On a beautiful and cool autumn night, Collierville football fans had every reason to be optimistic.  Needing a win to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot, the 2006 Dragons have a defense designed to stop the vaunted Red Devil running attack.  For three quarters, the defense indeed stuffed 4th ranked (Memphis Area Dandy Dozen) Germantown, holding onto 10 - 7 lead.  Unfortunately, and similar to years past, Germantown was able to consistently move the chains in the fourth quarter, while the Dragons offense could not answer running nor passing.

     Clinging to a 10 - 7 lead late in the 3rd quarter, Dragons Defensive End Harrison Bizzell sacked QB Scott Anglin forcing a punt from the Germantown 17 yard line.  A short punt coupled with a Germantown unsportsmanlike penalty gave the Dragons first down deep in enemy territory.  Unable to move the ball effectively, the Dragons ace Kicker Jeremy Adair attempted a 50 yard field goal, which was blocked giving Germantown the ball at its own 24.  Keeping the ball between the tackles, the Red Devils alternated running off right tackle with fullback dives up the middle,  scoring on a QB keeper with just under 10 minutes left in the game and taking a 14 - 10 lead.

     The Dragons needed to answer, but fumbled on the first carry, giving Germantown the ball at the Collierville 27.  Four carries later, Germantown scored a TD giving the Red Devils a 21 - 10 lead.  Unable to move the ball in two series, Germantown intercepted a tipped pass with 1:55 left in the game.  First and 10 on the Collierville 18.  Game over.  Rather than running out the clock, appeared to be running up the score. When asked if his impression of the final minutes a frustrated Coach Paul Cox responded, "Sure they were.  There's no question about that, no other way to look at it but that."

     Controversy aside, the Dragons gave a full-capacity crowd an entertaining game that left most fans on the edge of their seats.  Collierville moved the ball in the first quarter behind the strong ground game combination of fullback Eric Smith up the middle behind the outstanding blocking of C Joe White, tailback Jason Goins behind LT Mike Mancini, and QB Derek Pacileo behind RT Laine Halfacre.  Dragons Defense played equally well, holding Germantown to only one drive of significance in the first quarter, with solid tackles made by LB’s Jacob Hunter, Zach Jackson, and Eric Burrus.  Leading 7 - 0 as the 2nd Quarter began, Germantown drove the ball with a combination of running and passing to the Collierville 40, when LB Chris Bossert and LB Jacob Hunter made huge stops bringing up 4th Down and 4 yards from the Collierville 34.  Converting yet another 4th down through the air, Germantown drove to the Collierville 12 until NT Tyler Hammers busted up the option, forcing a fumble resulting in a 10 yard loss as Harrison Bizzell nearly recovered the fumble.  Completing a short pass on third down, Germantown faced 4th and 9 on the 15 yard line, electing to attempt a field goal that would stray wide right.

     With new life, the Dragons mounted their best drive of the night.  TB Jason Goins had four exceptional runs in the drive, twice behind superb blocks set by LT Mancini and LG Nathan Ring for 23 yards and twice behind huge holes on the right made by man movers Tyler Hammers and Laine Halfacre.  TB Eric Smith also found daylight behind Mancini and straight ahead behind C Joe White for a total of 31 yards.  The Dragons kept the chains moving all the way to the Germantown 4, where the drive stalled but ended in a 28 yard Jeremy Adair field goal, putting the Dragons down 3 - 7 with only 1:32 left until halftime.

     On its last drive of the half, Germantown was hit by Jacob Hunter for a 1 yard loss, held to no gain by a combination of Eric Burrus and Mike Mancini, and pressure from blitzing LB Zach Jackson caused QB Anglin to throw the ball away as time ran out.

     Germantown received the opening kick of the second half, gaining a first down behind its strong ground game.  With first and 10 on its own 36, Devil TB Meshaw Gooden was stuffed by NT Tyler “the HAMMER” Hammers, who promptly stuffed Gooden again on 2nd down - forcing a fumble and making the recovery himself - the football equivalent of hitting for the cycle!  First Down Collierville at the enemy 38!  TB Bart Smith made a nice cut for a 9 yard gain, followed by Jason Goins plowing to the 16 yard line behind a beautiful hole created by RG Nathan Ring.  FB Eric Smith pushed up the middle behind Joe White for a 5 yard gain, followed by a 6 yard Bart Smith carry behind RT Mike Mancini, first down and goal from the Germantown 5!  Powerback Eric Burrus bulldozed right 4 yards to the 1 yard line, and following 2 good stops by the Devils line, QB Derek Pacileo stretched for a TD on a 4th down keeper!  Adair PAT good!  Collierville leads 10 - 7 with 5:45 left in the 3rd quarter.

     The readers of this article know the rest of the game, as Germantown answered Collierville’s last scoring drive with a time consuming drive that Collierville was unable to match.  The defense played a whale of a game, and the offense showed the ability to drive the ball against a solid Germantown D.  The Collierville turnovers proved costly, as the defense tired toward the latter part of the 4th quarter.  Eric Smith led the Dragon ground game with 60 yards on 9 carries, and showed exceptional strength running up the gut into the heart of the Devil Defense.  The playoff picture may look bleak at this point, but I would encourage all parents to keep their sons’ spirits high.  Anything can happen in football, and despite the strength of Region 8, if our boys can put together a string of region wins we can be in a position to benefit from the unexpected.  After all, Collierville remains a very strong football program in the macro-perspective and I for one would love to get another shot at Germantown!