Bragging rights are returning to Cabool.
The Bulldogs built an early lead in the battle of Texas County foes and slowed Houston’s offense just enough to beat the Tigers 20-7 Friday night at Tiger Stadium.
HHS lost to its biggest rivals for the first time in three seasons and remained winless in 2014. It was also the program’s 10th straight loss.
“There are a lot of things we’re doing right,” third-year Tigers coach Billy O’Neil said. “We’re making strides that people aren’t seeing, and we’re going in the right direction. It’s the little things that are keeping us from enjoying success on the scoreboard.”
Cabool (3-1, 1-1 South Central Association) was the first team to slow Houston’s offense. After averaging 355 yards through three games, the Tigers had 64 at the half and finished 104 yards under their average.
HHS finally got going in the second half behind a new-look formation. But the Tigers only converted one of their four trips inside the red zone into points as they couldn’t erase the deficit.
“Each game we’ve left points off the board,” O’Neil said. “We’ve got to get hungry inside the red zone and refused to be stopped.”
Senior Malachi Sawyer led Houston (0-4, 0-2 SCA) with 12 carries for 58 yards and his first varsity touchdown. Ty Wilkins had four catches for 82 yards.
The Bulldogs out-rushed the Tigers 284-150. Quarterback Tanner Barnes led the way with six carries for 96 yards and two scores. Broderick Davis added 82 yards and a score, and Chance Hunter ran for 78 yards.
After holding Houston to four and five yards on its first two possessions, the Bulldogs covered 52 yards on nine plays to take an early advantage. Barnes capped the drive with a 5-yard keeper.
Ahead 7-0, Cabool extended its lead midway through the second quarter when Davis took a handoff and sprinted 41 yards to the end zone.
The Tigers put together their first sustained drive as they moved to the Bulldogs’ 34-yard line with just over one minute left in the first half. But they were stopped on fourth down and two plays later, Barnes romped 72 yards to make it 20-0.
Houston only had 10 defenders on the field after the change of possession on downs.
“They ran right through a hole where we didn’t have a player,” O’Neil said. “There could have been 12 other spots he ran, but he went right to the spot where we were missing a player. If the quarterback saw that, good for him because that’s just playing heads up football.”
HHS opened the second half with an onside kick. The Tigers recovered and unveiled a new look similar to Gus Malzahn’s spread offense at Auburn University.
The Tigers marched to the Cabool 16 before they were stopped on downs. They got the ball right back following a Cabool fumble, but they were again stopped short of the goal line –– this time at the 17.
HHS quarterback Nathan Poynter hit Wilkins on a 42-yard strike to the Cabool 8-yard line on the Tigers’ ensuing possession. Scott Logan ran the ball to the 4 on the next play, but HHS was held out of the end zone for the third straight possession.
The Tigers finally found paydirt on their fourth trip inside the red zone. On first down from the 12, Sawyer bulled his way into the end zone with five seconds remaining in the third quarter. Lucas Kelley converted the extra point to make it 20-7.
Sawyer had one rush for three yards this season before he was called upon as the featured back in the second half against Cabool.
“Malachi was either punishing the defender or just running right over them,” O’Neil said. “That’s the type of effort that we need from all the kids.”
Houston held Cabool to 82 yards of offense in the second half. But the Bulldogs were able to make their early lead hold up.
“Cabool came to play from the beginning of the game,” O’Neil said. “I wish we would have come out from the beginning of the game like we did in the second half.”
BOX SCORE
| Cabool | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | – | 20 |
| Houston | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 7 |
First Quarter
CAB – Barnes 5 run (Bock kick), 3:20.
Second Quarter
CAB – Davis 59 run (Bock kick), 7:54.
CAB – Barnes 72 run (kick failed), 0:40.
Third Quarter
HOU – Sawyer 12 run (Kelley kick), 0:05.
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| CAB | HOU | |
| First downs | 9 | 10 |
| Total yards | 330 | 251 |
| Rushes-yards | 35-284 | 42-150 |
| Passing | 46 | 101 |
| Punt returns | 0 | 30 |
| Kickoff returns | 0 | 52 |
| Comp-att-int | 2-4-0 | 9-25-2 |
| Sacked-yards lost | 2-14 | 0-0 |
| Punts | 5-30.0 | 4-23.8 |
| Fumbles-lost | 4-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-yards | 6-40 | 8-50 |
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Cabool, Barnes 6-96, Davis 13-82, Hunter 13-78, Kozak 3-28. Houston, Sawyer 12-58, Wilkins 10-35, Logan 7-26, SWelch 7-21, Poynter 6-10.
PASSING – Cabool, Barnes 2-4-0 46. Houston, Poynter 9-24-2 101. Wilkins 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING – Cabool, Domingo 1-46, Barnes 1-0. Houston, Wilkins 4-82, Sawyer 2-14, Schock 1-6, Logan 2-(minus 1).
