Spencer Bates, Sports Desk Contributor
The Casady Cyclones played a great football game against SPC-favorite All Saints. They fought hard in the trenches, made some critical plays to keep drives going, and were able to jump out to 17-13 lead to end the first half. Unfortunately, All Saints is still a talented football team and took back the lead and kept it in the second half while scoring three touchdowns. I won’t sugarcoat this: many expected Casady to be blown out of the water by All Saints, who is considered as one of the best football teams in the Southwest Preparatory Conference. However, this team proved in the first quarter alone that this game was winnable by both sides. With that being said, let’s get into the recap.
1st Quarter
All Saints struck first with a TD but failed to convert for two points.
Casady 0 All Saints 6
Casady then responded by driving down the field and kicking a field goal in the red zone. The attempt by K Rob Nayfa was GOOD for 3.
Casady 3 All Saints 6
That wraps up the scoring for the first quarter. With the exception of the first touchdown, Casady’s defense stood strong. The ‘clones also did a great job of limiting All Saints chances by controlling the clock with the run game. Even though the long drive to set up the field goal didn’t end in 6, the Cyclones used the run game to control the clock and limit All Saints chances to drive down the field and score.
2nd Quarter
RB William Walter ran in a goal-line touchdown for the Cyclones set up by the pick from CB Maxwell Wariboko. PAT by Rob Nayfa is GOOD.
Casady 10 All Saints 6
All Saints TD Pass. PAT is good.
Casady 10 All Saints 13
QB A.J. Cruse threw a touchdown pass to WR Brett Reynolds for the Cyclones second touchdown of the night. This was the result of a 63 yard drive which was set up by a kick return by Maxwell Wariboko, a deep ball by QB A.J. Cruse to WR Rob Nayfa with a little less than 30 seconds left in the half, and a trick play involving a hook and ladder by Maxwell Wariboko to Jay Bozalis which propelled the Cyclones into the red zone and set up the touchdown pass. PAT by Rob Nayfa is also good.
HIGHLIGHT: Hook and Ladder Maxwell Wariboko to Jay Bozalis
Cruse to Wariboko to Bozalis hook-and-lateral @casady_football Cyclones 17 All Saints 13 HALF pic.twitter.com/hRVpuAR4sx
— Jim Quillen (@JimQuillen) October 17, 2015
HIGHLIGHT: A.J. Cruse to Brett Reynolds
Cruse 3-yard TD pass to Reynolds. Casady 17 All Saints 13 Q2 @ScottWrightOK @jacobunruh #okpreps pic.twitter.com/mSQCzUi6WW
— Jim Quillen (@JimQuillen) October 17, 2015
Casady 17 All Saints 13
Halftime: The Cyclones defense looks like it has held up All Saints in the first half. I will emphasize this again and probably another time in this recap: the key to that first half was clock management. Coach Scoville should give himself a pat on the back for the way he managed that first half. While the outcome was a little different in the second half, there were some hiccups that gave All Saints the opportunities to get going.
3rd Quarter
This is where the turning point of the game occurred. The Cyclones had the ball in All Saints territory and William Walter broke out for a run, the type of run which usually doesn’t end with him being tackled. However, Walter fumbled the ball on the run and All Saints recovered it. To put this in perspective, if William Walter took that ball to the house, it would probably be a 10 or 11 point lead for the Cyclones depending on the extra point. However, that didn’t happen…
All Saints TD Pass. PAT is good.
Casady 17 All Saints 20
4th Quarter
All Saints TD Run/Pass doesn’t matter. PAT is good.
Casady 17 All Saints 27
This is one I know A.J. Cruse wish he had back..
Pick Six by All Saints. PAT is good.
Casady 17 All Saints 34
Reid Fisher was productive late in the game. He broke off for a long run up the middle which he got tackled on and ran in a 2-yard touchdown to trim the lead.
HIGHLIGHT: Reid Fisher runs in TD
Reid Fisher 2-yard TD run, PAT fails. All Saints 34 Casady 23 0:31 Q4 @ScottWrightOK @jacobunruh pic.twitter.com/XW5oOPhWGg
— Jim Quillen (@JimQuillen) October 17, 2015
FINAL SCORE: Casady 23 All Saints 34
In the end, it was the turnovers that killed the Cyclones. Against a team like All Saints, turning the ball over will not win the game, and this showed us how. This was the last regular season home game for the Cyclones. Thank you everyone for supporting the Casady Cyclones Football Team at home.
Make sure to make the trek down to Dallas this Friday for Casady vs. Oakridge.
