Go Friday Night

Jim Ned Kicks Coleman, 3-0...Barely

Barely. Barely, this time. No doubling up on opponents. No rolling down the field on every series. No endzone celebrations. Just a kick. One field goal midway through the first quarter off the left foot of Peter Schiessler put the Jim Ned Indians over the Coleman Bluecats for a 3-0 win.

The weather set an ironic stage for the game. Cold, hard, just plain nasty. Just like the game appeared to coach Brad McCoy. It wasn't a pretty game.

The Indians seemed sluggish from the opening kickoff, with Colt McCoy leading the offense barely managing a little more than 100 yards -- mostly in the first half. The receivers were only able to handle 4 of 15 passes, picking up 102 yards. Cam Holson was able to harness two of those throws, but on a later attempt came down hard, straining his right ankle, which would sideline him for the remainder of the game. Even the running game was useless, as players slipped, slid, and splashed for what little yardage they could.

It was the same way for Coleman, except for one thing.

They came to win. The Bluecats pushed with all they had at the Indians' defense, who was barely able to keep them from creeping past the goalline. Play after play, the Cats would get themselves into the redzone, only to be stopped when it mattered most. The Bluecats played their hearts out, and they just could not pull it off.

Postgame didn't reflect the scoreboard. The Cats' fans smiled broadly and congratulated their players on a hard-fought effort and nearly celebrated the game.

For the Indians, that hard-fought effort was an eye-opener. Not every team is going to be easy. Even the 0-6'ers with small players. Even the teams who aren't ranked aren't to be forgotten. The bigger you are as a team, the easier it is to forget that your opponents are still worthy of respect, and the easier it is to forget you're a respected force. It's something that comes with any kind of competition, whether high school football or life itself. But this is high school football, and for Jim Ned, the big team from a small town, it put reality on their road map.

You are this good. You can win 10 in a row. And you always have to do your best. You can win 11, 12, 13, 14 in a row. You are that good. But you have to be that good every day. Not perfect. Just that good.

This Friday, the Indians are out of town to face the San Saba Armadillos.

• Suzie
• October 26, 2004 6:16 PM
• Comments (3)

Indians hand Loss to Longhorns, 56-35

Week two in District 4-3 included the Indians travelling to Early to face the Longhorns. Just a blink past Brownwood, the high school was easier to find for most folks. Gordon wood is like cheese in a mase. You know it's there, you just can't find it. But Early's just "right there."

And so were the Longhorn gridders. It was a real game, and possibly the first game in which Jim Ned actually had serious competition, save for Eastland, who still lost, 22-10.

The first quarter was the same as most other games, with quarterback Colt McCoy passing to Cam Holson for a touchdown after sneaking one in himself.
Early put points on the board with a Walt Howard run followed by a siccessful fieldgoal.

Early then added 14 more points to a silenced Indian offense with runs from Lacey and Howard. On the ensuing kickoff, Kit Lefevre took the ball on the 12 yard line and went the distance. Lacey and Early answered with a 32 yard pass for a touchdown, but the Indians, specifically McCoy, matched it with a 1-yard run.

After the half, Matt Blanton and McCoy added two more TDs, and the final quarter saw Holson in the endzone again. Splitting those up was an Early 11 yard run from Walt Howard.

The defense took the game over from there, maintaining the Indians' lead after an interception got Early within scoring range. On the fourth down with four to go, the Indians stopped the Longhorns' drive, and on the next series, Lane Davis took the ball from the one yard line, putting the game in the books at 56-35.

• Suzie
• October 26, 2004 5:49 PM

Jim Ned Bangs Dragons, 48-0

District 3-2A Football has begun, and for the Jim Ned Indians, it started with a blast...or with a Bangs. The Dragons, 0-6 prior to their visit to Tuscola, were no match for the Big Red.

Again, quarterback Colt McCoy threw for 300 yards, with 54 yards going to his brother Chance, who carried the pigskin for a TD. McCoy then found the steamroller, Sawyer Smith, for a 16 yard touchdown. After that, Cam Holson ran a 21 yard pass to the endzone. And that was only the first quarter! Before the half, Zac Shew took a 39 yard pass to the end of the yard.

Then the running game began. McCoy handed the ball to Matt Blanton shortly after Shew's score, and Blanton ran half the field plus nine for six points.

In the third quarter, Blanton again took the ball in for a touchdown, and finally, in the fourth, Lane Davis carried the ball in for six.

Defensively, the Indians were an immovable force, keeping the Dragons' ground attack to 93 yards and all but entirely shutting out their passing game.

• Suzie
• October 26, 2004 5:27 PM

Road Trip!

After two weeks away from home and an off day, the Indians are preparing for their district opener against the Bangs Dragons.

Quite a few things are evident this season for Jim Ned: they expect to win, and they play to win. Not one team has scored more than 15 points (37 total).

They've wrecked two homecoming games while on the road, one of which was a shutout. And to top it off, the Indians have amassed 231 points.

That averages 46 points per game. Bangs, on the other hand, has been suffering loss after loss since the season began, starting with a 21-7 loss at home against Comanche and the last being a 32-0 shutout against Cisco, also at home.

The road trip for the Indians started three Fridays ago (can you believe that?) against the Coahoma Bulldogs, where the Indians took a 57-0 victory.

Quarterback Colt McCoy tacked an additional 391 yards to his record, while Cam Holson took 153 receiving yards to the bank. Peter Schiessler was 7-7 in field goal attempts. It was obvious that Jim Ned Dominated the game.

In Brady, the Lions were a different story. Up to their game with Jim Ned, the team was 3-0 with some sizeable wins under their belt. They manhandled Coleman 55-0 in their season opener.

But as it has usual, Jim Ned played to win, and came out winners upon the final buzzer. Colt McCoy again threw for more than 300 yards (314 total), and this time both Chance McCoy and cam Holson passed the century mark (Cam with 170 and Chance with 126). Schiessler hit the mark on all five of his field goal attempts.

So what's to be expected this Friday in Tuscola, as the Green Machine of Bangs rolls into town? Every Jim Ned football player knows the answer to that: it's on their helmets. Written on the shaft of the arrows that adorn their helmets. "Expect to win. Play to win." And they do just that.

See you Friday night!

• Suzie
• October 5, 2004 5:17 PM
• Comments (1)