Cabot's run game takes toll on 'Cats
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
Cabot ran over El Dorado 27-10 Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
The game wasn't as lopsided as the final margin. It boiled down to a pair of fourth down conversions by the Panthers. Both went for Cabot touchdowns instead of defensive stops.
"You've got to give those guys a lot of credit. They played well and they executed their offense to perfection," said El Dorado defensive coordinator Justin Wylie. "There are things we could've done better. But, playing Cabot, that's a whole different animal than what you're used to seeing week in and week out. It has different challenges. They come off the ball low and hard and ran it right down on us all night."
The Panthers improved to 2-0 on the season while the Wildcats, who have an open date next week, dropped to 1-2.
Cabot had 59 offensive plays and ran the ball on 58 of them for 281 yards. The rushing yards included a 28-yard loss on a fumble. Including the lost yardage, the Panthers averaged 4.8 yards per rushing attempt out of their Dead-T formation.
El Dorado coach Scott Reed said
Cabot's pace took its toll and frustrated his young squad. Of the 58 rushing attempts, only two went for lost yardage, including the fumble forced by Quentin Frazier. Two more plays went for no gains which meant 54 of the 58 plays went for positive yardage, including 52 for two yards or more.
"I'm proud of the kids that kept fighting. It's just, we couldn't cut those runs to two and three and one," said Reed, whose Wildcats have an open date before traveling to Lake Hamilton.
"We've had a really hard non-conference. We're 1-2 and played well twice. We didn't play as well tonight but it wasn't an issue of not wanting to. We just didn't get it done. I've got some kids that are a little down and they should be. We all are. We've got to do a better job than that. And, we will. We'll be ready in two weeks. We'll go to work on Monday and I'm going to challenge them."
El Dorado’s offense churned out 209 yards on the ground, led by Alex Hicks’ 90 yards on 11 attempts. But, the Wildcats completed just 3-of13 passes for 62 yards. Hicks was 2-of-12 for 42 with Stuart Bower completed 1-of-1 for 20.
Reed was asked if he was disappointed in El Dorado's lack of a passing attack.
"In the second half when we got behind, they played off of us. And then, when we had to take shots they were off and made it hard on us," he said. "They're smart. They like to play man coverage and bring as much forward to stop the run, once they got ahead, they didn't do that. It was hard to throw the ball down the field.
"I've got to be more patient. I've got to do a better job. But, when
they keep the ball so long, you try to go score in a hurry and that's on me."
Defensively, Calab Scott led the Wildcats with 14 tackles. Frazier had eight with a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Camerious Rucks had seven tackles. Zac Donahue had six tackles. Gavin Heustis had five stops with Skylar Higgins and Jonathon Goodman each recording six.
The game was delayed for an hour in the first quarter due to lightning. When asked if that impacted his team, Reed answered, "No, I don't think so."
El Dorado won the toss and took the ball to start the game. An 80-yard, nine-play drive was capped by Hicks’ 36-yard touchdown scramble. The junior eluded several defenders down the left sideline, cut back inside the 20 and was pushed into the end zone rugby-style from about five yards out. Greysen Hubbard added the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 8:57 left in the first.
The Panthers answered with a 62-yard drive in 13 plays, all on the ground. Brad Morales scored on a 1-yard run. Mason Martin’s PAT tied the game at 7-7 with 2:49 left in the first.
The Wildcats took over after a touchback. Keonte Larry ran for 11 yards to bring up a fourth-and-1. But, a lightning strike cleared the field and the stands. When play resumed, El Dorado drew an offsides penalty on the Panthers for a first down. But, after a lost-yardage rush, Hicks’ pass was intercepted by Cabot’s Zhane Harper.
The Panthers then drove 80 yards in five plays. Graham Turner ran for 30 with a facemask penalty tacked on. On fourth-and-5 from the 31, Cabot’s Tadariyan Rogers found a hole and scooted 31 yards into the end zone. Martin’s kick gave the Panthers a 14-7 lead with 9:32 left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats responded with a scoring drive of their own. Hicks hit Devunte Kidd with a 43-yard swing pass. Shun Levingston converted a fourth-and-1 with a 10-yard gain as El Dorado marched to the Cabot 13. The drive stalled there, however, and Hubbard booted a 34-yard field goal with 5:26 left in the half.
Cabot had just enough time for another scoring drive. The Panthers went 57 yards on 10 plays, aided by a pair of facemask penalties. On third-and-12, Cabot completed its only pass, 10 yards from Jesse Windemaker to Turner. On fourthand-2, Rogers scored on a 5-yard run. Martin’s kick with 11 seconds left on the clock gave the Panthers a 21-10 halftime lead.
The Wildcats got a defensive stop to start the third but not before the Panthers ran off 12 plays. A fumbled option pitch at the 4-yard line pushed Cabot back to the 32, where it missed on a 49-yard field goal attempt.
But, El Dorado couldn’t climb back into the game, failing on a fourth-and-9 near midfield.
Cabot came back with a 45-yard drive in 12 plays, capped by Windemaker’s 1-yard sneak. The kick failed, leaving the margin at 27-10 with 9:21 left in the fourth.
The Wildcats’ next possession showed promise. Hicks ran for 10 but tweaked an ankle. Bower came in and competed a 20-yard pass to Levingston before Larry ran for 15 to the Cabot 35. But, a false start penalty followed by a sack proved too much to overcome.
Derek Jobe’s 47-yard punt penned the Panthers back at their own 2. But. 11 consecutive running plays would chew up the remaining time off the clock.
"I'm not down. I knew it was going to be tough," said Reed. "But, our young guys are growing up. I think we're going to get better and better."