What an action-packed game from the beginning with the Pioneers winning 36-28! The Big Sandy Pioneers hosted Denton, Geyser, Stanford, and Geraldine Co-op (DGSG) Wildcats at home this past weekend, and it was a tight, well-fought battle. The Pioneers received the kickoff and ran the ball the whole first series, with great runs and yardage from Cooper Taylor. After a couple of penalties, one from the Wildcats and one from the Pioneers they finished the drive with a pass from Jake Darlington to Lane Demontiney for a touchdown. After a missed kick, the Pioneers were on the board up 6-0. Sam Cox had a big tackle on the kickoff, pinning the Wildcats deep into their territory. Cooper and Sam traded tackles, but DGSG after being pressured made a deep pass for a catch of 30 yards. Sam and Wes Cox, both had a huge tackle together, for a loss of yards for DGSG, causing a loss of down for the Wildcats. The Pioneers got the ball back and had a great push down the field with some strong runs by Cooper Taylor, which at one point, took 5 DGSG players to pull him down. Unfortunately, the Pioneer's drive ended with a turnover on downs, and with 30 seconds left, the Wildcats threw another 35-yard bomb down the field for a great catch to end the quarter.
The second quarter started all DGSG with them eating up 3 mins of the clock by driving the field, and scoring a touchdown, tying the game at 6-6. After the kickoff to the Pioneers, the Pioneers threw an interception, and DGSG scored another touchdown within 20 seconds off the game clock from their last touchdown. The extra point was good for the Wildcats, pushing them into the lead by 8. The woes continued for the Pioneers, resulting in another interception after getting the ball back. With back-and-forth possessions, with neither team scoring, Cooper gives the Pioneers some momentum with an interception. This led to a great pass from Jake to Lanw putting them within the 10-yard line, and then capitalizing with a handoff to Lane for a touchdown. Ty Terry nails the kick, putting the Pioneers back in the game and tying it up to go into halftime with a score of 14-14.
The Pioneers kicked off to the Wildcats to start the second half, and DGSG had another great drive down the field with nice yards on some big catches. But the defense by the Pioneers was still fighting and forced a turnover on downs, and the Pioneers got the ball back. After two big penalties from the Pioneers, putting them at a long 3rd down and 27 yards to go, Jake scrambled to throw a pass to Lane who not only got the 1st down but scored a touchdown. With another kick good from Ty, the Pioneers were back on top 22-14. DGSG ran back the kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a penalty from DGSG. Karter Jurenka had a big tackle for a DGSG loss of yards, but after another successful pass and catch near the end zone, DGSG scored another touchdown, and with the kick being good, tied the game again at 22.
The Pioneers had a great drive to start the 4th quarter, with a successful handoff to Lane for a touchdown and yet another good kick from Ty, putting the Pioneers back on top 30-22. DGSG still fought hard, and came back with a great quarterback scramble for another deep throw and touchdown, putting them back in contention pulling within 2 points, with 6 minutes left to go in the game. Big Sandy's offensive strategy seemed to be to run the ball to eat up the clock, which they were successful at. With a 4th and one opportunity, the ball gets handed to Cooper, who in turn throws to Jake for a successful touchdown. Putting the Pioneers up 36-28 with just 2 minutes left in the game. DGSG put together a solid 2:00 drive with one last chance with a 4th down and 5 yards to go and only 38 seconds on the clock. The Pioneers held them, and caused a turnover on downs, giving the ball back to the Pioneers. The Pioneers ended up winning a hard-fought battle with a score of 36-28.
Tucker Taylor said, the payers showed a lot of resilence in a very competitive game. Even after making some mistakes we rebounded and put points on the board. Our defense heoped give our offense more chances to score and came up with the game winning stop.
