Unfortunately for Smith and his fellow Grey Wolves, previously winless College Station A&M Consolidated rolled up 556 total yards and seven touchdowns to post a 47-31 victory.
While Smith put the ball up 30 times, the Tigers kept the ball on the ground on 63 of their 75 plays, collecting 445 yards from the infantry.
Consolidated’s strategy under veteran coach Jim Slaughter was simple - keep pounding the defense. Senior fullback Marshall Cashion, grandson of former NFL officiating legend Red Cashion, carried 20 times for 159 yards and Daniel Chalupsky rushed 19 times for 136 yards.
“It’s been like a snowball going down hill for us,” Slaughter said of his team’s 0-4 start, “and tonight Shoemaker was behind that snowball rushing it really hard. That quarterback of theirs was really something. Shoemaker did a good job and kept it a lot more interesting than we wanted it to be.
“We felt that we could run the ball on them. I really wasn’t pleased with what we did early, but we got stronger as the game went along.”
The Consolidated victory, which dropped Shoemaker to 1-4 for the season, set up next Friday’s showdown with Temple, which opened the 13-5A chase with a shocking 21-13 upset of Bryan.
A 56-yard pass from Smith to wideout Eric Moore and the third of four extra points by Paul Grande cut the Consolidated lead to 34-24 with 1:07 to go in the third quarter.
But the Tigers put the game away on their next two possessions. Consolidated drove 76 yards in eight plays to score a touchdown on a 34-yard run by Chalupsky with 9:25 to go to take a 41-24 lead.
On the sixth play of Shoemaker’s next possession, Kip Dally picked off one of two interceptions thrown by Smith to make the clock a decided enemy of the Tigers.
“That interception was a big play for us,” Slaughter said.
Consolidated concluded its scoring on the following possession, moving 78 yards in seven plays with Cashion sprinting 20 yards for the score after quarterback Dominic Preston completed a 35-yard toss to Taylor Holt.
Smith concluded the night’s scoring on a 50-yard scamper down the sideline with 2:16 to play.
Shoemaker, which trailed 27-17 prior to the performances of the marching bands, collected its first-half points on a pair of lengthy touchdown passes from Smith to M.J. Porter - 43 and 63 yards. Grande added a 22-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Consol started the game like it was going to chase the Grey Wolves out of their home stadium. Chalupsky climaxed a seven play, 60-yard drive with a 1-yard run and Barron Bennett hit his first of five extra points. Curtis Jackson was they key figure in the push as he rushed for 26 yards on his team’s first scrimmage play and two plays later caught a 24-yard pass from Dominic Preston.
It took the Tigers just one play to score on their second possession as Preston completed a 31-yard toss to Texas A&M baseball recruit Wes Schill.
Consolidated’s other two first-half scores were a 4-yard rush by Cashion and a 1-yard plunge by Cy Perry. Perry added another 1-yard scoring plunge in the third quarter to make the score 34-17.
While Smith accounted for 92.7 percent of his team’s total yards, Consolidated had five players who either rushed or passed for more than 60 yards.
Shoemaker returns to action next Friday at Belton (2-3 overall, 0-1 in 13-5A.
gwellnicki@temple-telegram.com
