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Deer chomp Gators in opening night victory
Defense scores 3 TDs in bizarre game
Deer Park's Tony Gonzalez leaves the pack behind as he runs a 68-yard touchdown from a blocked field goal recovery. Photo provided by DeerParkPhotos.com.In a game where the Deer gave up more than twice as many yards as they gained, it was Deer Park who found themselves on the winning side of 28-16 opening night score.
Three defensive touchdowns coupled with several Dickinson miscues assisted a Deer offense that had trouble finding a rhythm early in the game.
"It's hard to find any kind of rhythm when you only take three snaps in the first quarter," said head coach Chris Massey. "Part of that is our fault because we went three-and-out. Our defense scored twice, but that's OK."
In a bizarre first quarter, the Deer (1-0) snuffed a sustained Gator (0-1) drive forcing them to attempt a field goal. Defensive back Chandler Meyers broke through and blocked the field goal, which was picked up by Tony Gonzalez. Gonzalez ran the recovery 68 yards for a touchdown. Jacob O'Neill, who was successful on all four of his PATs added the extra point to put the Deer up 7-0.
The Gators roared back when quarterback Charles Barkman hit star wide receiver Dittrich Bunton high in the back corner of the end zone to put Dickinson on the board. However, they missed the PAT and were down 7-6.
Deer Park's first possession of the ball game was a quick three-and-out, forcing a punt. It didn't take long before the Deer Park defense put more points on the board, this time with linebacker Casey Westmoreland intercepting a Barkman pass and running it back 28 yards for the touchdown.
At the end of the first quarter, Deer Park was up 14-6 despite –6 yards on offense.
Dickinson added a field goal to cut the lead to 14-9, in the second quarter.
Quarterback Austin Rainer (6-13, 65 yards, 1 TD) got the Deer offensive motor running with a sustained drive ending with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Chase Gibbs.
"Once we got settled down, we had a good drive. We did a lot of things well. On the touchdown pass, we went with motion, and the defense rolled the coverage. Austin stuck with it and found Chase. That was the third read on that particular play. Chase found a way to get into the end zone," Massey said. That second-quarter touchdown made it 21-16.
"Austin has grown up so much since last November. He had a great spring and put in a lot of work this summer. He has a lot better grasp of our offense than he did a year ago," Massey said.
Barkman (19-37, 225 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT) hit Colby Ginn touchdown pass from five yards out to cut the lead to 21-16 at halftime, but that was as close as the Gators would get the rest of the night.
Deer Park put an exclamation mark on the game with its third defensive touchdown in the fourth quarter. Taylor Friemuller hit the Dickinson running back in the end zone causing a fumble. Vincent Vega fell on top of the loose ball to make the score 28-16.
While only accumulating 138 yards of total offense and eight first downs, the Deer took advantage of many Dickinson miscues. The Gators had 332 total yards and 15 first downs, but had trouble scoring because of three bad snaps resulting in substantial yard loss and seven penalties for 65 yards.
"I'm really proud of the way the defense played tonight. A blocked kick returned for a touchdown, the fumble recovery in the end zone, and an interception run back all the way – that's not something you expect to see in every game," Massey said. "We had a couple of times where we could have got off the field. We had a dropped interception that led to [Dickinson] scoring. We had them third and long and we let them convert and they scored on the next play. In my way of thinking, we were two plays from a shut out against a really good football team."
"I told the defense the reason why they were out there so much was self-inflicted. If they didn't score so much, they could have got some rest," he joked. "But then I told them they could score as often as they wanted."
Dickinson's main weapon, Bunton (7-103-1), was a non-factor most of the night after he scored the first-quarter touchdown. Massey credited senior defensive back Gonzalez for creating trouble for Bunton.
"I thought Tony played well. He gave up the touchdown, but that guy [Bunton] is a good football player. It gets tough on the goal line because that guy is tall. Tony battled him all night. Overall, we did some good things and Tony was a part of that," he said. "The way the kids worked this summer and spring, it was important for them to win the game."
Among the MVPs for the game, Massey said were conditioning coaches Ryan Reeves and Doug Bull.
"We came out healthy, which is a big deal. We had a lot of snaps on defense and we didn't have a single kid come out with cramps. For the first game, that's outstanding. That's a tribute to Coach Bull and Coach Reeves and their conditioning program," he said.
Deer Park will play its first road game next Saturday at Aldine at 6 p.m. at Thorne Stadium. The Mustangs (0-0) open their season on Aug. 28 against Klein.
Game notes: Deer Park honored Coach Dan Lounsbury as an honorary captain prior to the game. Lounsbury served a tour in the Middle East over the last year … Deer Park's celebration of the end zone fumble recovery was cut short as Dickinson running back laid motionless in the end zone for several moments. After a few minutes, he got on his feet on his own power and walked to the Gator sideline … At Wednesday's Deer Park Rotary Club meeting, Coach Massey announced the Deer Park/Aldine game will be televised. More information will be announced during the week … Deer Park teacher and former coach Kirk Lowe made his radio debut as color commentator for the game on the Legacy Sports Network.