Jr. Cobras shut out HHG
FOUNTAIN LAKE — Dozens of Fountain Lake fans braved the cold weather at Larry Beckham Memorial Stadium to see the junior Cobras close out their season with a 30-0 shutout over the Haskell Harmony Grove junior Cardinals Thursday night.
“It was good to go out on a high note,” Fountain Lake junior high head coach Josh Wesson said. “This program’s been through a lot of adversity this year from coaching changes, and junior high wise, we’ve had players get hurt. What I stress to them in the huddle is, they never question the coach or they were always bought in to what we were doing. That’s a sign of a great team. Was it a perfect season? No, but they learned how to deal with adversity, and they did it the right way. I was extremely happy to end on a win.”
Fountain Lake recovered a Haskell fumble at the Cardinal’s 28-yard line on the first play of the game. Trystan Redifer and Abram Davis controlled the ball, and Redifer shot into the end zone from the 6-yard line 3:34 into the first quarter, leaving the score 6-0 after the failed conversion.
The junior Cardinals were making their way down the field on an eight-drive play when Joey Liberoth scooped up another fumble, denying them a chance to get on the scoreboard. Kobe Combs rushed for 39 yards on two carries to inch them closer as Davis ran for 36 to secure a touchdown with 6:01 left in the second frame. Davis was good on the 2-point conversion to broaden the lead, 14-0.
Minutes later, Liberoth intercepted a pass at the Cardinals 42 to give the junior Cobras another edge up. Davis, Redifer and Combs took
advantage of the pick as Fountain Lake moved the ball down to the 1-yard line. Wesley Campbell kept the ball on a quarterback keeper with 56.1 seconds remaining in the half, and Davis converted the 2-point play to propel the junior Cobras to 22-0. Preston Taylor sacked Haskell quarterback Drayton Standridge to finish out the half.
“Coach [Devry] Rhodes does a great job with the defense, and all of us coaches take pride in coaching both sides of the ball,” Wesson said. “You know, the kids played hard, and we had a bunch of kids making plays. It’s always good to have a shutout.”
Coming back from the break, Combs found an opening in the junior Cardinals’ defense to rush for 31 yards, and Davis ran the ball in from the 4-yard line to cap a seven-play drive with a touchdown with 4:30 on the clock in the third. Redifer snuck in for the conversion to set the final.
Combs logged five carries for 83 yards, Davis had 11 for 95, and Redifer tallied nine for 44.
“We’re gonna have a handful of ninth graders move up, and we look forward to that,” Wesson mentioned. “It’s going to help with our numbers with senior high, and they’re a good group of kids moving up. And same deal I told them — Fountain Lake football’s gonna be back. We have to have numbers, and these kids have come all the way through our program. It’s a great group of kids. I’m proud to be their coach. I love them, and I look forward to the future.”