They may not be ready to anoint themselves on the level of the 2002 state championship team, but a start like this has the Cougars’ confidence riding high.
Ernesto Flores raced 15 yards for a decisive fourth-quarter touchdown and a successful goal-line stand in the final minute lifted Rosebud-Lott over Class A No. 7 Normangee 12-7 Thursday night at Cougar Field to make it three straight out of the gate for the Cougars.
“I knew we were capable of (going 3-0),” said Rosebud-Lott coach Kyle Maxfield, who found himself at a loss for words. “We just take them one at a time. Anytime you get a win over a team like that it’s big.”
It was a victory the Cougars had to wrest away from the Panthers, who had taken a second-half lead and procured the lion’s share of the momentum. The Panthers were held scoreless in the first half and came out in a power-I formation to start the final half, promptly marching 68 yards in 10 rushing plays before Jordan Mullinnix banged in from the 2 off left tackle to put Normangee ahead 7-6.
Finding themselves 82 yards away from the goal line to start the fourth quarter, the Cougar explosiveness manifested itself. Darrell Whitfield took a Flores swing pass in the left flat and turned it into a 53-yard ramble inside the Panther 30.
Flores found Tyler Kleypas for 15 more to the Normangee 15. From there, Flores couldn’t find a receiver but did find a seam in the Panther defense and raced into the end zone to put the Cougars up 12-7 with 8:25 left to play.
“I was just feeling it,” said Flores, who said the play wasn’t designed for him to run. “I’m like a goat. When I see green, I go.”
The Panthers appeared as if they would answer the score, driving from its own 34 to the Cougar 3. But on third-and-goal, the Panthers went back to the shotgun and quarterback Justin Mullinnix missed the snap. Shawnquale Bell smothered him back on the 10. An illegal procedure penalty put them back on the 15.
“That was huge,” Maxfield said. “Anytime you have the Panthers moving backwards, it’s big.”
Justin Mullinnix found his twin brother, Jordan, open in the end zone, but he couldn’t put the ball away and the Cougars ran out the final 1:43 for the win.
Rosebud-Lott put up the only points of the first half early in the second quarter. Deandre Thompson recovered a Panther fumble at the Normangee 47. Flores hit Hunter Neumann and Brandon Butler on back-to-back completions for 7 and 16 yards, respectively, to get inside the 10. Thompson punched it in from the 1 two plays later. The PAT failed and the Cougars clung to a 6-0 lead at halftime.
Flores threw for 126 yards and Thompson led the balanced Cougar attack with 50 yards rushing. Jordan Mullinnix led all rushers with 171 yards on 31 carries.
“They’ve been so explosive,” Maxfield said of Normangee. “They came out strong in the second half and threw us off our game plan. They have a great outfit."
twaits@temple-telegram.com
