ronaldoswalt
03-27-2006, 11:46 AM
Copperheads pick up first road win
2006-03-26
By BRIAN SIMMONS
bsimmons@katycourier.com
MONROE, La. — Katy coach Bryan Blake called the game bittersweet, but it earned his team a winning record.
The Copperheads used a strong third quarter to pull out a 45-30 victory over the Twin City Gators at the Monroe Civic Center.
"We still haven't played Copperheads football," coach Blake said.
"We made so many mistakes and we're lucky to win the game. We should put teams like that away. We kept them in the game the entire game."
The Copperheads improved to 2-1, while Twin City fell to 0-2.
Katy quarterback and former University of Louisiana at Monroe Indian Ryan Breedlove at times seemed determined to make his former college town remember his name in his first start as a Copperhead.
After a shaky first drive, Breedlove finished the night with 121 yards and four touchdowns on 11-23 passing. Blake stayed the course with Breedlove partly to keep the quarterback's confidence up, he said.
"It was a good time, coming back (to Monroe)," Breedlove said. "After that first drive — (Blake) could have pulled me after that one, but we settled down as a team. More importantly, myself, I settled down. I still made some mistakes, but we overcame it and the whole team really got us the victory."
Fellow former ULM Indian Jason Deml caught four passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, giving him four on the season.
Blake said he was trying to spark the offense, which had been struggling the past two weeks, so he went with Breedlove over Marc Saldana, who started the first two games. Blake plans to use both quarterbacks throughout the rest of the season, he said.
Some of the mistakes Blake spoke of were the 13 penalties for 87 yards that thwarted the offense all night.
The other mistakes were kinks the Copperheads are still trying to work on offense.
The first half saw Katy muster just 65 yards
"I told my guys at halftime, if we want to be mediocre, we can," Blake said. "But I hand-picked everybody in there and that's not what I brought them here for."
Copperheads receiver Darrick Wallace started the third-quarter surge by returning the half-opening kickoff to the Gators' 14-yard line. After a couple penalties against his team, Wallace got the ball again on a 21-yard touchdown catch.
Katy defensive end Anthony George recovered a fumble in Gator territory, then Kerry Henderson soon ran for a nine-yard score.
In less than five minutes, Katy's three-point halftime lead grew to 35-18.
At running back, Katy went with Bam Morris for the first half and Henderson in the second.
Morris finished with 37 yards on seven carries, while Henderson had 23 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.
The Gators seemed to catch the same special teams bug Katy had for the first two weeks of the season. The Copperheads blocked two extra-point attempts and Twin City had a bad snap on another attempt.
Meanwhile, Katy kicker Whitney Hillin went 6-for-6 on extra points and nailed a 30-yard field goal.
The Gators played keep away during the first half, controlling the ball for about 16 of the first 22 minutes. Their first touchdown came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Gary Cooper. After missing the extra-point attempt, kicker Teddy Garcia squib kicked and the Gators recovered. With the help of a pass interference and personal foul call against Katy, Twin City marched back down the field to take a 12-7 lead on a two-yard run by Mike Mitchell.
Until the 5:12 mark of the second quarter, Katy's lone score came on a blocked field goal by Robbie Walker. LeBrandon Shepard recovered the ball in the end zone to put the Copperheads up 7-0 in the first quarter.
The Copperheads complete their two-game road trip with a contest at Beaumont on April 1.
2006-03-26
By BRIAN SIMMONS
bsimmons@katycourier.com
MONROE, La. — Katy coach Bryan Blake called the game bittersweet, but it earned his team a winning record.
The Copperheads used a strong third quarter to pull out a 45-30 victory over the Twin City Gators at the Monroe Civic Center.
"We still haven't played Copperheads football," coach Blake said.
"We made so many mistakes and we're lucky to win the game. We should put teams like that away. We kept them in the game the entire game."
The Copperheads improved to 2-1, while Twin City fell to 0-2.
Katy quarterback and former University of Louisiana at Monroe Indian Ryan Breedlove at times seemed determined to make his former college town remember his name in his first start as a Copperhead.
After a shaky first drive, Breedlove finished the night with 121 yards and four touchdowns on 11-23 passing. Blake stayed the course with Breedlove partly to keep the quarterback's confidence up, he said.
"It was a good time, coming back (to Monroe)," Breedlove said. "After that first drive — (Blake) could have pulled me after that one, but we settled down as a team. More importantly, myself, I settled down. I still made some mistakes, but we overcame it and the whole team really got us the victory."
Fellow former ULM Indian Jason Deml caught four passes for 38 yards and a touchdown, giving him four on the season.
Blake said he was trying to spark the offense, which had been struggling the past two weeks, so he went with Breedlove over Marc Saldana, who started the first two games. Blake plans to use both quarterbacks throughout the rest of the season, he said.
Some of the mistakes Blake spoke of were the 13 penalties for 87 yards that thwarted the offense all night.
The other mistakes were kinks the Copperheads are still trying to work on offense.
The first half saw Katy muster just 65 yards
"I told my guys at halftime, if we want to be mediocre, we can," Blake said. "But I hand-picked everybody in there and that's not what I brought them here for."
Copperheads receiver Darrick Wallace started the third-quarter surge by returning the half-opening kickoff to the Gators' 14-yard line. After a couple penalties against his team, Wallace got the ball again on a 21-yard touchdown catch.
Katy defensive end Anthony George recovered a fumble in Gator territory, then Kerry Henderson soon ran for a nine-yard score.
In less than five minutes, Katy's three-point halftime lead grew to 35-18.
At running back, Katy went with Bam Morris for the first half and Henderson in the second.
Morris finished with 37 yards on seven carries, while Henderson had 23 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.
The Gators seemed to catch the same special teams bug Katy had for the first two weeks of the season. The Copperheads blocked two extra-point attempts and Twin City had a bad snap on another attempt.
Meanwhile, Katy kicker Whitney Hillin went 6-for-6 on extra points and nailed a 30-yard field goal.
The Gators played keep away during the first half, controlling the ball for about 16 of the first 22 minutes. Their first touchdown came on a 1-yard run by quarterback Gary Cooper. After missing the extra-point attempt, kicker Teddy Garcia squib kicked and the Gators recovered. With the help of a pass interference and personal foul call against Katy, Twin City marched back down the field to take a 12-7 lead on a two-yard run by Mike Mitchell.
Until the 5:12 mark of the second quarter, Katy's lone score came on a blocked field goal by Robbie Walker. LeBrandon Shepard recovered the ball in the end zone to put the Copperheads up 7-0 in the first quarter.
The Copperheads complete their two-game road trip with a contest at Beaumont on April 1.