WOOTEN TOSSES THREE TD PASSES IN BLINN’S 42-20 WIN OVER NEO
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
Facing a pivotal stretch of Southwest Junior College Football Conference games, the Blinn College football team recently adopted a new motto.
"All week, we've been saying 'leave no doubt,'" sophomore quarterback Rylan Wooten said. "We feel we still deserve to be in the conference playoffs and it was time to go out and prove it."
Wooten and the Buccaneers did just that Saturday.
Blinn's offense erupted for 21 second-quarter points and continued to roll in the second half as the Bucs cruised past Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College 42-20 at Cub Stadium in Brenham, Texas.
The home win pushed Blinn to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the SWJCFC standings while keeping its playoff hopes alive for one more week. Blinn is currently in fifth place in the conference standings, trailing Cisco College (3-3) for the fourth and final seed in the conference playoffs.
Entering their matchup with the Norsemen, the Bucs required victories in their remaining three ball games to remain in postseason contention, and Saturday's performance was a promising start.
Following a scoreless stalemate in the first quarter, it was all Blinn in the second.
After NEO's missed field goal in the opening minutes of the quarter gave the Bucs possession at their own 20-yard line, they moved downfield quickly with the help of a 44-yard rush straight up the middle by sophomore running back Kelton Weathers. Moments later, Blinn used some trickery with an end around as freshman wide receiver Rae'G Dailey took a pitch from freshman running back Martavious Boswell and raced 4 yards into the end zone.
Freshman kicker Cameron Noto drilled the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 8:38 remaining in the first half as Blinn was only getting started.
The Bucs defense forced the Norsemen to punt on their subsequent drive and Blinn sophomore defensive back Darein Hargrove had a nice return to the NEO 42-yard line. Seven plays later, Boswell trotted across the goal line from 2 yards out and Noto booted the PAT to make it 14-0 with 4:52 left on the clock.
The Buc defense stiffened again during the next Norsemen possession and used heavy pressure on fourth down to force NEO to botch a punt attempt in its own territory.
That set up Blinn's offense at the Norsemen 45 with 1:50 to go in the half, and the Bucs again showed urgency with a Boswell 23-yard run on the first snap of the drive. A horse collar penalty was called on NEO during the play to move Blinn to the 12, and Wooten connected with Dailey on a short catch-and-run for a TD.
"This was just a really good day for our offense," Bucs head coach Ryan Mahon said. "I was impressed with our offensive line; we ran the ball really well; we executed well in the passing game; and our defense once again did an outstanding job limiting the opposing offense. This is what it looks like to have a complete game on both sides of the football."
NEO got on the board in the third quarter thanks to an 8-yard scoring pass, but Blinn got right back to work to keep its distance.
The Bucs started their first drive of the second half at their own 12 and moved to the Norsemen 34 before deploying another trick from its playbook. Facing fourth down and 12, sophomore punter Breck Chambers lined up to kick but instead floated a pass to sophomore linebacker Eric Solomon II. Solomon II reached the 15 for the first down, and three plays later, Wooten and Dailey hooked up again on an 8-yard touch-pass to the back of the end zone. Noto's fourth PAT of the day made it 28-7 at the 3:34 mark of the third quarter.
"Everybody was just coming together to make big plays all day," Wooten said. "It was awesome to win a game like this where everything and everybody was clicking."
One of the few dim spots for the Blinn offense on the day was a failed red zone appearance in the fourth quarter in which Dailey dropped a would-be touchdown just inside the goal line. The speedy pass catcher made up for it in a big way on the Bucs' next drive when he hauled in a deep toss from Wooten at the NEO 21-yard line and weaved through a pair of defenders to complete the 42-yard scoring play.
NEO found the end zone for a second time on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 4:59 remaining in the fourth.
Blinn answered on an acrobatic, 47-yard highlight-reel run by Boswell, who was met by two NEO defenders at the 45 before spinning to the ground, catching himself with one hand and returning upright before racing to the end zone.
The Norsemen closed the scoring on a 6-yard run in the final minute of play.
"I'm just super proud of our kids for answering the call today," Mahon said. "This one feels good, so we'll celebrate it for a day and then get back to work Monday and prepare for Kilgore."
The Bucs visit ninth-ranked Kilgore for a 3 p.m. bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, in Kilgore, Texas.
Way to go BUCS! Outstanding performance by Coach Ryan Mahon’s team and by Coach Sarah Flisowski’s Dance and Cheer teams! Brenham is blessed to have these 2 coaches, staff and student athletes that exemplify hardword, dedication and excellence in performance! Thanks to these two coaches, many of these athletes are also TUTORS at Brenahm Elementary where they come twice a week to encourage and instruct second graders in phonetic and comprehensive reading skills. Thank you Coaches and Athletes and GO BUCS!