The La Porte Bulldogs went into their round one playoff matchup shorthanded against the Pasadena Memorial Mavericks last Saturday, but found a way to win in the end 29-21.
The Bulldogs were without the services of Senior Running Back Keith Whitely (1415 yards, 9 tds) and Junior Running Back Johnathan Lewis (1091 yards, 17 tds). The pair of backs were out due to injury.
The game started and it was ugly for La Porte. After a Bulldog three and out the Mavericks were able to move the ball into Bulldog territory, but the La Porte defense would get a stop. With good field position the Bulldogs were stopped on 4th and 2 and the Mustangs were able to take over on downs. Pasadena Memorial would get a big pass into La Porte territory and Senior Kicker Tara Cole would put the Mavericks on the board with a 32 yard field goal and give Memorial a 3-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first.
La Porte would get the kickoff and go backwards the next three plays. Senior Punter Eric Medina would punt the ball away again. The Bulldog defense held strong this time and Memorial would punt to the La Porte three yard line. La Porte started to show some signs of life, but the drive would stall again at their own 37. Pasadena Memorial would again put together a good drive, this time it ended in a touchdown when Senior Quarterback Jordan Wyatt found Fullback Justin Acosta for a 19 yard gain to the one yard line and Wyatt would run it in from the one. The extra point failed and Pasadena Memorial lead 9-0.
The bad play would continue for the Bulldogs as the next drive would feature 5 penalties and end in another punt with a La Porte player being kicked out of the game for talking back to the officials. The La Porte defense would come up with a big stop and get great field position as the Mavericks punt only traveled to the 25 yard line. Three plays later Eric Medina would get the Bulldogs on the board with a 42 yard field goal to make the score 9-3 Memorial.
The Bulldogs would finally settle down and find some things that worked. The Mavericks next possession ended when La Porte Junior Linebacker Hoza Scott knocked the ball free from the running back and recovered the fumble. With La Porte set up at the 25 yard line and 1:18 left until halftime, Junior Quarterback Jordan Jackson would find Junior Victor Holmes on a corner fade route for a 25 yard touchdown pass. Just like that La Porte went from being outclassed to the lead 10-9 going into the half.
Pasadena Memorial would come out of halftime throwing it. Wyatt found Adrian Boutte (5 catches, 161 yards on the day) twice for big gains into La Porte territory. Running back Ahrmon McLeod would score with a 17 yard run to put the Mavericks back in the lead after another missed extra point 15-10.
La Porte's offense made some great adjustments at the half and Sophomore Running Back Britt Grant (104 yards on 23 carries) would have lots of success running up the middle. The Bulldogs pounded the ball to the Maverick 23 yard line where Jackson would find Senior Receiver Jahvey Mark, who had the best game of his Bulldog career with seven catches and 117 yards, for a 23 yard touchdown pass on a wide receiver screen. The Bulldogs extra point was no good making the score 16-15 La Porte.
Back and forth the game went at this point. Memorial's Wyatt would again find the fullback Acosta out of the backfield for a 70 yard reception and a touchdown. Memorial went for two and it failed. The Mavericks went up again 21-16.
La Porte's performance in close games this season came in handy as the teams would trade punts as we moved to the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs run game continued to come to life with five straight big runs capped off by a Victor Holmes six yard touchdown run. The extra point attempt would fail, a common theme for the game. La Porte would never relinquish the lead again. La Porte lead 22-21 with 10:18 left in the game.
The game would not end without a scare for the Bulldogs, however. With 6:50 left Pasadena Memorial started a 13 play drive getting all the way down to the La Porte four yard line. With a chance to put up a lead with a little over four minutes left the Mavericks set up for a 16 yard field goal. Hoza Scott would not let that happen as he charged through the blockers and blocked the field goal attempt.
La Porte would set up on the 20 yard line as the blocked kick went through the back of the end zone. The very next play Victor Holmes (120 total yards, 3 tds) would take the handoff around the left side and sprint 80 yards for the touchdown, this time the extra point was good. La Porte lead 29-21 with 3:58 left in the game.
La Porte Junior Cornerback John Nelson would seal the game with a big interception down field an the Bulldogs were able to run the clock out sending La Porte to the second round of the playoffs.
Grant, Holmes and Junior Running Back Clifton Figaro stepped up in the second half behind a great effort along the offensive line and found the offense La Porte needed after rushing for negative four yards in the first half, the Bulldogs ran for 230 in the second half.
Great effort by the Pasadena Memorial Mavericks against a heavily favored team to almost come out with a shocking result.
La Porte will face Fort Bend Bush in round two on Saturday 11/24 at 2pm in Pearland.
Can anyone provide information as to the injury status of Whitely and Lewis, that kept them out of the Memorial game and will they be able to play in the Bush game?
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