From the looks of things in the first five minutes of the game, fans, whether they were from the home side of Clear Brook or from Strake Jesuit, it seemed as though a blowout was destined to happen.
But in the end it turned out to be a game that went down until the final seconds in which Strake Jesuit holds on for a 29-27 victory over Clear Brook Thursday night at Clear Creek’s Veteran’s Stadium.
This is a huge win and I know we are young, but I told the kids we did a lot of growing up tonight,” Strake Jesuit coach Ron Counter said. “We knew at the start of the year we might struggle with few seniors, but we stepped up and made some big stops tonight.”
Early on, everything was big. Big plays and big stops.
On the first play from scrimmage, Strake Jesuit Hunter Schiro found Beau Grenier who had slipped behind the defense for an 80-yard touchdown strike to get the ball rolling early. A few plays later, the Crusader defense forced a fumble and linebacker Will Huskinson came up with the football and returned it for an 8-yard touchdown.
Now down 15-0, Clear Brook would have make a bold statement to get back in the game. The Wolves went to the ground game with Kendrick Kennard and Brandon Ellison moving the chains. Ellison finished the drive off with a 26-yard touchdown run.
“The fullback (Ellison) hurt us the first half, but he’s a good football player and they are a good football team. They scored 40+ in the first two weeks,” Counter said.
But Ellison wasn’t done just yet. Just before the end of the first quarter, he ran 98 yards for a touchdown. Ellison ended the night with 250 yards.
Strake Jesuit had a ground game as well, led by Jordan Hollingsworth. His touchdown run from 51-yards out extended the Crusader lead. Hollingsworth had 159 yards on the night respectively.
The Wolves would get a couple more scores from quarterback Matt Heidt and Kennard, but the Schiro-to-Grenier connection hooked up with 3 minutes left in the game for the win. Schiro was 5-of-16 for 135 yards and two scores while Grenier had 159 yards receiving with two touchdowns.
Now at 2-1 on the year, the Crusaders look to take the game into District 18-5A play, where they look to defend the title. And though this will be no easy task, the confidence is there.
“We just have to keep improving each week. I told the kids that I am tired of people doubting what we can do,” Counter said. “We are the defending district champs and we are going into district 2-1. We know we have a tough match against (Houston) Memorial, but we expect to go out compete and get after it.”