Pasadena Citizen - Sports
Bruins eliminate Mavericks 51-35
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| It took four Maverick defenders, including Marc Varela and Jonathan Modisette, to contain West Brook's Christian Michael during this first-half run Saturday afternoon. Michael scored six touchdowns in the 51-35 Bruins victory at Stallworth Stadium. |
By ROBERT AVERY
BAYTOWN – Two years ago, Christian Michael was Beaumont West Brook’s equivalent to best supporting actor.
The sophomore scored a couple of touchdowns but he wasn’t the go-to guy in a 57-34 Bruins win over Memorial back during the 2006 state playoffs.
But Saturday afternoon, Michael was the go-to guy in a huge way as the senior found the end zone six times, five in the first half as Beaumont West Brook eliminated Memorial with a 51-35 Class 5A Division II state playoff verdict at Stallworth Stadium.
Michael, muscular and quick, scored on runs of 1, 73, 24, 3, 11 and 5 yards en route to rushing for 291 yards over 29 carries for the District 21-5A club.
Meanwhile, the defeat overshadowed terrific games by the two Mavericks who have carried Memorial’s offense all season long. Chance Imhoff had the game of his life by rolling up 288 all-purpose yards. On the team’s first offensive play of the game, he rambled 84 yards for the touchdown, giving underdog Memorial a 7-0 lead. That highlighted his running game in which he rushed seven times for 122 yards. As a wide receiver, he caught five passes for 125 yards and one touchdown. Then on special teams, Imhoff returned a kickoff 41 yards and then ended the first half by blocking an extra point.
Bo Snelson, who didn’t carry the football for the first time until seven minutes had elapsed from the first-quarter clock, ended a tremendous high school career by rushing for 186 yards on 31 carries and one touchdown. Snelson surpassed the milestone mark of 5,000 career rushing yards with a 14-yard scamper during the team’s final touchdown drive of the season, an 80-yard march that ended with a Tyler Mathis touchdown run of 11 yards, creating the final score with 2:03 to play.
“The game against Dobie was a tough one. The game against La Porte was a tough one. We just seemed to come up short a little bit more than we came out off on top, but I’m very, very proud of our kids. They overcame a lot of adversity and made the playoffs again which is what we wanted to do,” Memorial head coach John Snelson said.
But team-wise, West Brook stuck it to Memorial just like it did two years ago. The club finished with 596 yards. Two years ago, the Bruins racked up 552 yards. Of the 596 yards, 412 arrived in the first half.
After turning the ball over on downs in its first possession of the game and looking at that 7-0 deficit, the Bruins went on their rampage, finishing their last eight possessions with points. Seven of the eight culminated with touchdowns, the other being a 30-yard field goal that opened the fourth quarter and creating a 44-21 lead.
It capped a run of 23 unanswered points as the Bruins effectively grabbed the momentum after the score was 21-21 with 8:49 to play in the first half.
“You saw a team effort. Nobody sticks out. They were averaging 400 yards a game offensively and they were giving up almost 400 yards defensively. So I would have been more upset had we not been able to move the ball,” West Brook head coach Craig Stump said.
Things began to go downhill for the Mavs after the team tried to take advantage of a strong northerly wind by pooching a kickoff that went the necessary 10 yards, got blown back by the wind and the Mavs fell on it.
But the referees threw the flag on Memorial for interfering with West Brook’s man who had called for a fair catch.
A chorus of boos from Memorial’s faithful saw it differently.
“They said we hit the guy that made the fair-catch signal. I’m not sure if that’s true or not. I haven’t seen the film. We gotta let the guy catch the football, if that’s the case. That was a live football. Pretty much the only thing that gave that thing back to them is we hit the guy that made the fair-catch signal,” John Snelson said.
The Bruins received the ball on Memorial’s 45 and five plays later, Michael was scoring his three-yarder with 6:53 to play in the half. A 32-yard pass from Christian Louis to Donte Lopez ate up most of the yardage.
A Bo Snelson fumble gave the Bruins another short field situation, this time setting up shop on the 38 of Memorial. On the sixth play, Michael was scoring from 11 yards out for a 35-21 lead.
The game unraveled even more with Memorial’s ensuing possession. Imhoff was stopped on a fourth and short situation, giving the Bruins the ball on the Mavs’ 43 with only 33 seconds to play. But in bang-bang fashion, West Brook used two receivers to chew up the 43 yards, scoring on a Louis to Ryan Grant pass, good for three yards.
“They have a good offense. They had a lot of yards but I think we stopped them when we needed to stop them,” Stump said.
Imhoff’s touchdown reception that tied the game at 21-21 went for 49 yards, a pretty over-the-shoulder grab down the middle of the field. Forced to motor into the cold northerly wind, Snelson somehow got the ball to slice through the wind and into Imhoff’s waiting arms.
“Bo did a great job throwing the ball in these wind conditions,” Imhoff said.
Michael’s 1-yard run tied the game at 7-7, ending an 80-yard drive that needed nine plays. Memorial’s first pass play of the game ended in disaster when a Snelson pass bounced off a Maverick and into the arms of Josh Wilson. Two plays later, Michael was scampering off left tackle and down the field for his 73-yard score.
Snelson would retaliate with a 42-yard run that set up a 6-yard score of his, tying the game at 14-14 with 1:10 still to play in the first quarter. The two teams would trade touchdowns one more time, before the Bruins grabbed the momentum for good.
GAME NOTES: After Michael’s 1-yard run that tied the game at 7-7, West Brook had run 20 offensive plays to Memorial’s 1. ... At halftime, the two teams had already compiled 675 total yards. ... Memorial slips to 2-3 for state playoff games in its five-year varsity history.
The sophomore scored a couple of touchdowns but he wasn’t the go-to guy in a 57-34 Bruins win over Memorial back during the 2006 state playoffs.
But Saturday afternoon, Michael was the go-to guy in a huge way as the senior found the end zone six times, five in the first half as Beaumont West Brook eliminated Memorial with a 51-35 Class 5A Division II state playoff verdict at Stallworth Stadium.
Michael, muscular and quick, scored on runs of 1, 73, 24, 3, 11 and 5 yards en route to rushing for 291 yards over 29 carries for the District 21-5A club.
Meanwhile, the defeat overshadowed terrific games by the two Mavericks who have carried Memorial’s offense all season long. Chance Imhoff had the game of his life by rolling up 288 all-purpose yards. On the team’s first offensive play of the game, he rambled 84 yards for the touchdown, giving underdog Memorial a 7-0 lead. That highlighted his running game in which he rushed seven times for 122 yards. As a wide receiver, he caught five passes for 125 yards and one touchdown. Then on special teams, Imhoff returned a kickoff 41 yards and then ended the first half by blocking an extra point.
Bo Snelson, who didn’t carry the football for the first time until seven minutes had elapsed from the first-quarter clock, ended a tremendous high school career by rushing for 186 yards on 31 carries and one touchdown. Snelson surpassed the milestone mark of 5,000 career rushing yards with a 14-yard scamper during the team’s final touchdown drive of the season, an 80-yard march that ended with a Tyler Mathis touchdown run of 11 yards, creating the final score with 2:03 to play.
“The game against Dobie was a tough one. The game against La Porte was a tough one. We just seemed to come up short a little bit more than we came out off on top, but I’m very, very proud of our kids. They overcame a lot of adversity and made the playoffs again which is what we wanted to do,” Memorial head coach John Snelson said.
But team-wise, West Brook stuck it to Memorial just like it did two years ago. The club finished with 596 yards. Two years ago, the Bruins racked up 552 yards. Of the 596 yards, 412 arrived in the first half.
After turning the ball over on downs in its first possession of the game and looking at that 7-0 deficit, the Bruins went on their rampage, finishing their last eight possessions with points. Seven of the eight culminated with touchdowns, the other being a 30-yard field goal that opened the fourth quarter and creating a 44-21 lead.
It capped a run of 23 unanswered points as the Bruins effectively grabbed the momentum after the score was 21-21 with 8:49 to play in the first half.
“You saw a team effort. Nobody sticks out. They were averaging 400 yards a game offensively and they were giving up almost 400 yards defensively. So I would have been more upset had we not been able to move the ball,” West Brook head coach Craig Stump said.
Things began to go downhill for the Mavs after the team tried to take advantage of a strong northerly wind by pooching a kickoff that went the necessary 10 yards, got blown back by the wind and the Mavs fell on it.
But the referees threw the flag on Memorial for interfering with West Brook’s man who had called for a fair catch.
A chorus of boos from Memorial’s faithful saw it differently.
“They said we hit the guy that made the fair-catch signal. I’m not sure if that’s true or not. I haven’t seen the film. We gotta let the guy catch the football, if that’s the case. That was a live football. Pretty much the only thing that gave that thing back to them is we hit the guy that made the fair-catch signal,” John Snelson said.
The Bruins received the ball on Memorial’s 45 and five plays later, Michael was scoring his three-yarder with 6:53 to play in the half. A 32-yard pass from Christian Louis to Donte Lopez ate up most of the yardage.
A Bo Snelson fumble gave the Bruins another short field situation, this time setting up shop on the 38 of Memorial. On the sixth play, Michael was scoring from 11 yards out for a 35-21 lead.
The game unraveled even more with Memorial’s ensuing possession. Imhoff was stopped on a fourth and short situation, giving the Bruins the ball on the Mavs’ 43 with only 33 seconds to play. But in bang-bang fashion, West Brook used two receivers to chew up the 43 yards, scoring on a Louis to Ryan Grant pass, good for three yards.
“They have a good offense. They had a lot of yards but I think we stopped them when we needed to stop them,” Stump said.
Imhoff’s touchdown reception that tied the game at 21-21 went for 49 yards, a pretty over-the-shoulder grab down the middle of the field. Forced to motor into the cold northerly wind, Snelson somehow got the ball to slice through the wind and into Imhoff’s waiting arms.
“Bo did a great job throwing the ball in these wind conditions,” Imhoff said.
Michael’s 1-yard run tied the game at 7-7, ending an 80-yard drive that needed nine plays. Memorial’s first pass play of the game ended in disaster when a Snelson pass bounced off a Maverick and into the arms of Josh Wilson. Two plays later, Michael was scampering off left tackle and down the field for his 73-yard score.
Snelson would retaliate with a 42-yard run that set up a 6-yard score of his, tying the game at 14-14 with 1:10 still to play in the first quarter. The two teams would trade touchdowns one more time, before the Bruins grabbed the momentum for good.
GAME NOTES: After Michael’s 1-yard run that tied the game at 7-7, West Brook had run 20 offensive plays to Memorial’s 1. ... At halftime, the two teams had already compiled 675 total yards. ... Memorial slips to 2-3 for state playoff games in its five-year varsity history.
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