by Austin Coats, sports editor
After “keeping it classy” all week after a 41-0 win over Caney Creek, the A&M Consolidated Tigers faced College Station High School; it was the matchup that the town had awaited for the past three years. Tigerland Stadium was packed with Tiger and Cougar fans alike, and made a great environment for a tight game.
After one quarter, Consol led the Cougars 10-0. Junior David Gan’s field goal put the Tigers on the board after the first drive of the game. Junior Mason Hickson was able to extend the lead as he faked the handoff to junior Tyri Merchant and powered into the end-zone.
Late into the second quarter, the Tigers added another touchdown on another QB keep from Hickson, leaving 2:33 left to play. College Station’s junior Chris Sennette returned the following kickoff for a touchdown, getting to the sideline virtually untouched. Forcing the Tigers to punt, the Cougars got the ball back looking to get as much as they could out of the thirty seconds on the clock. With the help of two obvious pass interference penalties on Consol’s defensive backs, College Station tacked on an extra field goal to go into the half with only a one-drive deficit.
Straight into the third quarter the Cougars quickly deleted the deficit on a 33-yard pass on the inside route.
However, the next kickoff broke the tie. In an amazing show of effort and strength, senior Derrick Dick took the short kick, changed directions, broke a swarm of tackles, blazed through a small hole, and stiff-armed a defender on his breakaway to the end zone. The Tigers’ defense then forced a 3-and-out on the Cougars, only for the punt to be blocked by sophomore Tyon Merchant and recovered at the Cougar 20 yard-line. Eventually, Tyri Merchant would finish his brother’s work and fight for a 2-yard touchdown, and all of a sudden the Tigers led 31-17.
Those would be their final points, however, as the Cougars added two touchdowns by two minutes into the final quarter. The next nine minutes had no scoring, and into the final minute the Cougars were pushing down the field. Having wasted a good period of time with running plays, they found themselves on the one-yard-line on fourth down. They kicked and converted a field goal, and trusted their defense to take care of the remaining twenty-five seconds. With no timeouts left, the Tigers’ offense, starting from their forty-yard-line, tried to march down the field to at least reach field goal position. They only gained 16 yards on three plays, though, and had to rely on a hail mary. Mason, pressured, rolled out, let go right before he took a hit, and the ball floated yards in front of the end-zone, only to be intercepted by a Cougar defensive back and promptly ending the game at 34-31.
Next Friday, the Tigers will make a quick trip to Bryan to face the Rudder Rangers.
