ADA - In a game in which both teams struggled to sustain offensive drives much of the contest, Ada came up with a pair of big plays in the passing game that proved decisive as the Cougars held off visiting Durant, 20-13, in the season opener last week.
The Cougars produced a pair of long touchdown passes, one in each half, that accounted for 129 of their 370 total yards in the contest. Durant played virtually even over the 51 plays with a solid defensive performance that held the veteran Ada offense in check much of the night.
“We knew they were going to be talented,” head coach Todd Vargas said of Ada. “They are really talented at the skill positions. I felt like defensively we did a really good job. They just had a couple of big plays for touchdowns that killed us. I felt like we made some plays too, but some of the calls didn’t go our way and it is what it is.
“Our kids played with relentless effort, were tough and I thought we were more physical. We played with resiliency and never quit. Came back from down 14 and just ran out of time.”
Durant had its offense moving in the first stanza, marching to the Ada 34 before stalling on downs on the opening drive. Two possessions later, the Lions cracked the scoreboard with a 78-yard drive that was capped by a Stephen Maynard one-yard touchdown plunge. Maynard’s 65-yard burst and a 14-yard carry from Jaxon Cuesta fueled the rapid four-play drive that took only 1:38 off the clock.
A muffed extra point left Durant in front 6-0, but that lead was shortlived as the Cougars capitalized with a 68-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion toss to go in front for good.
The Lions answered with solid march, mixing runs from Manhard and Cole Robbins before once again stalling on downs at the Cougar 30. Vargas’ squad appeared to have a 35-yard interception return for a go-ahead touchdown by Kenyon Johnson just past the midway point of the second stanza but the score was nullified by the team’s first penalty of the night.
That miscue seemed to be contagious as the Durant offense only went backward with a pair of penalties that put them behind the chains to thwart a golden scoring opportunity.
Ada answered with a strong twominute drive just before half, covering 78 yards in six plays, and were aided by another Lion 15-yard penalty. That put the Cougars in front 14-6 after Ryder Jones intercepted the two-point conversion try.
An Eric Williams interception squelched another Ada drive inside the shadow of the Lion goalposts late in the third period to keep Durant within striking distance.
The Cougars however cashed on
Lions Cole Robbins and Maddox Arnold are among players shown in a recent scrimmage with Pauls Valley.
3rd and long on their next possession, with the Lions missing four tackles on a short pass and run that ended up going for a 61-yard score.
Despite trailing 20-6 with just nine minutes remaining, Durant found its running game with three solid bursts by Manhard. Robbins connected with Colton Poore to convert a fourth down at the Ada 41 and a 31-yard strike to Jones set up Robbins’s six-yard touchdown. Otto Baskin’s extra point cut the deficit to just seven with 4:41 left.
Durant’s defense forced a punt to give the Lions a chance with 1:22 remaining but the Lions only managed to get near midfield.
Manhard finished the game with 114 yards rushing to lead the Durant offense as Robbins rushed for 43 and passed for another 75 yards. Jones also chipped in three catches for 43 yards.
“Obviously, we wanted to win that game but there were a lot of bright spots and a lot of growth,” Vargas said. “I thought we played and tackled really well defensively most of the night. Offensively, we had our moments. We got behind the chains multiple times and had a few crucial drops. Unfortunately with those mistakes and penalties in the second and third quarter we could never get fully untracked.
We ran the ball really well in the first and fourth quarters though. Manhard ran it well and Cole ran well when we had designed runs. We just have to go back to the drawing board and look for some things we could have done differently and make those corrections.”
