HARMONY HOLDS OFF SABINE | Cardinals slip on the road in a defensive battle with Eagles, 17-7
By JEREMY NEWLIN
Special to the ETBlitz.com
HARMONY – The first road trip of the year unfortunately ended in similar fashion as last week’s home opener for the Sabine High School Cardinals, who came up short Friday night at Harmony.
Sabine gave Harmony all it wanted, but wound up on the wrong end of a 17-7 final.
The Cardinals (0-2) will be back home next Friday, Sept. 12 against New Diana (also on an 0-2 start).
Harmony won the coin toss and deferred, both the teams combined for 6 yards on both possessions and traded punts.
The Cardinals’ next possession saw the Eagle defense get Sabine into a third-and-16 siutation, and Sabine quarterback Griffin DeHoyos made the most of it. DeHoyos found Keifer Serrano on the sideline, who sprinted 56 yards before he was taken down.
Sabine, though, would turn the ball over on downs in Harmony territory.
Harmony took advantage of this and took two plays: an 11-yard pass play from Cy Stracener to Sammar Jones, and then Stracener breaking free for a 58-yard touchdown run. The extra point by Angel Rios-Ramirez put the Eagles up 7-0.
The Cardinals were relying on big plays and DeHoyos did just that, connecting with Damin Richardson with a 39-yard catch and run. The drive ended when Jones intercepted DeHoyos’ pass.
The defense of the Cardinals held strong and forced a punt, but the fair catch was fumbled and recovered by Harmony’s Jones. The defense stopped the Eagles again to end the first quarter.
Trailing by 7, Sabine went to its book of trick plays to start the second quarter.
On third and long, DeHoyos pitched the ball back to Syler Pierce, and he launched the ball to a wide-open Rhyder Richardson. Richardson cut to the middle and was eventually caught by the Eagle defense, but not before gaining 63 yards and putting the Cardinals at the 12-yard-line.
On fourth down, though, Harmony’s Brayden Morris sacked DeHoyos to take the ball over.
Both defenses stood tall, and the Cardinals’ defense showed that as Jeremiah Templeton intercepted Stracener’s pass.
Following a punt, the Eagle offense moved downfield as the second quarter wound down. With runs of 33 and 17 yards by Stracener, the Eagle offense was in the red zone.
On their next play, Jones was hit hard and fumbled the ball, giving Sabine one last drive before the half.
A pass interference penalty on Harmony moved the ball for the Cardinals, then a 10-yard run by DeHoyos and a 19-yarder by Richardson gave the Cardinals life.
A 12-yard catch by Landry Laird put the ball at first and goal. DeHoyos ran the ball in for the score with six seconds left, but a holding penalty negated the score.
One last shot saw DeHoyos roll right and find Lincoln Royce at the pylon for the touchdown, Sabine. Darrin Borden kicked the point after, tying the score at 7-all to end the half.
The third quarter was all Harmony.
They took the second half kickoff and used 14 plays and used eight minutes of the quarter to score, taking a 14-7 lead.
The drive saw the Eagles keep to the ground and then Jones bulled his way in from the 1 for the score.
But that apparently wasn’t enough, as Harmony executed a perfect onside kick that they recovered at Sabine’s 45. The Cardinals’ defense held strong and forced a turnover on downs to end the third quarter.
Defense was the theme of the fourth quarter.
The Eagles forced a punt to start the quarter, then Sabine forced Stracener to fumble in return, and the Cardinals recovered at the Eagles’ 30.
DeHoyos found Royce for 18 yards, giving the Cardinals a first-and-goal at the 9. That was all they would get, though, as the Eagles’ defense forced a turnover on downs.
Harmony’s final possession was in Eagle territory at the 32.
Sabine’s defense forced another fumble, but the Eagles recovered.
Facing a fourth down, the Cardinals were flagged with a personal foul, giving Harmony an automatic first down with two minutes left. Only gaining 4 yards, the Eagles went for the field goal and Ramirez nailed a 22-yarder to increase the lead to 17 -7.
The game ended when DeHoyos went deep and had his pass intercepted by Jordan Swann.
DeHoyos went 7-of-26 for 157 yards and the touchdown. Richardson led the team with 47 yards rushing and 102 receiving. For Harmony, Stracener had 42 yards through the air and added 153 on the ground.