Miscues
ground Eagles
By Al Pickett Reporter-News Staff Writer
Abilene High's season
opener Saturday afternoon at steamy Shotwell Stadium was a case
of mistakes and missed opportunities.
The Eagles committed
six turnovers, allowing Fort Worth Dunbar to slip away with a
21-16 victory.
"Six turnovers,
that's ridiculous," said Abilene High coach Steve Warren.
"I'm disappointed in our execution. We didn't execute, and
we got beat by a pretty decent team."
After spotting Dunbar
a 14-0 first-half lead, the Eagles held the Wildcats to just
four second-half first downs.
But every time Abilene
High seemed in position to finally take the lead, a turnover
would dash the Eagles' hopes.
The coup de grace
came with 4:03 remaining when quarterback Marcus Johnson fumbled
the snap on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.
A 47-yard pass from
Johnson to Shawon Harris and three straight runs by tailback
David Willis of 11, 13 and 6 yards gave the Eagles second-and-goal
from the 2-yard line. But three straight tries failed to produce
a touchdown, climaxed by Johnson's fumble near the goal line.
Dunbar's winning touchdown
also came as the result of an Abilene High turnover. Johnson
and Willis failed to make the exchange on a handoff, and LaNathan
White picked up the loose ball and rumbled 46 yards for touchdown
and a 21-9 Wildcats' lead with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Abilene High responded
with an 8-play, 64-yard scoring drive, capped by Willis' 4-yard
run up the middle. J.B. Gibbs' extra-point kick cut the deficit
to 21-16 with 11:31 remaining in the game.
But the Eagles' three
remaining possessions ended with a fumble near midfield, Johnson's
fumble at the goal-line and Josh Scott's interception of a tipped
pass with 56 seconds remaining to seal Dunbar's victory.
"That's the kid
of game you need to win early in the season," said Dunbar
coach Bob Jones, whose team avenged a 38-0 loss to Abilene High
in last year's season opener. "I told the kids they grew
up today. Our kids made some great plays."
Dunbar dominated the
first half, scoring on two consecutive possessions late in the
first quarter and early in the second stanza.
Quarterback Quintion
Young capped an 82-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard sneak, and
fullback Marvelus Sattlewhite had an 8-yard TD run to give the
Wildcats a 14-0 lead with 10:21 remaining before halftime.
Abilene High had its
chances to get on the scoreboard before halftime. But Willis
coughed up a fumble at the 12-yard line with 5:31 to go, Gibbs
missed a 41-yard field goal attempt with 2:14 left, and D.J.
Davis intercepted a "Hail Mary" pass by Johnson at
the 3-yard line on the final play of the half.
The Eagles finally
got untracked in the third quarter when Dunbar snapped the ball
over punter Adam Gross' head and out of the back of the end zone
for a safety.
Abilene High scored
its first touchdown on its initial play following the ensuing
free kick. Jerale Badon caught a pass over the middle from Johnson
and split the seam in the Dunbar secondary, racing 33 yards for
a touchdown to trim the deficit to 14-9.
"We played better
defense in the second half," Warren said. "We played
with more emotion, and our conditioning was great. But if you
turn it over six times, you don't deserve to win."
Johnson completed
12 of 22 passes for 174 yards and ran for 62 yards in his first
varsity start at quarterback.
AHS - safety (snap
over punter's head and out of back of end zone)
AHS - Jerale Badon
33 pass from Marcus Johnson (J.B. Gibbs kick)
Dunbar - LaNathan
White 46 rumble recover (Gross kick)
AHS - David Willis
4 run (Gibbs kick)
............................Dunbar.........Abilene
High
First Downs.............15.....................19
Rushes-yards......45-203..............34-159
Passing-yards.........41....................174
Comp-Att-Int.........5-16-0............12-22-2
Punts.....................7-37.8..............4.37.2
Fumbles-lost...........2-0....................5-4
Penalties-yards....10-85.................6-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Dunbar:
Michael Turner 22-78, Courtland Turner 1-5, Quintion Young 7-16,
Ernest Mason 4-15, Marvelus Sattlewhite 11-89. Abilene High:
David Willis 19-95, Jerale Badon 1-2, Marcus Johnson 14-62
PASSING - Dunbar:
Quintion Young 5-16-0, 41 yards. Abilene High: Marcus Johnson
12-22-2, 174 yards.
RECEIVING - Dunbar:
Brandon Moss 2-11, Ernest Mason 1-22, Michael Turner 2-8. Abilene
High: Shawon Harris 1-47, David Willis 4-46, Kevan Albright 1-3,
Kendrick Starks 4-34, Jerale Badon 2-44.
