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Mount Everett: Wranglers fail to overcome second-half swoon in OT loss
Photo courtesy of NeilFonville.com
By Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
ALLEN – For two teams heading in divergent paths this season, the Everett Raptors and Allen Wranglers looked every bit like each other’s equal Saturday night.
Not a good thing when it means trading blows with an Everett team eyeing just its fourth win of the season and even worse when said team scores a 74-73 overtime win on the road.
“I think it starts at the top, with myself,” said Quinn Cairo, Allen co-interim head coach and defensive coordinator. “All week, the hardest thing is when your opponent has a 3-7 record, it’s tough to motivate them.
“I think we started off slow,” added Dixie Wooten, Allen co-interim head coach and offensive coordinator. “That’s something you’ve got to put on us. As a coaching staff, you’ve got to give them some kind of motivational tool to push them from start to finish.”
Being outgained, 379-235, and outscored, 42-29, in the second half should serve as plenty of incentive for Allen to improve going forward. That left the teams gridlocked at 66-66 after 60 minutes of play and a college-style overtime period on the horizon.
A 2-yard rushing touchdown by Darius Fudge was countered by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Everett’s Shane Austin to Maurice Young. In lieu of an extra point, the Raptors went all in for a two-point conversion – spreading out the receivers long enough to create a gap off the left tackle for Austin to scamper in for the game-winning run.
“The biggest thing was trying to get containment,” Cairo said. “We told the d-line to play the run to the quarterback. Our problem is that we had an injury to our starting linebacker and [Everett] called a great play looking to pass. [Austin] saw an opening because if you don’t drop back into coverage, then it’s an easy touchdown on the crossing routes and if you bring it bring it back up, it felt like a no-win situation.
“As much as I hate to say it, they made a great call.”
The loss marked the Wranglers’ (6-4) third setback in four games.
In Saturday’s case, it required the Raptors to play catch-up after facing a 34-22 deficit at halftime.
The Raptors proceeded to rip off 20 unanswered points, highlighted by a pair of Marcus Robinson rushing touchdowns for two of the rusher’s four scores on the evening.
“I think overall, the defense was inconsistent,” Cairo said. “We had a great game two weeks ago, but maintaining that consistency has been a problem. That’s something we have to fix before the playoffs.”
Allen clawed back for a 59-59 tie with 12:46 left in the fourth after Casey Printers found Luke McArdle for a 31-yard touchdown strike, followed by a two-point conversion from Terrell Owens.
The Wranglers got a chance at the lead after stuffing Robinson on a fourth-and-goal from the 2, but Allen’s push came to an end after a Printers pass to Owens was picked by Austin Smith and returned for a 32-yard touchdown to reclaim Everett’s 66-59 advantage with 3:18 left.
Printers drew the Wranglers even again following a 5-yard touchdown run with 1:24 left, while Everett’s final stand went awry with a missed 31-yard field goal at the buzzer.
“I think tonight showed [Printers] that he’s 100 percent better,” Wooten said. “A quad injury for a quarterback bothers you because in this league your legs are your bread and butter, so tonight his running showed us that he’s back.”
Printers finished with 135 passing yards on 12-of-28 attempts, meshed with five total touchdowns. Three of those scores came in a 27-point first quarter for the Wranglers, with McArdle bagging touchdown catches of 4 and 30 yards in the process.
The wide out finished the game with a team-best 65 receiving yards on three catches – all touchdowns.
Defensively, Frankie Solomon Jr. chipped in a 24-yard interception return for a score while Ramonce Taylor broke off a 41-yard kickoff return to help pace a first half that saw Allen lead by as many as 13 points until the Raptors steadily turned the tables.
The openings in the Wranglers defense became more advantageous for Austin, who battered Allen for 249 passing yards and four touchdowns alongside 59 rushing yards.
Mike Tatum and Travis Poole posted 69 and 68 receiving yards, respectively, while Andre Piper-Jordan caught a pair of touchdown passes to give Everett back-to-back wins for the first time all year.
The Wranglers will look to rebound Saturday at 7:05 p.m. when they welcome the Wichita Wild for the teams’ fourth meeting of the season. After dropping the first two, Wichita eked out a 55-54 victory over the Wranglers on April 28.
“Start hard and finish hard,” Wooten said.
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