The Baytown Lee Ganders had a tough night in front of them when they entered into Veteran’s Memorial stadium in League City last Friday night. This was Clear Creek’s Homecoming and they were determined to win at all costs. Both sides of the ball would not disappoint their hundreds of fans.
The Ganders loaded their buses at the end of the night, with bruised egos and wounded pride, as the victorious Wildcats shouted in victory, 17 to 7, on their Homecoming 2009. The Homecoming Queen nominees included, Valen Custer, Natalie Paul, Claudia Blanco, and the smiling young beauty, Kara Gault, was crowned Homecoming Queen on this celebratory night.
Jarryd Garza tossed two touchdown passes to Tevin Jones in the first half and the Wildcats were shutting out the Ganders 14 to 0 at the end of the half. Jones first touchdown catch was a nine yarder, but the second touchdown catch was an exciting 73 yard pass play. Mario Gurgel added both extra points with his kicks. Clear Creek’s defense was relentless and held strong, allowing the Ganders few opportunities. The Wildcat defenders shut down every scoring opportunity and the Ganders went in at the half with zero points.
The Baytown Lee Ganders came back in the second half with a touchdown of their own when the Wildcats lost a fumble. The Ganders put together a drive of 66 yards that culminated in their first touchdown. They scored on fourth-and-10 from Clear Creek 27 yard line with 54 seconds left in the third quarter.
The game was filled with turnovers, six fumbles by Clear Creek and two by the Ganders. The Wildcats Tadd Pierce had a busy night with six tackles, four pass breakups, an interception and two fumble recoveries. He led a Clear Creek defense that allowed the Ganders to accumulate 20 first downs and 369 total yards but only allowed one touchdown. They followed the rule of “bend but don’t break.”
Baytown Lee rushed for 203 yards to the Wildcats 123 yards but the passing attack was led by Creek’s 231 yards to Baytown Lee’s 164 yards. Penalties were also a factor with the Ganders making more mistakes with 9 penalties for 85 yards while the Wildcats only had 3 penalties for 18 yards.
Mike McCullough also snatched an interception for the Wildcats stopping another Ganders drive. The Wildcat fans cheered and urged on their valiant defensive squad. Clear Creek put a cork in the bottle, when Mario Gurgel kicked a 30 yard field goal and the Clear Creek Homecoming victory was sealed and locked up tight as the crowd roared as the scoreboard read, Wildcats 17, Ganders 7.
Next week the Wildcats have an open date, but on Friday, September 25th at Veteran’s Memorial stadium, at 7 pm, the Wildcats take on last year’s District Champion Clear Brook Wolverines to begin District play. Clear Creek is now 1-2 on the season and Clear Brook is also 1-2 this year.
This rivalry in CCISD should be a matchup of monumental portent and both teams need a win to get back on the positive side of the win/loss column. This is one of the “games” of the year and should be a fantastic match-up.