Mistakes, turnovers doom Rams vs. Strake

Even with all the turnovers, penalties and mental errors they had committed , the Mayde Creek football team still found itself within an onside kick of getting right back into its playoff game against Strake Jesuit Thursday night.

After seeing the Rams score 15 points against their reserve defense, the Crusaders put their “A” team back on the field for the onside try, recovering it and burning out most the remaining game clock to take a 37-21 bi-district playoff victory at Rhodes Stadium.

“The mental mistakes and turnovers we made, you can't do that against a good team, and they are a good team,” Mayde Creek head coach Lance Carter said.

“We played a terrible first quarter, we gave them a short field and we didn't do very well on offense.”

Taking advantage of two turnovers, the Crusaders jumped out to a 27-7 halftime lead. Strake Jesuit extended its advantage to 37-7 with 6:50 to play in the game before the Rams put two scores on the board to give their fan base something to cheer about.

The Rams finish the 2008 season 5-5. In Carter's two years as head coach, Mayde Creek has gone 11-10 and made the playoffs twice, but lost both first-round games.

“Just getting there is not acceptable for this program,” Carter said.

“We aren't satisfied with just making the playoffs. Not taking anything away from Strake Jesuit, but we made them a better team than they are tonight.”

The Rams opened the game with an eight-play, 51-yard drive, but missed a 41-yard field goal.

The Ram defense appeared to hold Strake Jesuit three-and-out, but a 15-yard personal foul penalty for roughing the punter gave the Spartans new life.

Strake Jesuit took advantage of the gift and marched down the field, taking a 7-0 lead on a 28-yard inside draw by Britt Sobiesk.

Two drives later, Ram tailback Devown Hines coughed up the ball at his own 16-yard line and Strake Jesuit took over.

On the short field it took the Crusaders just three plays to find the end zone on a 12-yard pass from quarterback James Scott to wide receiver Kellan Belanger.

The Rams' next possession ended much the same way as quarterback Luke Leonard's deep pass was intercepted and returned into Ram territory.

Again it was a quick strike off a turnover, with Scott finding Beau Grenier on a 25-yard touchdown to make it 20-0.

Missing their top quarterback, tailback and wide receiver, the Ram offense finally found life on its ensuing possession.

Leonard converted a fourth-and-one and Hines broke a 50-yard run to the Crusader 16.

On third-and-goal from the 15, Leonard hit Tommie Cross with a touchdown pass to pull the Rams within 20-7 at the two-minute mark of the first half.

Despite the momentum change, the Rams could not keep the Crusaders from marching down the field, helping Strake's cause with three penalties, two of them pass-interference fouls in the red zone.

Belanger took a reverse six yards for a touchdown with three seconds left to make it a 27-7 Strake lead at halftime.

A 32-yard pass from Scott to Belanger set up Scott's one-yard touchdown plunge to open the third quarter and make it 34-7 Crusaders.

A 22-yard field goal by Alex Wilkins extended Strake's lead to 37-7 with 6:50 to play in the game.

The Rams fought back with the longest play of the game, a 68-yard from Leonard to a wide-open Cross in the middle of the field.

Mayde Creek went for two but missed on a pass, leaving the Rams behind 37-13 with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter.

The Rams' onside kick attempt failed, but their defense held and the offense took the ball back at its own 19 with 3:17 to play in the fourth quarter.

A 29-yard pass from Leonard to Cliff Simmons, followed by a 34-yard completion to Cross got the Rams back into the red zone.

Cross took a seven-yard pass from Leonard into the end zone. Cross then caught a two-point conversion pass to make it 37-21 with 2:12 to play.

The Rams couldn't cover the onside kick, but used all three of their time-outs to get the ball back at their own seven with 48 seconds to play.

Leonard's third-down deep pass was intercepted by Beso Adesomo with six seconds left to seal the game.

“We were taught to never quit, and we didn't quit tonight,” Mayde Creek senior cornerback Mason Hooper said.

“We just made too many mistakes and mental errors in the first half. It hurts. Nothing hurts worse than a loss in the playoffs.”

See the weekend edition of The Katy Times for a complete wrap-up of the Rams' loss.