.
Sherman head football coach Gary Kinne said, “Both teams are good, we just got the momentum and Sulphur Springs could not get it back. I don’t think the score was indicative of how good Sulphur Springs is. They have a good team and Greg (Owens head coach) does a great job with his program.”
In action on Oct. 8, the Wildcats regroup for home game against Greenville while Sherman takes on Texas High; Denison will play at Royse City and Mount Pleasant is open.
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written by a guest , October 04, 2010
I can't believe you can criticize another towns stadium when ours is way too small for the crowds, and has limited parking. BTW.... our stadium is pretty old itself.
written by a guest , October 04, 2010
Plain and Simple!! Take your whipping and stop whining........
written by a guest , October 03, 2010
written by a guest , October 02, 2010
Our coaches need to stop those pooch kicks.We have a great kicker that can put it in the end zone, and they need to work with our QB's tunnel vision where he see's only the receiver and not the defenders.
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Go Bearcats!