David Claybourn: Sports Views: Defenses dominate in Caddo Mills-Quinlan Ford football game
Oct. 22—Last year the Quinlan Ford Panthers led all football teams in the nation in rushing yards per game at 476.1.
By all teams that includes high school, junior college, college and the National Football League. The 12-1 Panthers ran for 83 touchdowns in 13 games.
The Caddo Mills Foxes scored 61 touchdowns in 2019, 78 in 2020 and 63 TDs last year, averaging well more than 400 yards per game in each of those two seasons.
So what happened when the two Hunt County district rivals met in a key District 6-4A-II game last week at Ed Locker Stadium in Caddo Mills?
A defensive struggle. Caddo Mills won 7-6 as the Foxes kicked their extra point and Panthers missed theirs. The two teams combined for just two touchdowns and 405 total yards on offense. Caddo Mills passed for 129 yards, including a 24-yard TD pass from quarterback Caden Lemmon to receiver Brady Wasurick.
Quinlan Ford rushed for 231 yards, including a 7-yard TD run by Zalen Morales.
The exciting game featured three players who've been named Herald-Banner Players of the Week. And all three made some big plays. Morales rushed for a team-high 95 yards on 27 carries for the Panthers.
Lemmon, a two-time selection, was 4-of-11 passing for 75 yards and caught a 33-yard pass from Alfonso Gonzales, another player of the week, to keep the Foxes' final drive alive.
The 7-6 outcome showed what I love about Texas high school football. The unexpected can happen at any game. — Congratulations to head football coach David Bailiff and his staff at Texas A&M University-Commerce with their 40-15 victory last week at McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Not only did Bailiff win the 100th victory in a coaching career that included prior stops at Rice and Texas State, but the Lions improved to 2-0 in their first season in the Southland Conference.
Any time a college team moves up from NCAA Division II to I and switches conferences there is an adjustment period. Though the Lions had gone 46-7 over their last seven seasons in the Lone Star they were picked to finish sixth in the first season in the Southland.
The Lions have showed they were ready for the promotion with the win over McNeese State after surprising Southeastern Louisiana 31-28 in the conference opener at Hammond, Louisiana.
What makes these wins remarkable is that they were on the road, a tough place for any college team.
The good part for the Lions about their 2022 schedule is that four of their next five games are at home in Commerce, where they are 2-0 this season. Their homestand includes the homecoming game at 2 p.m. today against Houston Christian, formerly known as Houston Baptist. — When backup Cooper Rush went 4-0 as a starter for the Dallas Cowboys there was some talk around Big D that Rush should stay at quarterback when Dak Prescott returned from the injured list.
Not much talk any more after Rush struggled in their 26-17 loss at Philadelphia. Rush was 18-of-38 passing for 181 yards and one TD. But he threw three interceptions. His quarterback rating in the first half was only 1. Can't get much lower than that.
Prescott is supposed to start for the Cowboys in their game on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. He didn't play well in the season opener before hurting his thumb in the 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay. We'll see how Prescott does against the Lions but for now the starting job belongs to Prescott.
David Claybourn is sports editor of the Herald-Banner.
