Corpus Christi Caller-Times Richard Tijerina, Sports editor

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Richard Tijerina is the Caller-Times Sports Editor. He can be reached at 886-3745 or by email at tijerinar@caller.com.

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Monday, October 1, 2001

Drama makes Friday nights special

Ray’s near comeback against King demonstrates football tension

David Adame/Caller-Times

Ray quarterback Travis Wheat was able to lead the Texans to a 41-0 win last season against King. This season, however, Wheat was unable to lead the team to a win as the Texans fell, 28-21.

Too many times, when you read a game story in a newspaper, you don't - and maybe even can't - get the whole story.
   Yes, we all want to know what the final score was, who the key plays were, how many yards the running back rushed for and what the players and coach had to say after it was all over.
   But the magic of high school football is that prep games are not just numbers and statistics and wins and losses. They are moments, key plays, big hits, the highs of a close win and the lows of a close loss.
   Every Friday night, there are dozens of these classic moments going on across South Texas, including last Friday, as I stood on the Ray sideline in the closing minutes of King's 28-21 win.
   With the Mustangs ahead, 28-21, Ray tried to mount one last, furious drive over the final 2:30 to come from behind.
   It wasn't necessarily the drive itself that made this special. It was the moments, and emotions, that were bottled with it.
   A team was up, a team was down, in a matter of seconds. The game is set up, obviously, so that one team eventually wins and one team eventually loses. But how those two teams arrive at that ending, with all the drama and excitement in between, is what makes high school football what it is: a joy.
   But back to the end of Friday night:

First-and-10, King 48: With 2:34 on the clock, Ray quarterback Travis Wheat suddenly is in trouble. King's Trevor Cross comes rushing in from Wheat's blindside, and is dragging the Ray quarterback to the ground, when Wheat somehow gets rid of the ball, tossing it wildly toward the King sidelines.
   It is ruled not intentional grounding, but instead an incomplete pass, a decision that displeases the Mustang faithful.
   A chorus of booooos ring out at Cabaniss, starting when the referee doesn't make the call and continuing as Ray prepares to snap the ball on second down.

Second-and-10, King 48: Wheat keeps the ball, running around the left end toward the sideline, and is dragged down by Travis McGee. It could have been - maybe should have been - a late hit. The Ray fans know this, obviously, and ring out with their own booooos on their side of the stands.
   But what goes around, comes around. Wheat's pass should have been grounding, but there was no call. And McGee's tackle should have been late, but there was no call.
   At that moment, the public address announcer interrupts this exciting, close game's final minutes to tell the crowd about another exciting, close game's final minutes. "At Buccaneer Stadium," he starts, "with four minutes left to play, the score is Carroll 20, (dramatic pause) Moody 22."
   The crowd's booooos turned into ooooos, and Texan players seemed visibly surprised - and, probably, pleased - by the news.
   But there was more football to be played. In both stadiums.

Third-and-2, King 40: Wheat pitches to Jamin Aleman, who is pushed out of bounds by a hard hit from Chris Null. But the players run right into Ray coach Gary Turberville, who is leveled to the turf.
And you thought coaching pressure was all these guys have to deal with.

First-and-10, King 35: Just 35 yards from a tying touchdown, Wheat's pass downfield to Taureen Mitchell goes through the receiver's hands. It's a high pass, and Mitchell cannot control it.

Second-and-10, King 35: There is just 1:56 left on the clock. Wheat throws to Mitchell again on a fade route, but McGee and Null are right there with him, and the pass falls incomplete.

Third-and-10, King 35: Tension is mounting. There is 1:51 on the clock. Wheat throws it to Daniel Bazan on the left sideline, and even though McGee and Null again are right there, Bazan somehow catches it at the King 16-yard line - only he catches it out of bounds. Incomplete.

Fourth-and-10, King 35: With just 1:43 on the clock, this is make or break time for the Texans. After falling behind, 21-0, then coming back to cut it to 28-21, it comes down to the simple fact that if Ray is to survive, if Ray is to even get the chance to tie or win, it must figure out a way to get 10 yards here.
   The Texans, of course, don't do it. As Wheat drops back, linebacker Nicholas Castaneda blitzes in from the blindside, and drops Wheat for a 16-yard loss.
   The King faithful exploded in cheer; Ray's side fell silent.
   That's it. The game, for all intents and purposes, was over, having been decided on a final Ray drive that lasted for 3 minutes, 23 seconds in game time, but seemed so much longer when you were watching it.
   It is times like these that make high school football special.
   As I headed back to the office, I checked the car radio for the final few minutes of that Carroll-Moody game, a game decided in the final two minutes by the Tigers in come-from-behind fashion.
   And I knew that right then, with Carroll driving in the final minute, that the crowd at Buccaneer Stadium was feeling just as thrilled, just as excited, just as grateful, as the one at Cabaniss was.
   There were other nailbiters too, with close games between Skidmore-Tynan and Hebbronville, Orange Grove and Banquete, and Aransas Pass and West Oso.
   All of Friday's games had their special moments, those behind-the-story plots and subplots played out on sidelines and in huddles and on the field.
   And the beautiful thing? This Friday, there'll be plenty more.

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