By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
Magnolia had a quarterback conundrum this week due to a key injury.
With three different players taking snaps on Friday night, the Bulldogs came back from down 10 points in the third quarter to stun host Tomball Memorial 38-33 in District 15-6A.
The Bulldogs (3-1, 2-0) enter the bye week on a two-game winning streak and share a piece of first place in the eight-team league entering October.
“I’m proud of our fight and grit,” Magnolia coach Craig Martin said. “Winning is an important thing and when you find ways to win – when you feel you didn’t play your best – that’s a big deal.”
With starting sophomore quarterback Chase Lowery out for at least this week, backup in junior Teague Clements, as well as a tremendous sophomore athlete in Cash Ferrell and senior leading rusher Colin Leahey each lined up and took snaps.
“This was a crazy week for us because we fought through a lot of adversity with our quarterback getting out and we just got the job done today on the ground,” Ferrell said.
Tomball Memorial (1-2, 0-1), which came in off the bye week, led 27-17 early in the third quarter after Isaiah Nelson broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run.
Magnolia responded with 21 unanswered points.
Clements tossed his first varsity touchdown pass to Carson Smith to spark the run with 5:20 left in the third quarter.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Teague Clements, who stepped in and made two or three huge throws tonight in the critical moments,” Martin said.
Ferrell then gave Magnolia a lead it didn’t give up with five seconds left in the third on a three-yard run.
“I waited and I got the ball, was patient and the offensive line made a perfect hole for me,” Ferrell said of the run.
Leahey then burst through for a 30-yard run with 4:40 left in the game to go up 38-27. It was the senior’s second consecutive week with three touchdown runs.
On the next play of the ensuing drive, Tomball Memorial quarterback Aiden Martin hit Gavin Westerberg for a 75-yard score to make it 38-33 after a two-point attempt failed. It was their second connection on the night.
The Bulldogs ran out the clock from there.
Magnolia’s defense stopped Tomball Memorial twice on fourth down in the second half prior to that.
“Winning is hard to do and in this district, we knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Martin said. “I think everybody learned that last night with Klein Oak getting Klein Cain. It’s going to be a week-to-week grind and we knew that.”
The start of the night was the opposite of great for the Bulldogs.
Magnolia was down in…well…a flash.
The Bulldogs tried some trickeration on the opening kick return with multiple laterals. Tomball Memorial’s Javan Flash cut off one of the pitches (which was actually a forward pass) for about a 10-yard return to the end zone.
Magnolia then fumbled away the opening carry, but the defense stepped in to push Tomball Memorial backwards 15 yards on the ensuing drive and the special teams unit then blocked the punt, setting up great field position.
The Bulldogs moved the ball some before junior Gavin Gonzales capped a seven-play drive with a 28-yard field goal.
With 14 seconds left in the quarter, Leahey took a direct snap and carried it 20 yards to the end zone to take the lead.
It was short-lived as Tomball Memorial went back up three minutes into the second quarter as Isaiah Nelson capped an 11-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
Magnolia jumped back ahead on the ensuing drive as Leahey, again, took a direct snap 12 yards to the end zone.
“That ‘Wildcat’ package is a big deal and we knew it would come in handy at some point,” Martin said. “This week it did and we have a lot of confidence in those guys.”
Leahey, who totaled 258 yards last week against Klein Oak, had 83 yards at the break.
Ferrell was a big part of both scoring drives. He had 63 yards.
The Bulldogs had a chance to pull ahead further, but after a drive stalled, the Wildcats scored with 35 seconds left before halftime to make it 20-17. Westerberg caught a 57-yard pass down the right sideline from reigning District 15-6A offensive MVP Martin.
“Hopefully at some point, we can be where we’re not our own worst enemies,” Martin said. “We’ve got some things to clean up tonight.”
After Tomball Memorial totaled 17 yards in the first quarter, it got going for 169 yards (to Magnolia’s 146) by halftime.
“We just needed to lock in and fix our mistakes,” Ferrell said of the mood at halftime. “In the first half, we shot ourselves in the foot. But we got it together.”
Leahey finished with 152 rushing yards while Ferrell had 118. They totaled 43 attempts with Ferrell leading with 23.
Joseph Solomon made a couple huge receptions, including a big third down conversion on the final drive, and totaled 56 yards to lead in that department.
Josh Garner, Tyler Covar and Jase Chadwick each had a sack.
The Bulldogs are now 4-1 all-time against Tomball Memorial with their most recent win prior to Friday coming in 2016.
Magnolia returns to action Oct. 4 at home against Klein Cain. Tomball Memorial travels to Klein Memorial Stadium Thursday to play the Hurricanes.
