By Malcolm Butler
St. Frederick scored on its first five possessions of the game Thursday night in route to a 35-20 win over Cedar Creek in Monroe.
And by the time the Warriors offense finally failed to find the end zone, the Cougars were in “panic mode” and couldn’t find a way to rally late.
With the loss, Creek (6-4) will now wait on the playoff pairings to be announced Sunday by the LHSAA. The Cougars entered the game No. 16 in the power ratings, which would give them a home game. However, if the loss drops Creek even one spot, the Cougars would be forced to go on the road for their first round playoff contest.
“We still have football left,” said Creek head coach Matt Middleton. “Here is the deal. We got beat. You don’t want to get beat. It happens. The reality is we still have football left to play. So let’s go win some football games.”
Winners of six of their last seven games entering the match-up against St. Frederick, winning was in the cards for the Cougars. However, Warriors quarterback Micah Bell had other plans.
Bell, a transfer from West Monroe, ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more in leading his team to a win. After falling behind 6-0 when Austin Webb took a handoff, raced around the left end and down the sideline 44 yards for a TD for the Cougars on its opening possession, Bell and Co. gave an early example of what the first three quarters were going to be.
Taking more than eight minutes off the clock, St. Frederick (7-2) marched 66 yards on 15 plays capped by a two-yard run by Bell as the Warriors took a 7-6 lead.
Creek answered immediately as Lane Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards inside the Warriors 10-yard line. On fourth down and goal, Thomas took the handoff and powered his way up the middle for a TD and a 13-7 Creek advantage.
“We had our running game going early,” said Middleton. “I would have liked to continue to run them but we got down by two scores in the second half and had to try to make things happen. It got us completely out of what we wanted to do”
Thomas led Creek with 79 yards and one score on 19 carries while Webb added 47 yards and the TD on three carries.
St. Frederick responded with a scoring drive that was capped by a 20-yard TD pass on fourth down and six, one of many conversions that the Warriors were able to produce during the game.
One of the biggest momentum plays of the night was a flag. Midway through the second quarter, Thomas took a handoff and fought his way through four or five defenders before racing 65 yards for what appeared to be a go-ahead TD for the Cougars. However, a holding call negated the play and Creek eventually was forced to punt.
On the Warriors next possession, another penalty once again aided St. Frederick. On a third down and long, a defensive pass interference call against the Cougars — on a ball that was tipped — gave the Warriors a first down and kept the drive alive. A few plays later Bell scored once again as St. Frederick led 21-13 at the break.
The Warriors opened the second half with another scoring drive as Bell scored on a 30-yard quarterback draw as St. Fred’s led 28-13 with 7:56 to play in the quarter.
“It took us out of our game plan,” said Middleton about falling behind by two TDs consistently during the second half. “Early in the game we got the ball three times and we scored three times. We got the holding penalty that brought one of those back. It was a tough call for us. But we got down 14 and then we just got off the game plan and do what we had to try to do to score some points.
“We aren’t built to sit back there and spray it all over the place. I think we got in panic mode being down 14.”
The Cougars weren’t done though. Creek started on its own 31 and drove inside the St. Frederick 20-yard line. On a fourth down and three play, Caden Middleton hit Connor Norris on a 17-yard TD pass to pull Creek to within 28-20.
“Connor made a phenomenal play on it,” said Middleton. “We set it up. Bubble. Bubble. Bubble. And then did a little bubble and go. Caden threw it inside of the defender over the top and Connor made a phenomenal grab. It was a huge play for us at the time.”
However, like clockwork, Bell and the Warriors offense responded. A 21-yard TD pass with 2:22 to play in the third quarter pushed the St. Fred’s lead back out to 35-20.
St. Frederick totaled 248 yards rushing in the game against a Cougars defense that has been stellar against opponents this season.
“I don’t know,” said Middleton about the Cougars struggles to stop the Warriors offense. “I will have to look at the film and see. There is no doubt about it, they have some good players. They made some plays. I don’t want to take anything away from them. I honestly don’t feel like we played as well as we could have tonight and against a good football team they will make you pay.”
Quincy Lewis led Creek with 15 tackles while Lawson Lillo added 13 tackles and Reagan Pike added 10 tackles.
