The tone of the game was set from the opening kick off. The Dragons won the toss and elected to receive. On the opening kickoff Eric Burrus’ crushing block propelled Noel Moyes out to the 36 yd line to set the offense up for the first series of the game. The Spartan’s stymied the Dragons’ first series of downs and following Jason Smith’s punt from the quick set the White Station offense went to work from their own 31.

Three plays later White Stations lit up the scoreboard when a well executed roll out pass and run resulted in a 37 yd touchdown. The PAT was good and the Spartans led 7-0 with less than three minutes into the game. Following the kick-off, on second down Smith was intercepted on an outstanding defensive play by Curtis Echols. The Dragon defense was up to the challenge. Four plays later, on a big hit by LB Noel Moyes, fellow LB Josh McMillon made a shoestring interception to give the Dragons new life at the Spartan 38 yd line.

QB Jason Smith guided his offense in a twelve play drive that included two key first down pass receptions to WRs Garrett Bizzell and Joe Crabtree. On third and four from the Spartan 8 yd line, Sr FB Casey Shockey gained six yards on a gutsy run to set up first and goal at the 2 yd line. Two plays later, Jr RB Jason Goins followed Shockey and Moyes into the endzone from one yard out for the first Dragon score. With 14 seconds left in the first quarter, Lane Maynard’s PAT on Bart Smith’s snap and Josh McMillon’s hold was good and the game was knotted 7-7.

White Station’s next drive consisted of seven Charlie Jordan running plays. Jr LB Jacob Hunter stopped Jordan for no gain on first down and he was stopped again with big hits by Noel Moyes and Josh McMillon. On the sixth play of the drive, Jordan hit a seam and was able to take it down to the goal line to set up the second Spartan score of the night. With 10:12 left in the first half White Station was back on top 14-7.

On the following kick off, Sr WR Chris Collins was one step from breaking another return for a touchdown before he was stopped at the 40 yd line. With excellent field position, the Dragon offense fumbled the ball away on first down. The Dragon defense played an inspired series of defense when on fourth and five from the 35, White Station chose to run Charlie Jordan on a draw. Sr LB Casey Shockey rose to the occasion and slammed Jordan down three yards shy of the first down marker to force the ball over to the Dragons on downs.

The Dragon offense put together an outstanding drive of sixteen plays down to the White Station six yard line where they faced fourth down. Sensing that their defense was playing inspired ball and remembering last year’s scoring palooza, the Collierville coaches elected to go for the first down and forego a field goal. The play was stopped short and the Dragons turned the ball over on downs at the 5 yd line. Again, the Dragon D rose to the occasion. The first two plays (i.e., Charlie Jordan) netted two yards and on third down Jr LB Eric Burrus nailed Jordan for a 3 yd loss to force a punt from their own 4 yd line. Burrus’ motor was apparently still running as he crashed through the middle of the Spartan punt formation to tip the punt to set the Dragons up with excellent field position with the final seconds of the half ticking down.

On first down, QB Jason Smith set up in the shotgun formation and scrambled into the endzone for an apparent touchdown that was called back for holding. With the clock ticking down and from the 15 yard line, Smith lofted a perfectly thrown pass to the back of the endzone that Sr APP (All Purpose Player) Lane Maynard hauled in and efficiently tapped one foot in bounds for a NFL caliber touchdown pass & catch. Again, APP Lane Maynard’s PAT was good and the Dragons tied the game with 10 seconds left on the first half clock. On the following kick off, Chris Collins slammed the Spartan kick returner into the ground to put an exclamation mark to end the Dragons’ first half of play.

The Spartans received the second half kick off but had limited success due to solid defensive plays by Sr DE Grant Hall and a tackle in the backfield by Soph LB Chris Bossert. The Dragons played a four and out series where on fourth down Sr Jason Smith launched a monster punt from the 14 that drove the Spartan return man back to his 10 yd line where Sr APP Lane Maynard stopped him cold on outstanding coverage play.

The Spartans garnered 12 yards on a TE Drag pass play before Sr LB Noel Moyes pounced on a fumbled hand off to give the Dragons outstanding field position at the Spartan 18. Setting up in the shotgun, on second down QB Jason Smith tucked the pigskin under his arm and out sprinted the Spartan defense to the endzone to put the Dragons in the lead for the first time in the game, 20-14. There was a muffed hold on the PAT and the Dragons lead was down to a sobering six points with a quarter and a half left to play.

White Station came out with a first down pass to WR Curtis Echols in an effort to loosen up the defense that was keyed on their star running back. Four plays later, Lane Maynard intercepted the Spartan QB to set the Dragons up with first down at the 21 yd line. The Dragon offense was unable to get untracked and was forced to punt on fourth down. On first down, White Station again went to the air and the pass was immediately picked off by Soph LB Eric Smith at the 50 who returned the ball 30 yards down to the Spartan 20. The Dragons could not move the ball against the blitzing Spartan front. On fourth down, Lane Maynard attempted a 41 yard field goal that had plenty of distance but drifted left in the wind to leave the Dragon lead at six points, 20-14.

Starting from the 20, White Station gave the ball to Charlie Jordan nine consecutive plays while the Dragon D dared the Spartans to pass the ball. With Jordan absorbing punishing hits on the series by Jacob Hunter, Grant Hall, and Josh McMillon the Spartans finally elected to throw the ball when faced with third and goal at the 12 yd line. The first pass was incomplete and on fourth down, Jr DB Garrett Bizzell stole the ball from the receiver 7 yards deep into the endzone and returned it down the Spartan sideline to midfield.

With time running out, the Spartan defense began a steady stream of blitzes and defensive movement. The Dragons were not able to carve out a first down and White Station received the fourth down punt at their own 34 yd line. Again, they saddled up their big man and rode him on five consecutive plays. The Dragons’ “bend but not break” defense took its toll on White Station running game (Charlie Jordan). After a touchdown saving tackle by Soph DB Bart Smith at the Dragon 24 yd line the defense again rose to the challenge. The next three Spartan downs only netted four yards due to solid tackling by Grant Hall, Chris Bossert, and Noel Moyes. On fourth and fourteen at the 28, Sr APP Lane Maynard snagged his second interception of the night at the 9 yd line and returned it out to the 38 yd line to seal the victory for the Dragons. Five offensive plays later, the Dragons had notched their fourth win of the season against a talented and dangerous Spartan squad.

Special recognition goes out to Lane Maynard who made 9 tackles in the game, followed by Joe White and Trey Fitch who accounted for 8 and 7 tackles respectively. Maynard also accounted for two key interceptions, a touchdown reception and two extra points.

It would be too easy to say that the Dragon defense won the game, especially if the game statistics were used as evidence. White Station churned out 210 yards rushing compared to the Dragons’ 50 yards with the Spartans recording 319 yards in total offense to Collierville’s 112 net yards. But football is a game of intensity, emotion, and opportunity. But mostly, football is a team sport. Teams win and teams lose; individual stats are hollow mementos at best. The Dragon’s “bend but not break” defense came up with six turnovers in the game, four interceptions and two fumbles. While it would be too easy to say it, in this case it just may be true.