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ARTICLE BY JAMES HINTE
After an opening week bye, the Collierville Dragons began their 2007 season at home against the Central Warriors with a convincing 37-0 victory. The defense dominated the Warriors throughout the game and in recognition of an outstanding effort Keaton Stiggers was voted defensive player of the week by the Commercial Appeal.
The Warriors won the toss and elected to receive. Taylor Nelson drove the kick to the seven yard line and the Central return man was hit hard by Nick Reed and dropped at the 18 yard line. On first and ten from the 18 John Huffman and Keaton Stigger combined to stop the running play for a short two yard pick up. On second down the Central quarterback dropped back to pass and was sandwiched by Zach Jackson and Stigger causing an errant pass that was intercepted by Andrew Richmond who was tackled after a 14 yard return to the Central 35 yard line.
Collierville was penalized for a holding call on their first snap setting up first down and 18 from the 38. Quarterback Gabe Bouldien carried on the next two plays netting a one yard gain. An offside call on Central tacked on five yards for a third down and 12. On third down Bouldien dropped back and connected with Adam White for a 17 yard completion at the twenty yard line. On first and ten Bouldien connected with Richmond at the ten who fought for an additional five yards to give the Dragons first and goal from the five yard line. An illegal procedure call put the ball on the ten and Al Burriss took the first down handoff for seven yards. After an incomplete pass on second down and a one yard loss on third down the Dragons elected to attempt a field goal. Central jumped offside before the kick and the Collierville Coaching staff chose to go for a touchdown on fourth and two. Bouldien handed off to Richmond on a misdirection play to the left however an alert Warrior defense drove the runner back to the ten and Central took over on downs.
Huffman made a solo tackle on first down followed by tackle for a two yard loss by Josh Simpson. On third down Stigger and Simpson stopped the Central running back for a short gain and the Warriors were forced to punt from their own 15. Drew Moyes called for a fair catch on the short punt at the Central 35.
Eric Smith picked up six yards on first down and with second and four at the 29, Smith broke through the Central defense for a touchdown, however a flag was thrown for a holding call putting the ball on the 26 yard line. Moyes took the next play behind left guard picking up seven and another Dragon first down. Bouldien found Richmond open on the next play setting up another first down and goal situation at the one yard line. Burriss was stopped on the next two plays for short yardage setting up third down just inside the one. Out of the wishbone Bouldien handed off to Grayson Hinte who followed the blocking of Huffman and Troy Walther for the Dragons first score. Nelsons kick was good and at the 2:51 mark of the first quarter the Dragons lead 7-0.
Nelson’s kick was taken at the 17 and the kick returner was rudely met by Stiggers, Reed and Moyes at the 30. On first down Stiggers and Huffman teamed up again to limit the Central running back to two yards. The Warrior quarterback fumbled the next snap and Stiggers immediately pounced on him for a short gain. On third down Central completed a screen pass to the left side however Jackson’s hit caused a fumble and he recovered it himself at the Warrior 39.
The following Dragons possession was ended with an interception but Collierville regained the ball on the Warriors second play as Stiggers hit the Central running back in the backfield causing another fumble. Stiggers recovered the ball after making the hard hit. The Dragons next series looked much better as Moyes and Eric Smith both picked up first downs on consecutive 12 yard gains following the blocking of Mike Mancini. After a short gain put the ball on the 13 yard line Bouldien handed off to Hinte who eluded a handful of Central defenders to reach the end zone however an illegal shift call brought the play back for second down at the 18. The points didn’t stay off long as on the next play Bouldien hit Richmond running a crossing route across the middle and the receiver went in untouched for the second Dragon’s score. Nelson was again successful on the PAT and the score was now 14-0.
Nelson’s next kick was a low line drive that was downed at the 32. After a first down false start penalty and a fumble that was retained by Central, the Warriors ran an option play and Stiggers came across from the far side to make the stop. On third down the Central quarterback went back to pass and was nearly dropped for a big loss by Justin Lis. The quarterback eluded another tackler and was finally hit by Simpson who was flagged for a late hit out of bounds. After the penalty was walked off the Warriors were in Dragon’s territory for the first time at the 46 yard line. Mancini, Reed and Bradley Rogers each made tackles on the next three plays setting up fourth down and half a yard to go. The Warriors decided to try and convert on the short fourth down however Stiggers and Simpson stepped up big stopping the play for a one yard loss.
The Dragon’s were unable to gain a first down on the next series and on the punt attempted a quick fake that caught Central off guard however the play was blown dead by the referees and Richmond punted from the 43 down to the 21 yard line where the central punt returner was immediately hit by Reed followed by Nick Elo and Adam Joyner.
After no gain on first and second down Central picked up their first, first down from scrimmage with an eleven yard run. John White blitzed on the next down for a six yard sack. On second and long Central threw long and with shades of Willie Mayes, Bart Smith made an over the shoulder catch for the interception at the Collierville 39. After changing direction Smith returned the pickoff to the Central 41.
The Collierville offense continued to struggle and with good field position the fourth down pass by Bouldien was just off the finger tips of Adam White. After the change of possession the Dragon defense created another three and out and the half ended with the Warriors punt and the Dragons leading 14-0.
After kicking off to start the game the Dragons came out after the half receiving the second half kick with a renewed focus. Bart Smith took the kick at the sixteen and returned the ball to the 33. Eric Smith took the first down handoff for two yards followed by seven yard gain by Bouldien as he followed the block of Nathan Ring On third and two from the 41 Bouldien handed off to Moyes up the middle who broke the play to the outside for a 17 yard pick up. A personal foul call added an additional 15 yards to the play and the Dragons had first and ten at the Central 27. Bouldien ran another quarterback keeper for seven yards and Eric Smith picked up another first down on the next play. With the ball on the 17, Bart Smith took the hand off and broke through a huge hole created by Huffman, Mancini and Ring for another Dragon’s score. Nelson made it three for three converting the PAT. The Dragons lead was now 21-0 with 9:41 remaining in the third quarter.
After the kickoff the Dragons defense would maintain their momentum on the next series. On first down the Central running back was hit immediately by Simpson and was finished off by Rogers, White and Moyes for a one yard gain. On second down Central fumbled and the ball squirted out of the pile where Reed pounced on it at the Central 39.
Bouldien found another of his receivers, Evan Stock, on a first down pass that picked up a quick 26 yards. The Dragons ran an option left on the next play and Bouldien picked up seven more yards. On second down Eric Smith ran behind Ring and Chandler Carr going seven yards untouched for the score. Continuing his string, Nelson made the PAT giving the dragons a 28-0 lead.
On the kick off, Stiggers demonstrated what earned him the player of the week honors as he made a crushing solo hit dropping the returner for a one yard loss at the 26. The following Central possession produced their only sustained drive of the night. Stepping up to make key plays for Collierville were Lis and
White who combined for a two yard loss. Josh Brown came in for the series and had a solo tackle on a sweep and with Moyes they dropped the central running back for a five yard loss. Adam Joyner also had a solo tackle yielding another negative play for the defense. After a pass completion and fifteen yards for a personal foul the Warriors were threatening to score at the Dragons 23. The Collierville defense had other thoughts in mind as they were determined to maintain the opening day shutout. After an incomplete pass on first down, Stiggers made another tackle for a loss, White stopped a sweep for a short two yard gain and on fourth down Moyes and Rogers came through the line after a bad snap sacking the quarterback for a seven yard loss.
Taking over on downs at the 31, Bouldien handed off to Eric Smith on a trap for a six yard gain. After being stopped for no gain on second down Moyes made a catch in the right flat and picked up ten yards. Another personal foul on the play put the ball on the Central 41. Bouldien attempted to pass on the next play but was dropped for a six yard loss. Not to be denied, Collierville went back to the pass on the next play and Bouldien hit Richmond for a 39 yard completion down to the eight yard line. The drive stalled and Central took over at the 3. On first down White sliced through the offensive line and tackled the Warrior runner in the end zone for a safety, staking the first defensive points for the year. The two points put the dragons up 30-0 with 10: 18 left in the game.
Bart Smith returned the free kick after the safety fourteen yards to the Collierville 49. On first down Bouldien handed off to Hinte who outran several Warrior tacklers for ten yards and another Dragon’s first down. After a two yard gain by White and a hard fought four yards by Chase Presson, Bouldien again hit Richmond for a completion to the 23 yard line and first down. After a loss of four on a broken play Bouldien went back to Richmond who made a leaping catch into the end zone for his second score of the night. Nelson completed a perfect night going five for five and the game ended as another Central drive ended in a punt to Moyes.
Overall the Dragon offense demonstrated it’s ability to attack both on the ground and in the air. Gabe Bouldien went 10-15 in passing for 183 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Eric Smith gained 59 yards on 11 carries with Drew Moyes picking up 36 on 4 carries. Grayson Hinte, Bart Smith and Eric Smith each scored a running touchdown and Andrew Richmond had seven receptions for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Mancini, John Huffman and Nathan Ring led the blocking for the Dragons ground attack. The special teams looked sharp with Taylor Nelson converting on all five PAT’s and the return and kicking game was sound. The defense was impressive making two interceptions, recovering three fumbles, producing a safety and two key fourth and short stops. Keaton Stiggers, John Huffman and Zach Jackson led the defense with strong contributions from Bradley Rogers, John White, Nick Reed, Justin Lis and Josh Simpson.
Next week the Dragons take on their rivals the Germantown Red Devils. The game will be at home starting at 7:00pm @ Collierville's Herman Osteen Field.
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