Indians take last-minute loss against Cougars

by Ashlyn Sterling
    The Indians took a last-minute 25-21 loss to the Brazos Cougars on Sept. 5. Junior Dalton Service decided to use the loss as a way to learn what the team needed to fix. “We had a lot of turnovers and a lot of mess-ups,” said Service, “but as long as we don’t take this loss as a downer but as a lesson I think we’ll definitely come out a better team next week.”
    Two plays into the game senior Kameron Smith made a long run for the end zone, and there was no holding him back. Smith made the first touchdown of the game, and senior Arturo Almeda made the first after point attempt moving the score to 7-0.
    The Cougars first offensive drive was cut short by the Indian defense with a turnover on downs. After several short runs by Jonathon Martinez, Brandon Lister, Jacob Foltyn, and Garrett McCann the Indians finally found the end zone thanks to McCann. Almeda’s point after attempt was called as good with 3:09 left in the first quarter. The score kept creeping higher and higher for the Indians with 14-0.
    The Indians kicked off once again and the Cougars seemed to be heading towards the end zone with speed, but Malcolm Chaisson made a big hit to hold them back. After several team-up tackles by Smith and Christian Palacios, Caleb Thedford caught an interception and ran a hard 12-yard run. The Indians were eventually forced to punt the ball back to the Cougars, and at the end of the first quarter the score remained 14-0.
    Shortly into the second quarter the McCann intercepted the ball for the Indians, but the Indians failed to convert and the Cougars took over on downs. Despite several big tackles by Lister and Foltyn the Cougars found the end zone with 6:23 left in the first half. The two-point conversion was stopped by McCann which left the score at 14-6.
    After the Indians failed to convert twice the Cougars found themselves with the ball. The defense held strongly with a 15-yard sack by Chaisson, but the Cougars prevailed finding the end zone with four seconds left in the first half. The two-point conversion was left as no good ending the first half with a score of 14-12.
    At the beginning of the second half the cougars attempted to move the ball to the end zone through the air several times, but the Indians strong defense prevailed. Eventually, a turnover on downs gave the Indians the ball. A pass that would have given the Indians another touchdown was unsuccessful giving the Cougars the ball. The Indian defense pushed the Cougars back until Smith caught another interception for the Indians, but the ball was later fumbled and returned to Cougar hands. This ended the third quarter with the score of 14-12.
    Smith made a long run for the end zone but was pulled down by Raider defense. After several short run plays McCann jumped over a pile of Indians and Cougars to score another touchdown. The point after attempt was called as good racking the score up to 21-12.
    The Cougars held the ball and with a long pass and run the Cougars racked up their own score to 21- 18. After getting possession of the ball once again the Cougars decided to bring their claws out. Despite many attempts by the Indian defense the Cougars scored once again with a good point after attempt. This moved their score up to 25-21 in the last 53 seconds of the game.
    Despite many attempts by the Indians they could not reach the end zone in the remaining time. “We really have to learn to finish,” said offensive coordinator, Rick Ragsdale. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing, but clean up our technique.”
    Sophomore Christian Palacios felt that the Indians were doing great with a lot of room for improvement. “I think we need to learn hold on to the ball, and keep our defense strong until the end,” said Palacios. “If we do those things then I feel like we can definitely come out with a win next week.”
    The Indians will play the Industrial Cobras on Friday, Sept. 12, at home. Kickoff is set for 7:30.