Dawgs play spoiler for Cardinals’ homecoming
By DAVID MORRIS
Cove Leader-Press
The Copperas Cove Bulldawgs loaded the busses and headed south to Austin for Veterans Memorial Stadium to play Homecoming spoiler for the Del Valle Cardinals and improve to 2-2 on the season by a score of 21-14.
“It means a lot to be able to come in here and play spoiler,” KJ Zeigler said. “I just want to give thanks to my coaches. They've been working with us since last summer, we've been working hard. “
The opening kickoff went to the Del Valle Cardinals with a long return, and they set up shop at Dawgs’ 45-yard line. They would need one play for Kevin Meeks to find the endzone and 15 ticks off the clock to give the Cardinals a quick 7-0 lead on the 45-yard run.
Copperas Cove would begin near midfield as a pooch kick was corralled by Kameron Rodriguez at their own 44-yard line. Facing a fourth and nine on the drive, Kyson Ignacio punted the ball inside the Cardinals’ 10-yard line after five plays.
Moving the ball to midfield on eight plays, a bad snap on third down sent the ball to midfield where Matt Zeigler recorded a sack bringing up fourth and 18 yards to gain. Omar Ponce flipped the field position, punting to the Dawgs’ 14-yard line.
On first down, the Dawgs were hit with a delay of game penalty as they were unable to get a ball into play. Three plays and 14 yards later, the Dawgs faced fourth and one, punting to their own 47-yard line where the Cardinals would take over and take possession to the end of the quarter.
Five plays into the second quarter, the Cardinals and Kenelle Hodges found the endzone on a four-yard run with Daniel Ramirez adding the point after kick and score to 14-0.
The ensuing kickoff rolled out of bounds at the Dawgs’ 5-yard line, however the penalty set Cove up at their own 30. KJ Zeigler bounced the run outside and raced down the sideline for a 52-yard gain.
Three plays later, Zeigler picked up a first down at the 1-yard line and walked into the endzone on the next play with six minutes left in the half. Christian Luna added the point after attempt to make the score 14-7.
“It was my right tackle Don Ramos – he helped me out on that run. He blocked a man inside. I bounced outside and then I had my wide receiver, TJ Hocutt. He came out there held me up too.”
The Cardinals caught the kickoff at the 19-yard line and would advance to the Cardinals’ 22-yard and begin their drive.
On second down, Gilbyrt Davis recorded a sack faced with a third and 17, but Cameron Tuiasosopo took the opportunity to collect a 7-yard sack of his own and force a fourth and 25 yards to gain where Omar Ponce would punt the ball 53 yards. Miller returned the opportunity 21 yards to the Cardinals’ 25-yard line.
“I told them what we were going to do to separate ourselves. I think our grit, our Bulldawg tempo and just our ability to come back and not get down on ourselves when things aren't going right. I thought it really showed there in the fourth quarter,” Defensive Coordinator Mike Evans said. “Guys made plays when it mattered. We had no room for error, and the defense stepped up, made great plays, and offense did just enough, and it's all about just getting one more point that they did. That's what we did tonight.”
A late hit on first down gave the Dawgs the ball at the Cardinals’ 25-yard line. King completed a pass for 5, and a pair of plays later Zeigler found the endzone from 20 yards out. A failed point after attempt left the scoreboard 14-13 in Del Valle favor.
Del Valle needed 6 plays to move 42 yards from their own 18 faced with a fourth down, Ponce flipped the field passion again, setting the Dawgs at their own 12-yard line.
Anthony King launched a Hail Mary attempt with 25 seconds remaining in the half but the pass would land just past the fingertips of Arthur Miller, falling incomplete on first down. On second down, the Dawgs elected to hand the ball to Malik Cuthbert who picked up four yards before the clock wound down for halftime.
At the half, Zeigler led the team with 9 carries for 116 yards and two scores, while Glass led the receiving corps with 2 catches and 15 yards.
On defense, Daevion Phillips led the team with 4 tackles while Chase Hamilton, Tuiasosopo and Davis each had first half sacks.
Taking the second half kickoff at their own 20-yard line, King and the Dawgs went to work for the second half of play. After three plays, faced with fourth and seven, Ignacio punted to Hayward who was brought down after minimal gain.
Three negative plays for the Dawgs set them up with 4 and 12 at the 12-yard line where the Dawgs would punt again to midfield.
The Cardinals picked up 3 first downs on the drive before a tipped pass was intercepted ending the 8-play drive and setting Cove up at their own 36-yard line.
Cuthbert picked up a first down on a 28-yard run moving inside the 30-yard line before the end of the quarter. Eight plays later, the Dawgs were in the endzone on a four-yard run by Zeigler. A two-point pass attempt from King to Matt Zeigler in the back of the endzone was good, making the score 21-14.
The Cardinals used 8 plays to move the ball 46 yards before being faced with a fourth and two to gain before calling a timeout. Coming out of the break, Del Valle picked up the first and drained the clock to 1:35 on the 16-play, 58-yard drive that resulted in a turnover of downs.
Copperas Cove took possession at the 12-yard line. Zeigler gave the Dawgs some breathing room and the 21-14 victory.
“One of our acronyms that we tell the kids, and we’re big on in the program, is GRIT, and it took every ounce of GRIT for this game against a quality opponent. Hats off to them,” Offensive coordinator Jared Shaw said. “They had a heck of a game plan, and they executed that game plan. When we went into halftime, we made some adjustments. Our kids responded. Coach responded. I’m just really proud of the group as a whole coaching staff-wise and kid-wise, and just looking forward to continuing to win every single game, continue to string wins together, just building what we had tonight.”
Leading the Dawgs in scoring was KJ Ziegler who racked up 141 yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns. Cuthbert carried the ball 8 times for 56 yards while King was 6/10 passing for 22 yards.
The Dawgs will return home for their next action as they welcome the Killeen Kangaroos to Bulldawg stadium for Homecoming festivities and a 7:30 p.m. kickoff to the district schedule.