Coahoma loses battle in regular season finale on the road against Abernathy
ABERNATHY — Two high-powered teams clashed on the gridiron Friday night when an injury-depleted Coahoma and Abernathy gave the fans everything they could have asked for out of a district rivalry game to end the regular season. Abernathy was able to prevail 20-14 after four back-and-forth quarters, and the Bulldogs now head into the postseason next week with a chance to bounce back from Friday night and pull off a huge upset over No. 1 Canadian.
“The last two weeks, these kids have played their tails off,” Head Coach Chris Joslin said. “We asked them to give us a chance in the second half, and they did. We lost some key guys in the second half, but it's just awesome to see how hard they play, but it hurts so bad because you want to see them close that game out.”
Abernathy was led by the shifty and versatile Jess Hoel at quarterback, and the Antelope offense was clicking for most of the night. Coahoma's defense was able to limit them to only 14 first-half points and came up with a huge forced fumble and recovery midway through the second quarter to halt the Antelopes' momentum. Hoel was able to sling two passing touchdowns in the first 24 minutes of action (a seven-yard TD to Landry Miller & a 26-yard TD to Anthony White) but was mostly held in check for the remainder of the game.
The Bulldog offense struggled to move the ball throughout the first quarter but found their groove early in the second when Brysen Kerby was able to break off a few big gains. Following three double-digit yardage runs by Kerby on the first drive of the second quarter, the hard-nosed running back - whose legs are probably still churning - crashed into the end zone from one-yard out when running out of the Wildcat formation. It was Kerby's 22nd rushing touchdown of the season and it finally got the Bulldogs on the board.
Abernathy led the game 14-6 at halftime with Coahoma was set to receive the opening kickoff of the second half. It was a one-score game with the Bulldogs trailing by only eight points and they had a chance to tie it up early in the third quarter. Instead, quarterback Grant Glidewell tossed an interception to Abernathy's Sean Rodriguez when he was rolling out to the left. It was an ill-advised pass from a young player, but Glidewell still played a great game while he and Noah Dials stepped in at signal-caller for the injured Kolt Redden.
On Coahoma's next offensive drive, Dials stepped in at quarterback. The Bulldogs were facing a 3rd-&-7 from their own 37-yard line when Dials took a three-step drop and delivered an absolute strike to wide receiver Sean Striegler. Striegler had gotten behind his man on a skinny post, elevated for the catch, and it was off to the races as he coasted into the end zone for a 63yard score. The game was then tied 14-14 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.
Unfortunately, it was the last time Coahoma would find the end zone on Friday night. The Antelopes scored the winning touchdown when Hoel took a carry left and nine yards into the end zone for a 20-14 lead and eventual victory.
Containing Hoel for a full 48-minute contest is no easy task, but Joslin was satisfied with the way his team defended him on Friday night.
“I thought the defense played great. We had three stops on our end of the field that changed the course of the game. The way we rallied to the ball to keep him contained as much as we could made me proud,” Joslin said.
UP NEXT: Coahoma (6-3) will play Canadian (9-1) next Thurday night.