Cowboys win in close game against Van Vleck

    The Edna Cowboys traveled to Van Vleck on Sept. 11 and came home with a huge, intense victory over the Van Vleck Leopards, 35-32.
    Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Huey Chancellor said he was very proud of the ‘Boys. “They came out and scored early on and kept the momentum going. When Van Vleck took the lead it would have been easy to give up, but the guys kept on fighting and put together a great final drive to win the game,” he said, adding that the game was a defining moment in the season. “Anytime you win a game late you gain a lot of confidence, and it shows you will be able to do that in the future."  
    The Leopards won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Edna received the opening kick off and started their first offensive possession of the game. Van Vleck's defense came out strong and forced the Cowboys to punt. Edna's defense refused to let the Leopards gain any ground at all and forced a punt as well. Cowboy’s offense came back out and put together a drive that led to a touchdown run by #9 senior running back Braveon Terrell with 7:01 remaining in the first quarter. Senior #60 Aaron Padilla tacked on an extra point and the Cowboys drew first blood, the score 7-0 in favor of Edna.
    On the next Leopard offensive possession the Cowboy defense came up huge and caused a fumble. Junior linebacker #20 Alvell Robinson picked up the loose ball and ran in for another Cowboy touchdown with 4:47 left in the first. The PAT was good by #60 Padilla, increasing Edna's lead to 14-0. With 1:18 left in the first quarter of play, Van Vleck was able to find the end zone with a touchdown run. Extra point was good, making the score Cowboys 14, Van Vleck 7.
    The second quarter proved to be a complete defensive battle not yielding any scoring from either the Cowboys or the Leopards. The halftime score remained 14-7 in favor of the Cowboys.
    The Leopards received the second half kick off. After some half time adjustments, Van Vleck ran in for a quick touchdown with 11:07 left in the third. After a failed extra point try, the Cowboys retained the lead 14-13. Edna's offense answered back when #9 Terrell found the end zone again with 7:45 left in the third. Another good extra point by #60 Padilla made the score Edna 21, Van Vleck 13. The resilient, young Leopards team found the end zone once more in the third quarter. The Cowboy defense negated the Leopards two point conversion attempt, keeping the score 21-19 still in favor of the Cowboys.
    To say the fourth quarter was a nail biter would be a huge understatement. Cowboys quarterback junior #18 Landon O'Connor found the end zone with 11:54 left in the game. #60 Padilla added the PAT increasing Edna's lead to 28-19. Van Vleck offense came out and scored back to back touchdowns to steal the lead for the first time in the game. The score was now Van Vleck 32, Edna 28 with 7:51 left in the final quarter of play. The Cowboy offense showed their resolve and put together an intense, determined game-winning drive when #9 Terrell scored his third touchdown of the game with 43 seconds left to play. #60 Padilla tacked on the extra point and the Cowboys were back on top, 35-32, but Edna's job was not done. The Cowboys defense took the field for the last time of the night, fought hard with a lot of heart and walk away victorious.
    The Cowboys will travel to Hallettsville to take on the Brahmas Friday, Sept. 18. Kick off is set for 7:30.
    Terrell said he felt the offense still hasn’t reached their full potential. “We can be better, but I have to give most of the credit to our offensive line, although I think I play an important role in our offense.”
    O’Connor said he felt like the team fought until the last second, even when things looked bad the team kept fighting and forgot about their mistakes. “Against Hallettsville we must eliminate our mistakes and perform at our very best.”
    Chancellor said Hallettsville has been running a good program for a long time along with some good coaching. “Our ‘Boys will have to play a cleaner game with less mistakes, less penalties, and no turnovers. If the game goes as planned, I feel we will come out on top.  My ‘Boys and I have a tremendous amount of respect for Hallettsville,” he ended.