Ganders Get First Win

[KFDM COOP]

'E!'-lated Ganders notch first win

By Dave Rogers

 

Published September 15, 2007

He wasn’t the Torres many Lee High School fans were clamoring for, but Emanuel Torres sure won their hearts Friday night.

The freshman kicker booted a line drive 43-yard field goal as time expired to give the Ganders an improbable 10-9 victory over Clear Creek at Stallworth Stadium.

Chanting “E! E!,†the Lee players carried the kicker off the field on their shoulders after closing their three-game non-district schedule with their first victory of the season.

“After I hit it, I just took off running,†he said. “I knew it was a good kick.â€

Forgive the Gander faithful if they weren’t as confident. The kick never got more than 20 feet off the ground and, at first glance, appeared it might be short.

But it kept on going and had about five feet of distance left over when it cleared the crossbar and dived to the turf. Upraised arms from the two officials under the goal post set off a wild celebration.

“There was no decision,†Lee head coach Dick Olin said about the option of trying a Hail Mary pass on fourth down from the Clear Creek 27-yard line with 5 seconds left.

“You know, take a shot, you got a chance. This is great. It’s always good to win. Everybody’s happy. The kids will enjoy it. We’ve got a week off to get ready for district.â€

Wildcat coach Darrell Warden, former defensive coordinator for the Ganders, used his team’s final timeout to try to ice Lee’s young kicker.

No dice.

“I got nervous,†Torres said about the delay, but overall, I felt confident I was going to make it.â€

If he was nervous, you don’t want to know about his holder, backup quarterback Octavio Torres.

“I was crying as I was waiting for the snap. You know he’s my little brother,†said the fellow who led Lee to the playoffs last year as QB. “But I had to suck it up. I had so much faith in him, I didn’t want to mess it up.â€

And, of course, there was another hiccup. The snap was hardly perfect from Joe Garcia, who was the team’s No. 3 center before being pressed into service last week.

“It wasn’t exactly a spiral and it was on the other side of the tee, but it was good enough,†Octavio Torres said. “I had to make it work for my brother.â€

For the second week in a row, turnovers plagued Lee’s inconsistent offense.

The Ganders went 77 yards in four plays to score on the game’s opening possession. Jarvis Moore merengue-danced his way to a 30-yard TD run and Torres’ kick gave Lee a 7-0 lead 1 minute, 17 seconds into the game.

But the Ganders picked up only 53 total yards the rest of the first half and gave up a field goal with 11 seconds left after Clear Creek’s Marcus Davis broke through to block at Josh Jones punt at the Lee 33.

Jones, Lee’s No. 1 quarterback, finished the game 12 for 29 passing for 144 yards. He threw one interception and gave up a late fumble when blindsided.

That fumble left Clear Creek just 28 yards away from its go-ahead score, a 15-yard pass from Neal Warden to Justin Smith with 1:28 left to play.

It appeared that the Wildcats were about to go 3-0 despite a strong effort by the Collin Biescke-led Lee defense. It included a pair of third-quarter fourth-down stops, one at the Lee 3-yard line.

But the Wildcats got a bad snap and missed their extra-point, leaving Lee just enough room for the late dramatics.

Moore finished with 85 yards on 16 carries, but Lee’s team rush totals were only 103 yards. Kevin Craft had five catches for 74 yards.

Clear Creek got 102 yards rushing from Michael Guidry and Warden completed 13 of 25 passes for 118 yards.

The Ganders are off next week and open District 21-5A play Sept. 28 against Kingwood.

“We’ve got two weeks to get ready for Kingwood and get better offensively,†Olin said. “Our defense did a great job. Offensively, we didn’t play very well.

“Tonight, we needed a freshman to win the game.â€

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

wow

[KFDM COOP]

Lee will be fine!

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

hopefully. they usually come around by district

[Guest ndn09]

Go Lee right on