Trojans fail to overcome Navasota’s big lead
San Jacinto Newstimes , October 2007
By JOHN NUNN
Contributing Writer

COLDSPRING -- The 2-3 Coldspring Trojans fought to the bitter end, but came up short in a wild 54-30 loss Friday night to the 4-1 Navasota Rattlers. The hard-charging Trojans once again fell behind letting the Rattlers take a commanding 31-8 lead going into half-time. Again, as in last week’s game, Coldspring came out in the second half and put a scare into the Rattlers and at the end of the third quarter the Trojans had climbed back into the game 37-30.
Navasota stunned the Trojans on the opening kickoff taking a 7-0 lead on a 87 yard kick-off return after a re-kick when the first one went out of bounds. Coldspring seemed to recover from the initial shock and went right back down the field on their first possession establish a rushing game with Johnson scoring on a 7 yard run, and after the 2 point PAT took a 8-7 lead. The Rattlers retook the lead 10-8 with a 47-yard field goal. At this point of the game it appeared that it was either team’s game to win. After a couple of exchanges the Rattlers held the Trojans on their next two offensive drives, not allowing a first down on either possession. A kink in the Trojan defense allowed a 35-yard touchdown run giving Navasota a 16-8 lead. At this point the Trojans were still composed and playing tough nose to nose football, when the Rattlers did the unthinkable, the executed a perfect onside kick and in three plays, a Stokes ran the middle for 17, Pratt for 6-yards and then a 17-yard touchdown pass. To complete the night for juke plays after the onside kick, Navasota then executed a perfect old “swinging gate” trick play for the two point conversion making it 24-8 in a mater of just a few minutes. Just before the half Navasota scored to make the half time score 31-8.
When all was said and done, the third quarter belonged to the Trojans when Zavius Johnson kick started Coldspring with a 3-yard scoring play on the second play to start the second half. Navasota answered with their potential All-State running back Dexter Pratt scored on a 5-yard to push the Rattlers back to 37-16.
The Trojans answered with a 41-yard “we come to play” forth down and 12 pass play that ended up on the Rattlers one yard line. From there Johnson once again rammed the ball over for the touchdown making the score 37-22 after missing the PAT. The Trojan defense then answered the call and shut down Navasota in the third quarter not allowing a single first down in the quarter that belonged to the Trojans. When the Trojans quarterback Chad Allen scampered for a ten yard score and a James Scott 2 point conversion run, it made a very interesting game 37-30.
Again as in last weeks loss to Diboll, the score was not reflective of how close the Trojans played the Rattlers. A field goal and two touchdowns were scored by Navasota in the closing minutes of the final quarter to pull away with the victory. One was the results of a Coldspring fumble that resulted in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Stokes to Jackson. The last touchdown was a 53-yard bust up the middle of the Trojan defense with just 51 seconds left in the game with the Rattlers trying to run the game time clock down.
Coldspring ends non-district play with a 2-3 record and if it is any consolidation the five teams they have played have a combined record of 22-3. Two of the three losses were at the hands of the Trojans and the other was by one of the teams the Trojans beat. This writer believes that the 2-3 record is not reflective of the talent that this team possesses and should take the preseason non-district games as a learning gate and use their knowledge learned in district play.
This Friday night the Trojans take on the visiting 2-3 Liberty Panthers here at Coldspring. Liberty has wins over Bridge City and Stafford, with losses to Hampshire-Fannett, Kirbyville and Diboll. To be successful the Trojans will have to stop the Panthers feature running back Josh White who has 389 yards rushing, averaging 4.94 yards per carry and has scored 3 touchdowns. The Panthers offense is averaging 19 points per game while the defense is giving up 31.6 per game. Coldspring offense is scoring 30 pints per game while giving up 34.6 points per game. Their only common opponent is Diboll which defeated Liberty 52-19 and Coldspring 55-44.