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No Looking Back: Poteet bounces back from tough loss with 52-7 thumping of Creekview
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
MESQUITE-There is no better cure for getting over a heartbreaking loss than getting back out on the football field.
Poteet proclaimed itself healed from a last-minute, one-point loss to Highland Park the previous week as it played a near-flawless game in a 52-7 victory over Carrollton Creekview on Thursday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
There will be no repeat of last season, when the Pirates suffered back-to-back one-point losses in the middle of district play that ultimately knocked them out of the playoffs. Poteet improved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in 10-4A as it solidified its spot in the postseason race and kept its district title hopes alive.
"It was a great deal for this to be Thursday; we wanted to get back out here and get that taste out of our mouth and I was hoping we wouldn't have any lasting effects," said Poteet head coach Randy Jackson after last week's 20-19 loss to Highland Park. "It is a you can't let a team beat you twice kind of thing, so I was real pleased with the effort I saw here tonight."
Creekview, which fell to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in district play, did not have much go its way, but tried to mount a comeback early in the second half.
The Mustangs forced a fumble on the first play from scrimmage and turned it into points when Adrian Williams capped a seven-play, 26-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to get back to within 35-7.
Creekview continued to play tough, but could not make a further dent in the deficit.
"Our kids, all year, have had a refuse to lose attitude and against a great football team, our kids came out and refused to lay down and fought until the bitter end and I'm very proud of their effort," Creekview head coach Jay Cline said. "We're building a program here and that is how you do it; you take little steps and you have to measure yourself against a good program and that is a very good team."
For all the statistical advantages the Pirates held, the biggest was in the trenches, particularly when they were on defense.
While Poteet churned out 226 yards on the ground as part of a balanced attack that rang up 455 total yards, they were even more impressive on defense, limiting the Mustangs to 28 yards on 39 carries.
In the first half alone, Creekview was sacked or tackled for a loss 10 times.
"We stayed in base, but we were physical up front and our kids did a great job," Jackson said. "It really wasn't so much that we did anything different, but we stuck to our scheme and you can win a lot of games when you play great run defense."
Cline agreed, as despite his team sticking with the ground game, attempting three times as many running plays as through the air, it could never get going.
"I thought their defense was outstanding," he said. "We had trouble moving the ball that was the biggest part (of the game)."
Poteet was so ready to get back on the right track that it broke out its bag of tricks on the first offensive play from scrimmage when wide receiver Buck Rodges lined up at center, snapped the ball and then broke free through the middle of the Creekview defense for an 89-yard touchdown reception from Tanner Ramsey for an early 7-0 lead.
"We were trying to move people around and were hiding his number getting set up, but he snapped it and then caught it," Jackson said. "It was a good way to start."
Although the Pirates were far from finished, they only had a field goal from Brett Rattan to make it 10-0 to show for it until late in the second quarter when the floodgates opened.
Jaylon Smith scored on a 1-yard touchdown and on Creekview's next offensive play, Malik Jefferson forced a fumble that the Mustangs recovered in their own end zone for a safety that made it 18-0.
Ramsey then threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Jenkins and scored on an 18-yard scoring run. Following a fumble recovery by Jared Hogue in the final minute of the first half, Rattan booted a 21-yard field goal to stretch the advantage to 35-0 at halftime.
Following Creekview's initial surge to start the second half, the Pirates regained control. Ramsey threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rodges and James Swindle had a 3-yard scoring run to make it 49-7 at the end of three quarters and Rattan booted his third field goal of the game to provide the final margin.
This was the second consecutive district loss for Creekview and the road gets no easier with a date with Highland Park next week. But the Mustangs are still in the thick of the playoff race and they are still feeling good about what lies ahead.
"We've just got to keep getting better each week," Cline said. "We got Highland Park next week, another big test, so we just need to get better from this game to the next week and then play one game at a time and see what happens."
As for the Pirates, there were not a lot of negatives to talk about. Poteet will now try to duplicate this effort when it continues 10-4A play next week against Terrell.
"As always, we have to watch the film, but I was pleased overall with pretty much all phases," Jackson said. "The penalties (nine) is one thing I would say but all in all, the kicking game was okay we had a punt down to the six, the offense was good, the defense, we talked about them, so there is not much to complain about in this one."
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