Drew Cobb leads Gordon Lee to Opening Night victory over Dade Co.
If there is any kind of solace that the Dade County Wolverines can take away from their season opener on Thursday night, it might simply be this — they will never have to face Drew Cobb again.
The Gordon Lee senior tailback ran over, around and through the Wolverines for 272 yards on just 13 carries, five going for touchdowns, as the Trojans picked up a 42-28 victory on a damp Bobby Chappell Field.
Cobb, who had 332 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries in his entire junior season, scored on runs of 64, 2, 62 and 39 yards in the opening half as the Navy-and-White built a 28-14 halftime cushion. He took the opening handoff of the third quarter, scampered 51 yards to the end zone and never played another offensive snap.
“The (offensive) line had a great night,” Cobb explained. “I had some holes I could have driven a bus through. We really came out ready to play tonight. The line has been working hard. That was our problem (in the scrimmages), not having anywhere to run, but I have to give it up for the line tonight.”
Cobb finished just 60 rushing yards shy of breaking Nootie Abbott’s single-game school-record of 331 yards, set nearly 40 years ago.
“I wanted to get a couple more carries, but (the coaches) didn’t want to take a chance on something happening,” Cobb added.
“He’s just so dynamic with the ball,” Gordon Lee head coach Greg Ellis said of his workhorse. “He can make the cuts and he’s got that burst of speed. Drew had a great night and so did (Braden) Jarvis and our offensive line. We’ve still got things to work on, but they are starting to come together and they
are getting better.”
Jarvis, a junior running back expected to share the load in the backfield this season, had 64 solid yards on 13 carries as the Trojans ran 38 times for 361 yards on the evening.
The Trojans fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, but the defense forced a Dade County turnover on downs at the Gordon Lee 30-yard line. Cobb went for seven on his first carry, was stuffed for a one-yard loss on his second attempt, but found a hole over right guard on his third rush and split two tackles on a 64-yard scoring run. Jarrett Lassetter hit the first of six extra points to give the Trojans the lead.
Dade County responded with a quickstrike, 52-yard TD pass from Greg Templeton to Makain Everett less than 90 seconds later to tie the game, but Gordon Lee got a 43-yard kick return by Kannen Derryberry and a 16yard gain by Jarvis to help set up Cobb’s second score of the night from two yards out.
A holding penalty negated a 60-yard TD run by Cobb on Gordon
Lee’s next possession and a fumble one play later set up the Wolverines at the Trojan 22. Dade would take advantage just three plays later as Maliki Webb spun out of a tackle to score from five yards out and knot the game at 14 just a half-minute into the second quarter.
The Trojans’ ensuing drive began with a five-yard loss on a false start penalty, but one snap later, Cobb got the call and did his best Barry Sanders impersonation, nearly juking three defenders out of their cleats 10 yards past the line of scrimmage before sprinting back across the field and down the Dade County sideline. He then outraced the secondary to the pylon to put his team back in front.
The Gordon Lee defense would force punts on Dade County’s next two possessions and the offense would get the ball at the Wolverines’ 39 following a short kick. Cobb’s number was called again and he blasted through the defense for his fourth score of the night with 3:03 left in the half.
He later preserved the two-touchdown halftime lead by picking off Templeton in the back of the end zone with 15 seconds left in the half.
Following his fifth and final touchdown on the first play of the second half, Cobb played one final defensive series and promptly sacked Templeton for a 14-yard loss on a fourth down safety blitz. Jarvis would cap the ensuing six-play, 40-yard drive with an eight-yard TD run that accounted for Gordon Lee’s final points of the night.
Dade County’s starters would put up two late touchdowns against Gordon Lee’s defensive reserves in the fourth quarter. Webb would score on a 29-yard run with 4:36 to
play and he found the end zone from 38 yards out with 1:54 remaining.
The Wolverines ended up with 242 yards on the ground, 192 coming in the second half. Templeton was 6 of 12 for 97 yards in the air in the first half, but completed just 1 of 5 passes in the second half for zero yards. Webb had 133 yards on 10 carries, while Everett finished with 60 yards on two catches.
Logan Hill also had a sack for Gordon Lee. Hunter Hodson broke up a pair of passes in the secondary and Jake Leiviska was in on seven tackles.
“This group is coachable,” Ellis said. “They are doing the right things and tonight they finally got to see some of the rewards of doing what you’re supposed to do. None of our seniors have ever started out 1-0 here (at Gordon Lee), so that’s a nice way to get the season started.
“I think we’ll get better and better on defense. We really have some athletes in the secondary and they are getting better, so if we stay out of trouble, we might just a have chance.”
Gordon Lee (1-0) will have next Friday off before hosting LaFayette on Sept. 2.