By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
A couple of long yardage touchdown passes from the arm of sophomore quarterback Chase Lowery were just the appetizer on what turned out to be a memorable and successful homecoming night for the Magnolia Bulldogs.
In their Class 6A district debut, Magnolia had 267-yard rushing night from Colin Leahey, over 500 yards of total offense, a pick-sick, a safety and even a ‘Big Man’ touchdown in a 60-21 shellacking of Klein Oak Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
“It means a lot,” Leahey said of picking up the first District 15-6A win. “We are a new team coming into this district and coming into 6A. I think it means alot for our team’s confidence and it shows the other teams in the district that we can compete with anyone.”
The Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0) came off a loss to state-ranked College Station in a positive manner by taking control of the Panthers (1-2, 0-1) from the start as Lowery hit senior Jordan Enyart for a 67-yard score on the third play of the night and then junior Cole Sorensen for 85 yards on the next drive.
“Just the momentum in of itself is a big deal,” Magnolia coach Craig Martin said of the big start. “And certainly that gets some confidence back. We had some key drops early in the game last week. That was really my challenge to them all week long and before the game was to really lock in.”
Klein Oak could have broke even quickly with a couple crucial mistakes by Magnolia. But the damage was minimal.
The Panthers scored on a 12-yard quarterback sneak by Martin Osorio. The Panthers’ Will Stewart then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick.
Just two plays into the Panthers’ drive, Magnolia senior Josh Garner, on a blitz, leaped into a pass by Osorio and hung on for an interception.
Magnolia marched down to the 1, but stalled out on fourth down to turn it over on downs.
Garner swayed momentum back to the Bulldogs again. The linebacker sacked the quarterback in the end zone to get the ball back.
“The safety was big because it was so close at the time,” Martin said. “I was pleased with our level of execution tonight and that’s credit to our kids and coaches.”
From there, Magnolia’s Gavin Gonzales made a 30-yard field goal, Leahey ran in a 12-yard touchdown and Lowery threw his third touchdown of the half to tight end Carson Smith from 15 yards out for the 25-point lead at the break.
Magnolia totaled 313 yards – with 194 through the air from the arm of Lowery – at the break.
Klein Oak came out of halftime and stopped Magnolia’s scoring run at 19 points as Micah Rhodes, a freshman standout who picked up an offer from the University of Houston, scored from seven yards out.
After that drive, Leahey, an Air Force commit, scored on a 75-yard run and then a 72-yard run in the third quarter.
“I’m feeling good about it,” Leahey said. “The O-line did great. They opened up a lot of lanes for me and they did great tonight.”
The other two touchdowns in the second half made the night even more memorable.
Junior big man defensive lineman Demond Perrino scored on a 1-yard run in between those Leahey bursts.
Tanner Covar then returned an interception for 65 yards for the final touchdown of the night.
“Those are all momentum builders,” Martin said.
Trey Robinson caught a 16-yard touchdown for Klein Oak in the fourth quarter for its final points of the night.
Leahey finished with 267 yards on 19 touches, an average of 14.1 yards per carry.
“He is a phenomenal football player and an even better young man,” Martin said. “I think for all the good things said about Hunter Andrews last year, a lot of those things weren’t possible without a guy like Colin right there next to him. We were confident that there wouldn’t be a drop off because of the level of player that he is. And it was certainly fun to watch him tonight.”
Lowery was 10-for-14 for 207 yards and he rushed for 32.
Garner had three sacks and was a menace all night.
“It’s not different,” Garner said of the team grabbing its first 6A win ever. “We go somewhere and we compete. We go anywhere and we can compete. It’s the same thing. It’s not 6A, 5A…it doesn’t matter. We’re going to try everything in our power to win.”
It wasn’t really a topic of conversation according to Martin.
“The most important thing is just picking up the win,” Martin said. “The 6A thing is cliche as it is to say, it’s not something we talk about a lot. Maybe in the coaches’ office we do a little bit, but it’s something we talk about with our kids. Primarily just because just talk to our kids about trying to be an elite football team and practice at an elite level.”
Magnolia travels to Tomball Memorial for a 7 p.m. kickoff next Friday.
Klein Oak has a shorter turnaround with a game at Klein Memorial Stadium Thursday night against Klein Cain.
