Bears victorious in debut of 2013 football, Lassiter

To kick off both a new local high school football season and the new tenure of head coach Von Lassiter, three different Houston County High Bears scored touchdowns in a 25-14 victory against Harris County High Thursday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium.

From a defensive standpoint, Houston County did the bend-but-don’t-break thing to shut out Harris County in the second half. The Bears were down 14-7 in the first half, but then reeled off the last 18 of the game with some daring special teams calls along the way. In those final two quarters, the Tigers – a program that eliminated Warner Robins High in last year’s state AAAAA second round – failed to score on two drives that went into double figures in plays.

It was also a night where Houston County’s defense, under defensive coordinator Ryan Crawford, did its work without any takeaways from the Harris no-huddle pistol offense. The Tigers in fact won the turnover ratio with a pass interception on Houston’s opening series.

Lassiter rotated his senior quarterback, Taylor Boyett, with freshman Jake Fromm in the first quarter. But the head coach settled in on Boyett to lead the way and direct Kenny Gant and Romarcus Williams in the rushing attack.

Harris County brought a pair of potent tailbacks, seniors Esaias Chapman and Keith Jenkins, and a fairly shifty quarterback in junior TaQuon Marshall to challenge Houston’s defense. It’s a defense mixed with youth, experience and experiments, and all three labels came through with key stops at different times.

On the opening drive, both A.J. Burton and Luke Wasson, linemen, made stops on Chapman to force a three-and-out. It was great field position, too, with the punt going to the Bear 49-yard-line.

The drive, however, ended in three plays as Tiger senior Nick Terrell intercepted a short throw on the Harris 38.

Darion Anderson, a sophomore, sacked Marshall, and fellow sophomore Kheon Walker hit the screen pass receiver on a short gain for 4th-and-12. Harris was in punt formation again without a first down, and with a bad snap the Bears were set up in good ground, the Tiger 39.

Fromm took his turn in the shotgun and made his first varsity completion to Gant for 13 yards. Houston didn’t move much further from there, avoiding a second interception but also missing a field-goal try.

In terms of penalties, Harris County would commit three personal fouls that led to Bear scoring in the first half. The first big mistake, however, was against Houston on roughing the punter, and that gave the Tigers their initial first down.

The Bears gave up another first via penalty with offsides to the Houston 44. Marshall scrambled his way for nine yards, and Chapman ran outside to the 31. On play-action, Marshall hit Tae Crowder over the middle on the 5, and from there Chapman scored. Harris County, with 1:22 remaining in the first period, led 7-0.

To end the quarter, Houston punted deep to the Tiger 9. After a first-down gain to the 20, Burton stuck Marshall for a three-yard loss and Williams brought the QB down short of a first on the 23.

For the third time, the Bear offense had good starting field position, its own 48, and Gant gained 12 yards on a toss. On third down at the Tiger 35, Lassiter went for it, and the result was offsides on Harris.

Houston found itself going the wrong way, but Gant took a screen pass, lowered his head, and gained 16 yards and first down on the 20. From the 15, Williams burst up the middle and kept his balance over the goal line at 6:47 until the half.

Sophomore kicker Jordan Strevig notched the tying PAT kick for 7-7.

In just over three minutes, Harris County marched 76 yards in 11 plays to regain the lead. Jenkins flipped the field position, going on an up the middle burst from his 30 to the Bear 38. Senior Quay Denning in the secondary saved the touchdown.

Faced with third down on the 31, Chapman bulled his way for 16 yards. He got the call to convert another third down, and he gained three for 1st-and-goal on the 4.

Houston’s defense didn’t make it easy, Delarion Fields getting into the backfield for a two-yard loss. It was 3rd-and-goal when Marshall snuck threw and helped make it 14-7 Tigers at 3:10.

Lassiter went to his bench getting fresh players in to tote the football, and Kory Engram’s first catch gained 18 yards plus a horse-collar call up to the Tiger 40. On third down, Engram snagged another throw from Boyett on the 27, and that brought another personal foul flag.

From the 12, Boyett pitched the option to Gant, and the Bears put six on the board at 1:59. Houston quickly set up the ‘swinging gate’ for the conversion play, and it became a two-point run for Gant to put the Bears on top 15-14.

It’s a lead Houston would never relinquish. A significant development for the Tigers happened when Marshall was flagged for intentional grounding. It would be his final play as Jay McKibben played quarterback for the remainder.

With the foul and punt, the Bears had more time and a short field to operate from the Harris 42. Anderson caught a pass for 22 yards, and a holding call took away a possible touchdown for Gant. The Bears were backed to the 26 with less than 20 seconds to go, advanced to the 21, and brought out Strevig for a field-goal try.

The kick was good by plenty, so at the half the Bears led 18-14.

Standing out in a major way for the Houston defense in the second half was junior Zach Taisler, an inside linebacker who had a start at quarterback for the Bears last season. He had a tackle-for-a-loss on Chapman in Harris’ first series, and with Williams bringing down the wide-receiver screen it was three-and-out.

The Bears offense only had two first downs, but Taisler’s punt coverage put Harris in a whole, its own 19, midway through the third quarter. From that spot, the Tigers ran 12 plays but came up empty in the points department.

Chapman broke tackles up the middle and went right for a 17-yard gain on the 47. Jenkins had three straight totes up to the Bears 43. Jenkins picked up first down on the 32, but on 2nd-and-6 Taisler stuck Chapman for a loss and third down on the 30.

McKibben tried to do the keeper thing, but he stumbled as he found Taisler in his path on the 35. That was the 12th play, and the Tigers punted to the 20.

The defense didn’t get much rest, though, as three-and-out and punt had the Tiger offense at work again on its 36. Taisler sniffed out Chapman again for short gain and 3rd-and-8, and Anderson’s 1-on-1 pass coverage made it fourth down. Chris Lewis returned this punt 26 yards to the Tiger 48.

Boyett found sophomore Jaylen Searcy for his first catch, and with about 16 yards afterwards Houston was on the 16. In the fourth quarter, Josh Flowers rushed 10 yards to the 4, and from there Boyett faked a dive, keeping the football instead for a touchdown at 11:42. Strevig notched his second PAT for 25-14.

Harris’ answer was to go on an 11-play drive starting at the Tiger 22. From the 50, McKibben broke containment for 34 yards to the Bear 16. Burton stopped the back-up QB on a second-down keeper at the 21, but on the next snap Houston was flagged for roughing the passer.

Chapman could only reach the 5 on two carries, and on third down Walker stopped McKibben on the 4. The visitors went for it, not needing to score to extend the drive, but the measurement showed Houston gained possession on downs.

The Bears couldn’t get away from the goal line and punted to their 34. The Tigers again marched up to the 5, but sophomore Myron Jacobs popped McKibben for a five-yard loss. The front line smothered Chapman for more lost yards, and Harris missed a field goal try with 4:27 to play.

The combination of Gant and Williams ran off about 3:30 in 10 plays to seal the victory.

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