Although junior Gaither Cowboy quarterback, Alex McGough was hit several times causing him to limp the rest of the night, it didn’t stop him from throwing 2 touchdown passes and a combined 99 yards to help his team beat the Steinbrenner Warriors 22-6.
“It was just ugly. I mean, it was so bad, that we aren’t going to even watch the film. Steinbrenner is a good squad on and off the field and they have a great staff” said Gaither high school Coach, Jason Stokes.
Even with the 22 points put up by Gaither tonight, it appeared to be short of the coaches expectations as they did not execute as well as they would have liked to. But it seemed that Gaither was not the only team on the field that was having trouble executing. Steinbrenner put up 6 points from a touchdown that came with a fumbled extra point which led to a horde of mixed players jumping on to it.
“We have to play better solid special teams throughout the full length o the games. The opponents only get harder and the responsibility of each individual part will only get heavier on the shoulders of my players” said Coach Stokes.
“The defense really stepped up as well. Our defensive line put up a show and we loved it. Gaither Cowboy Junior cornerback, Javon Hammond is a special special kid. When a player on your team has 3 interceptions, you know you have a star on your team. He was the game changer” said Coach Stokes.
While Gaither showed their strong weapons on offense with McGough, senior running back Vu Lee, and senior captain running back Shug Oyegunle, Steinbrenner showed their raw power on defense. Although they didn’t share the glory of having 3 interceptions, they did manage to scrap together one interception, 2 fumble recoveries, and the most important play of the game for Steinbrenner, a blocked punt by sophomore defensive back Bryce Jones and the touchdown recovery in the end zone by senior defensive back, Daniel Villar. All together, nothing much more could have been expected of the Warrior defense other than fewer scored points allowed.
But on the other side of this Steinbrenner squad, the offense had a net yardage of 126 yards, 3 interceptions, 3 penalties, and being sacked 3 times. But throughout the night, 2 players, senior running back Kendall Pearcey and junior running back Jake Carroll dominated the running game for Steinbrenner allowing for a combined total of 81 rushing yards.
“Our team practices with great intensity every time and shows it in the games. In the pre game warm ups, they call themselves the wolf pack and are howling all the time, and they live up to the expectations threw at them” said Coach Stokes.
“I promised the kids, if they win, a light week. They have earned it and deserve every bit of it. But we will have to be prepared against East bay next week and its gonna take hard work because they’re a good team” said Coach Stokes.
Next week, Gaither (4-1) will face off against district rival, East Bay (2-3) at home while the Warriors (1-4) stay at home for homecoming game against the Riverview Sharks (2-4).
– Evan Abramson