As the Falcons Took to Slade Field, Clute, Texas Against the Brazoswood Team, the Clear

As the Falcons took to Slade Field, Clute, Texas against the Brazoswood team, the Clear Lake Freshman B team was prepared to remain the champions of their district. Nathan Elling, Nicolas Mucha, Michael Zienty, and Tre Webb went to the center of the field for the coin toss. The Falcons would kick off from the left side of the field.

The kick-off team consisted of: Joshua McMillin, Chase Efird, Christian Mendoza, Michael Zienty, Tung Le, Logan Akers, Tre Webb, Rance Wood, Joseph Ebrom, Gatlin Dryer, and Max Fender as the kicker. The Falcons attempted an on-side kick to start the game, but the ball rolled out of bounds before making it 10 yards. Brazoswood started with the ball on the Clear Lake 47-yard line. The first tackle was made by Ben Ainsworth after a gain of 6 yards. Then Ben combined with Matt Twardowski on the tackle after another 2 yards. Tre Webb and Tung Le then combined to make the tackle in the backfield for a loss of 1, bringing up a 4th and 3. Logan Akers had to force the QB out of bounds after he had earned Brazoswood their first 1st down. Nicholas Mucha, Logan Akers, and Tung Le combined on a tackle after a gain of 3 yards. Then Logan Akers tackled the runner after a gain of 6 yards. Ben Ainsworth and Chase Efird stood the runner up in the middle, but couldn’t prevent the runner for getting the 1st down. Tre Webb and Logan Akers combined to stop the runner for just 2 yards, followed by Nicolas Ngo stopping the run for no gain. Brazoswood then gained 4 yards before Logan Akers made the tackle, bringing up another 4th and 3. This time, the Falcon defense came through, as Chase Efird intercepted the pass at the 8-yard line and returned it to the Lake 48-yard line.

The Falcon offense took the field, with Michael Russo, Ben Vail, Nathan Elling, Brandon Kattner, and Stephen Chapman on the line and Joshua McMillin, Kamrin Lindberg, Scott Douglas, and Minh-Tuan Ha shuffling in and out as the receivers. Jerry Surber started the offense with a 2-yard run. Then Tung Le busted through for 10 yards, and got to add another 15 yards to the run for a Face Mask penalty on Brazoswood, giving the Falcons the ball on the 25-yard line. Michael Zienty tossed the ball right to Jerry Surber for a 1- yard gain. A pitch to the left side for Tung Le gained 5 yards. Lake called a Time Out on their 3rd and 3. When they came out of the Time Out, Lake ran a trick play, with Rance Wood taking the snap, tossing to Michael Zienty, who threw a pass to Joe Martello for a touchdown. Michel Zienty’s bootleg run was good for the conversion. Lake leads, 8 – 0 with 1:47 left in the quarter.

The kicking team was the same, but Michael Zienty did the kicking, getting the ball to the 29-yard line, with a 10-yard return. On the first offensive play for Brazoswood, they earned 5 yards before Logan Akers and JoeMartello made the stop. Then Logan combined with Nicholas Mucha to stop the runner after only 2 yards. On a good defensive play, Rance Wood intercepted the pass, but a Roughing the Passer penalty allowed Brazoswood to keep the ball and get a 1st down at the Lake 41-yard line. Tre Webb then forced a fumble, but Brazoswood managed to recover the ball. Nicolas Ngo and Joe Martello combined on a tackle in the backfield for an 8-yard loss. Chase Efird had good coverage as a pass was incomplete. Brazoswood punted the ball and it was downed at the Lake 15-yard line. On this offensive series, Clear Lake shuffled in and out the following receivers: Matt Bailey, Rance Wood, James Countie, James Minick, Jace Pido, and Ryan Lemoine. The Falcons started with a 2-yard run by Jerry Surber. Tung Le followed that with a run up the middle good for the 1st down. Jerry ran up the middle for another 8 yards. Chance Talbot also ran up the middle and earned another 1st down. Then Michael Zienty kept the ball and ran around the right side, then cut back to the left for a 1st down at the Brazoswood 40-yard line. The Falcons returned to pounding the middle with Jerry Surber gaining 7 yards, then Tung Le gaining 13 yards and a 1st down to the 20-yard line. Michael Zienty kept the ball on a delay, then drove the pile forward for 5 yards. A pitch to Tung Le around the right side got the Falcons to the 2-yard line and a 1st down. A toss left to Jerry Surber was read well by the defense and lost 5 yards. Michael Zienty kept the ball and gained 3 of those yards back. Then Jerry Surber got the handoff and scored the touchdown. Michael Zienty had to scramble, and threw an incomplete pass as the Falcon’s failed to convert. The lead was now 14 – 0 with 2:16 left in the half.

The kickoff went to the 38-yard line and the Falcons held them to just a 5-yard return. Some confusion caused Clear Lake to take a Time Out. This defensive stance started with Nicolas Ngo and Joe Martello stacking up the runner in the middle for just a 1-yard gain. Then Chase Efird read the reverse, and on the tackle forced a fumble, which Clear Lake recovered at the 44-yard line.

The offense returned to the field and tried the trick play again, but this time the pass by Michael Zienty after the toss by Rance Wood was incomplete to Joe Martello. The Falcons then ran another trick play, giving the ball to Matt Bailey on the reverse, which gained 7 yards. On the next play, the Falcons were lucky as the pass to Rance Wood was nearly intercepted. Clear Lake called another Time Out. Returning to the field, Michael Zienty kept the ball and ran around the left side, being pushed out of bounds earning a 1st down at the Brazoswood 43-yard line with :17 left in the half. The Falcons once again attempted the trick play, but this time the pass was intercepted at the 5-yard line.

Brazoswood ran one running play for 4 yards that ended the 1st half.

Clear Lake finally fielded their kick receive team of Jerry Surber, Chase Efird, Tung Le, Christian Mendoza, Stewart Clement, Chance Talbot, Joshua McMillin, Taylor See, Gatlin Dryer, Brody Thomas, and Joseph Ebrom. Jerry Surber took the kickoff and returned it from the 20 to the 34-yard line.

The Falcons started with their 2nd string line of Patrick Englett, Nicholas Mucha, Michael Velasquez (center), Ben Ainsworth, and Stewart Clement. The first play of the drive was a 1-yard run by Logan Akers. Michal Zienty then pitched the ball to the left to Tung Le who gained 23 yards and a 1st down. Then a pitch to the right to Jerry Surber was good for 9 more yards. Jerry Surber followed that with a 1st down run to the 28-yard line, and a pitch to the left side for another 1st down run to the 12-yard line. Logan Akers then gained 5 yards. Then trouble befell the Falcons as Michael Zienty was tackled in the backfield on two consecutive plays, bringing up a 4th and 13. The snap was fumbled; Michael Zienty recovered and scrambled, but was again tackled in the backfield. Brazoswood took over on downs at the 23-yard line.

Matt Twardowski started the defensive stand with a tackle in the backfield for a loss of 2. Then Brody Thomas answered with a tackle for another 2-yard loss. Tung Le than forced the runner out of bounds, bringing up a 4th and 7. Brazoswood called a Time Out. After returning to the field, Brazoswood kicked a booming punt that rolled all the way to the Lake 22-yard line

The Falcons commenced another great offensive drive with Logan Akers starting with a 3-yard run, followed by a 5-yard run. Then Michael Zienty kept the ball for and ran around the right side to the 24-yard line. Chance Talbot then drove the pile forward for 8 yards. Then Jerry Surber ended the 3rd Quarter with a run to the 6-yard line. A pitch to the right to Jerry Surber was read well by the Brazoswood defense and resulted in a 2- yard loss. Chance Talbot more than made up for the loss with a run to the 2-yard line, and another run for a touchdown. The conversion attempt was blocked. The Falcon lead was now 20 – 0 with 8:35 left in the game.

Brazoswood returned the Michael Zienty kick-off to the 33-yard line. Joseph Ebrom and Nicolas Ngo combined on a tackle for a gain of just 2 yards. But then, the defense gave up a 1st down run before Dillon Rambin, Nicolas Ngo, and Avery Garcia could make the tackle. James Casiano then led the gang tackle on a 1-yard play. Christian Mendoza and Charles Campise stopped the runner after 3 yards. Brazoswood then broke through the defense, with Matt Bailey making the downfield tackle at Clear Lake’s 33-yard line. The defense gave up another big run with Ryan Lemoine, and Joshua McMillin making the tackle at the 20-yard line. Then Matt Bailey, Brody Thomas were in on the tackle at the 14-yard line. Logan Akers had a great hit, standing up the runner and putting him down on his back. But on the next play, Brazoswood’s QB scored a touchdown. A trick line- up allowed the conversion to score, cutting the Clear Lake lead to 20 – 8.

On the kickoff, Jerry Surber covered the ball at the 15-yard line. The offensive drive started with a great run by Michael Zienty that was called back due to a Holding penalty. On the next play, Michael Zienty gained 5 yards, then on the next play, fumbled the snap and recovered, bringing up a 3rd and 10. Jerry Surber took the handoff around the right side and gained 9 yards. The QB was able to draw the defense Offsides to earn the 1st down with 2:59 left in the game. Michael Zienty was then tackled in the backfield for a loss of 3. Brazoswood called a Time Out. After the break, Clear Lake fumbled and Brazoswood recovered on the 30-yard line with just over 2 minutes left.

The momentum quickly turned again, with Jerry Surber intercepting the pass in the end zone and returning it to the 14-yard line. Clear Lake ran the clock out with two runs each by Jerry Surber and Chase Efird, preserving their outstanding record of only one loss in the season.