Myles Notkin passes the ball off to teammate Brandon Lombard. The Cowboys had their best offensive game of the year against the Jaguars. Photo Credit JOSH EHLERS
BY DANIELLE LYN
The Cooper City Cowboys football team hosted the Coral Glades Jaguars Thursday night. It was the third of four district games the Cowboys needed to win to be crowned District Champs. The game started with an offensive struggle by the Jaguars and the Cowboys.
With three minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Cowboy’s defensive lineman Steven Day stepped up and claimed the first of his four sacks on the evening. Just 20 seconds later, safety Bubba Beaten caught the first interception of the night. Wide receiver Camden Krohn entered the game as tailback and picked up a 60-yard gain with less than 2 minutes left in the first half. With nine seconds left before the end of the second quarter the Cowboys kicked a field goal giving them a 3-0 lead over the Jaguars at halftime.
At the start of the second half Krohn returned the kickoff 50-yards giving the Cowboys offense the edge in the field position. Starting quarterback Myles Notkin sat the first half out due to a concussion he suffered in the previous game, but with 10:38 left in the third quarter he lead his team to it’s first scoring drive, which was capped off by Beaten’s run. As the third quarter played out it appeared as though both coaches sought to control the clock with their running game and let their perspective defenses decide the outcome. This played more to the favor of the Cowboys who recorded their second touchdown with 4:06 left in the third on a run by tailback Krohn. The Jaguars possessed the ball for the remainder of the third quarter, but had a difficult time breaking through the Cowboys defense. Though the Cowboy’s front seven played strong throughout the game and kept the rushing yards to a minimum, the Jaguars were able to break off a long run with three minutes left in the third quarter. The very next play Coral Glades quarterback faked a pass and handed the ball off to one of his running backs, which put them on the16 yard line. But the Cowboys defense held them off and the Jaguars were only able to put three points on the board.
The Cowboys finally opened up their passing game and recorded a 35- yard reception by Jordan Mornay with under a minute to go in the third. At the top of the forth Krohn broke through again and scored his third rushing touchdown of the game.
There was a bit of a scare when the Jaguars threw a 50-yard reception which put the ball deep in Cowboys territory. After three failed attempts the Jaguars punched the ball in for a one-yard touchdown run with 9:53 remaining. The extra point attempt went wide right and was no good. The Jaguars made the mistake of punting to Krohn late in the game and he made them pay by returning the punt 39 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good but the at this point the game was well in hand. The Jaguars tried to get something going on offense but instead turned the ball over just before the two minute warning. Beaten collected the fumble which sealed the fate for the Jaguars. The Cowboys ran out the clock for and recorded it third district victory.
With an astonishing 30-9 blow out victory over the Coral Glades Jaguars the Cowboys enjoyed their strongest offensive performance of the season. Next Friday the Cooper City Cowboys go on the road to take on Coral Springs Senior High (at home) in a match-up that could decide who wins the district.
