KFDM COOP Posted October 5, 2008 Report Posted October 5, 2008 RSS, Lee amp up for ‘The Game’ By Dave Rogers Published October 5, 2008 The 42nd edition of “The Battle of Baytown,†also known as “The Game†is coming up next Friday at Stallworth Stadium. Lee versus Sterling is shaping up to be a good game this year, and early indications are it should pit Lee’s strong defense against Sterling’s high-scoring offense. Zero-zero? Maybe. Probably not. But with Sterling off to a 3-1 start and Lee 1-2 heading into the matchup which will also serve as each team’s District 21-5A opener, perhaps this will be the first time in the 2000s for the Rangers to come away winners of The Game. Lee leads the series 25-14-2. Sterling just hopes this year is different than the last time it got off to a good start. Then, too, a hurricane (Rita then, Ike now) played havoc with the season. But Sterling carried a 3-4 record into a season finale version of The Game against a winless Lee bunch. Sure enough the Ganders won to avoid going 0-8 for the season. ••• Two teams having no problem with wins are Utah and Brigham Young University. Each school has a key Baytown connection. Utah improved to 6-0 and became the first team in the country to make itself bowl eligible last Thursday. To do it, the Utes scored 11 points in the final 89 seconds to defeat Oregon State 31-28. Brian Johnson, Utah’s senior quarterback and former Lee standout, was nearly perfect in the final two minutes as he led his team on a drive to tie it, and then another to win it. “When we were down eight, I saw a few people leaving and thought ‘They’re about to miss a show,’†Johnson said. The offensive player of the year in District 22-5A in 2003, Johnson tied the game with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Bradon Godfrey and a two-point conversion run with 1:29 remaining. Oregon State went three-and-out and the Utes got the ball back with 1:06 left. Johnson drove Utah down to set up Louie Sakoda’s game-winning 37-yard field goal. A day later, BYU whipped Utah State 34-14 to improve to 5-0. Senior Michael Reed, a former Gander all-stater who normally starts at receiver for the Cougars, sat this one out after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus in his knee. Reed is expected back for BYU’s game against New Mexico this weekend. ••• Speaking of Oregon State, the team Utah rallied to beat Thursday, that’s the same team that knocked off No. 1 ranked USC a week ago. Leading the way for the Beavers with 186 yards rushing and two touchdowns was freshman Jacquizz Rodgers, the Texas player of the year last year for state champion Lamar Consolidated. Incredibly, Rodgers wasn’t nominated among eight finalists for the Greater Houston offensive player of the year last winter. Lee coach Dick Olin, who was on the selection committee, said at the time that the all-time Texas high school touchdown scorer just wasn’t as impressive on the film as the ones chosen. ••• For anyone who somehow hasn’t heard: our neighbors to the west and new 21-5A rivals North Shore Mustangs won their 73rd consecutive regular season game Friday. They had to score with 26 seconds left for the 28-21 win over Lufkin that allowed them to break the Texas all-time record of 72 set by Southlake Carroll from 1986-94.
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