Many coaches say that it is good to get the kinks worked out of your team in the preseason. In the season opener with Pasadena Dobie and Channelview, there were clearly some wrinkles getting ironed out.
But in the end, the Longhorns got the stops needed in some clutch moments to pull out a 13-6 victory Thursday night at Pasadena Veterans Stadium. Dobie gave up right at 200 yards to the Falcons, but in the fourth quarter when fatigue may have set in, the ‘Horns held ground.
“Go to give it to the defense they probably played over 70 plays tonight. They got put in quite a few bad situations, but they came out on top of about 99 percent of the things that occurred.” Dobie coach Bobby Cotton said.
Of that 99 percent, the ‘Horns defense had two takeaways. Defensive back Maurice Poullard had a first half interception to extinguish the Falcons chance of a score right before half. A late game fumble recovery by Keon Onwuchuruba played a big factor in sealing the win for Dobie.
Most of the first half was fairly slow, but Dobie broke the ice late in the second quarter. After a crucial pass interference call in the end zone against the Falcons, Dobie quarterback Aaron Kutra ran in for a 7-yard touchdown for the game’s first score.
Kutra accounted for two touchdowns on the night, one rush and one pass, but the ‘Horns had only 138 yards of total offense on the night.
While Cotton will certainly take a mark in the win column, he looks to get the team more productive before the next contest.
“Offense, we just couldn’t get any rhythm. We dropped too many passes and we missed on several scoring opportunities,” Cotton said. “We have to be more consistent. We just can’t do that to our defense.”
Running back Demarcus Boyd led the charge in the yards category with 60 yards. Kutra threw for 35 yards total, 2 of which went to Jonathan Urrutia, who had a 17-yard touchdown catch.
For the Falcons, similar issues went on as many drives were halted due to penalties. Quarterback Dominique Jefferson accounted for 142 of the team’s 198 yards, and scored Channelview’s only touchdown. Receiver Chris Hawkins had four catches for 68 yards.