Cowboys Fall Short in Shootout
By Jeremy Hadley, Contributing Writer New Edna head coach Jimmie Mitchell and his Cowboys kicked off the long awaited 2020 season on the road in East Bernard Friday night. The young Cowboys came up short by a score of 49 to 20, but they brought a lot of excitement on the road with them as they shot it out with the Brahmas.
After being held to a punt on the opening series of the game, a fumble by the Brahmas returner put Edna back in business deep in East Bernard territory. When three hard runs by Dreydan Ashford and Layton Ressman behind the young offensive line, who coach Mitchell said “blocked well, especially early in the gam, and they did good in pass protection.” The Cowboys sent out Santiago Villanueva to kick the short field goal. A Brahma defender shot through the middle and got a hand up just in time to block the kick and deny the Cowboys their first score of the year.
On the ensuing drive East Bernard was held to a punt after some good hard tackling by Jaqwon Reed,Dawson Kallus, and D’Quare Brown. The Cowboys ended up with great field position after the punt, but momentum quickly swung the other way when, on first down, the Brahmas forced and recovered a fumble at the Cowboys 45 yard line. It didn’t take long to find the end zone as the Brahmas quarterback dropped back and hit a wide open receiver across the middle of the field for a touchdown. The extra point was no good and the Brahmas took the early 6-0 lead.
After being forced to punt again, the Cowboys defense went to work. Early in the drive it was Michael Salazar who came up with a big play, as he picked off the Brahmas pass and set the Cowboys offense up with a first down at the Brahmas 40 yard line. The big play by the defense seemed to light a fire under the offense as Layton Ressman started finding his receivers and moving down the field. A 10 yard pass to Jaiden Clay and a 30 yard gain by Kendrick Fortenberry set up the 14 yard touchdown pass to Joshua Muncrief. This time there were no issues with the kick and the Cowboys led 7 to 6.
The Brahmas hit on another big play to regain the lead, but when the Cowboys offense hit the field again they were determined to get back on the board. Behind the great pass protection from the entire offensive line, Ressman was able to hit Muncrief for a 50 yard gain and then finish the drive with a strike to Denzial Edwards for 20 yards and the touchdown. The Cowboys now trailed by only one 14 to 13.
Consecutive failed drives by the Cowboys offense resulted in two long Brahma touchdown runs. On the Brahmas last touchdown of the half, it was Edna’s Jaqwon Reed who showed the ferocity of this young Cowboys team. Although the Brahmas back scored, Reed never gave up on the play and tracked down the much smaller running back in an awesome display of speed and determination. “He’s special, and he’s only a junior. We’ve got him for two more years,” said coach Mitchell.
The Cowboy offense was able to go in to the half on a high note after strong runs by Ressman set up a 15 yard touchdown pass to Muncrief. With Villanueva's PAT, the score at the break was East Bernard 27 Edna 20.
In the third quarter the Brahmas run game began to really take its toll as they chewed up 8 minutes with just one touchdown drive and extended their lead to 15 points.
A penalty on the ensuing kickoff put the Cowboys deep in their own territory, and after 3 plays they were forced to punt. The defense stepped up on their next time out and with big stops by Santanella and Robinson, were able to hold the Brahmas to a punt.
When Edna’s offense came back out on the field they wasted little time get ting in the red zone. A short pass from Ressman turned in to a huge gain as Cameron Thornton weaved his way through would-be tacklers for 62 yards. Three plays later, the Cowboys were stopped on a 4th and short and turned the ball over. The Edna defense did force another three and out in the fourth quarter, but turnovers on the next two drives helped give East Bernard their final two touchdowns.
In the end it was a 49 to 20 win for the Brahmas, but Edna Cowboys fans have a lot to be excited about. Coach Jimmie Mitchell was optimistic about the trajectory of the season “we feel like we made too many mistakes to win the game, but there were some bright spots. We’ve got to focus on that and keep getting better.”
Edna will travel to Bay City on Friday to face the Blackcats. Bay City defeated Sweeny 21-15 to open the season. Bay City is a 4A-D1 team, but they could be a bit easier foe for the Cowboys in between East Bernard and Refugio.
Bay City is picked by Maxpreps to finish last in their district.