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Manvel shocks Wildcats
Published November 7, 2009
ALVIN — The Manvel Mavericks did what few believed they could Friday night: They beat the high-powered Angleton Wildcats.
Playing in a must-win game to keep a glimmer of post-season hope alive, the Mavericks, who entered the contest with only two district wins, shut out the state-ranked Wildcats in the second half en route to a 28-17 victory at Alvin Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve got a good football team and we’ve known all along that we’ve got a good football team,” Manvel head coach Kirk Martin said. “We’ve had some hiccups along the way but, like I told my players, we were only three plays away from being 5-1 and playing them for the district championship. We lost to Friendswood by one play, we lost to (Pearland) Dawson by one play and we lost to Texas City by one play.
“The kids played their guts out,” the coach added. “It’s a great day to be a Maverick.”
Manvel’s upset victory, joined with Texas City’s win over Brazosport and Dawson’s victory over Santa Fe, placed the Mavericks (3-4, 5-5 overall) in a three-way tie for the final District 24-4A playoff seed. A coin flip was held in Santa Fe late Friday night to determine the district’s last post-season representative, and Santa Fe won.
The loss to Manvel doesn’t have an effect on Angleton’s postseason future. The Wildcats (6-1, 9-1 overall) are the 24-4A champions and will host Terry at 2 p.m. Saturday in the opening playoff round.
“We didn’t rise up and we didn’t make the plays when we needed to,” Angleton coach Finis Vanover said. “They gave us a good old country whipping, and we’re going to take it.”
The Wildcats were playing with a hobbled Quandre Diggs, who hurt his ankle early in the first quarter. Although Diggs remained in the game, he finished with only eight rushing yards.
“He twisted his ankle pretty bad, and when a gifted athlete like him doesn’t have his wheels, he’s in trouble,” Vanover said.
It was one of those nights when bad luck hit the Wildcats from every direction.
The Mavericks broke open big plays at times when the Wildcat defense looked to have the offensive player locked down, while an Angleton touchdown late in the game was called back because of a penalty.
The most improbable play of the contest came midway through the third quarter when the Wildcats’ Aaron Davis blocked a Manvel punt, only to see the Mavericks’ Brian Dubose pick the ball up and run 33 yards for the first down.
Two plays later, quarterback Travaughn Colwell broke loose for a 42-yard scoring dash that gave Manvel a 21-17 lead.
The Mavericks added more points to the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when linebacker Jeremy Ragland scooped up an Angleton fumble and ran 18 yards for the score and an 11-point lead.
Angleton still had hope late in the game, but Forrest Jones intercepted a Wildcat pass at the Mavericks’ 8 yard line to seal the win.
“Every time we made a big play or had them trapped … they found a way out of it,” Vanover said. “... They showed up to play and had a great plan. Their kids played like warriors out there.”
Colwell finished with 111 rushing yards for the Mavericks and passed for 79 yards. Manvel’s defense held Angleton’s rushing attack to 155 yards, with 78 of those coming on a 78-yard Henry Josey touchdown run.
“God was smiling on us tonight,” Martin said of his team. “We traded punches with them and our defense bowed up in the second half. Our offense came alive, we made the plays we needed to make and we got after them.”
While the Mavericks ended up with the huge victory, the game’s opening moments looked as if it was going to be another Angleton blowout.
Diggs got things going when he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a score, followed by Josey’s 78-yard touchdown sprint two possessions later. After extra-point kicks by Shaun Rodriguez, Angleton had a 14-0 advantage only three minutes into the game.
Then the Mavericks started fighting back.
Manvel’s Kaylon Melancon took the Wildcats' next kickoff and raced 85 yards for the touchdown and, after Jimmy Wells' kick, the Mavericks had cut the lead in half at 14-7.
Rodriguez added to Angleton’s lead early in the second stanza with a 21-yard field goal, but Manvel responded with a 27-yard Colwell to Saqwan Edwards scoring pass to reduce Angleton’s lead to 17-14 at the half, setting up the Mavericks’ second-half fireworks.
Manvel finished with 277 yards of offense, with 201 coming on the ground. Angleton ended with 239 yards, with Josey leading the way with 112 rushing yards.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing – Angleton: Henry Josey 10-112; Manvel: Travaughn Colwell 18-111.
Passing – Angleton: Quandre Diggs 7-15-84, 2 INT; Manvel: Colwell 5-14-79, 1 TD, 1 INT
Receiving – Angleton: Jayln Judkins 3-31; Manvel Saqwan Edwards 3-61.
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