On a night when the weather could not have been more different than last week’s game, the outcome, a Cougar victory, was the same.  The Cougars came out aggressively against the Longhorns from Laredo United, stripping the opening kick off from the Longhorn return specialist.  The ensuing drive culminated with a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trenton Ford, and Tristan Cavazos followed it with the PAT.  After the ensuing kick off, the defense came up with a huge fourth down stop and the offense went to work again – running over the Longhorns as they marched down the field.  William Young literally snatched Ford’s pass from the hands of the defender, and was in the end zone before the Longhorn even realized he wasn’t holding the ball!  The 29-yard touchdown reception was Young’s third in two games.  The Cougars would find the end zone yet again early in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Julian Dusuau, giving the Cougars 20 points before Laredo was able to put a point on the scoreboard.  The Longhorns took a turn showing off their passing prowess, as they scored two unanswered touchdowns before half time.  Clark headed to the locker room at the half with a 20-14 lead.

Your Cougars received the second half opening kick off and marched it down field on a good mix of running and pass plays, with Ford building on Clark’s lead on another 1-yard touchdown run.  The 2-point conversion attempt fell short.  The defense continued to stymie the Longhorn’s offense, and with just under 3 minutes to go in the third quarter, Kyle Dudney grabbed a tipped Laredo pass and took it 24 yards to the end zone for Clark’s final score of the evening.  Cavazos followed with the extra point, giving the Cougars a 33-14 lead going into the fourth quarter.

As the wind grew stronger, both teams struggled to move the ball in the fourth quarter, trading punts, until Laredo found the end zone for the night’s final time.  Their 2-point conversion attempt failed, resulting in a final score of 33-20.

Clark had all aspects of their game working for this game.  The offense was able to move the ball on strong blocking; the defense came up huge against the passing offense of Laredo, forcing three turnovers; and even the special teams played a key role with solid kick offs, PATs in a swirling wind, a tipped punt by Will Buchman, and a successful on-side kick by Colby Lorenz.  It was good to see the Cougars clicking on all cylinders this early in the season.

The Cougars will host non-district foe, MacArthur, next Saturday night at Farris stadium.