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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Matadors wallop Georgetown 41-20 at home
Published September 6, 2009
SEGUIN — It’s highly unlikely that anyone will ever mistake Brig Gerlich for Vince Young.
But that didn’t stop the strong-armed quarterback from showing off his mobility during the Matadors’ 41-20 win over Georgetown (0-2) Friday night — a game in which the junior posted a stat line usually reserved for Heisman contenders and Madden video game characters.
Gerlich accounted for a ridiculous 463 yards of total offense for Seguin (1-1), going 29-35 for 338 yards and a touchdown through the air and amassing a team-high 125 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.
And while the Eagles were clearly caught off guard by Gerlich’s surprising wheels, the signal-caller claims that it’s been in the game plan all along.
“Coach (Mitch) Ables was always talking about getting me in the running game,” Gerlich said following the win. “That way, more things would open up. (The defense will) start focusing on me, and then I can get it to the receivers, who did a great job tonight.”
True, it wasn’t just the quarterback that had a stellar night for Seguin’s offense, which totaled 615 yards of offense and notched a staggering 40 first downs on the night.
Gerlich completed passes to five different receivers, including one — senior Chris Martinez — who had a breakout game, racking up 135 receiving yards on nine catches to lead his squad.
“Chris is a very good athlete and a rare combination — he’s really fast, but he’s also really quick,” said head coach Jim Carson. “He’s got good hands and is a very determined young man.”
Besides Gerlich, six other players carried the ball at least once for the home team, which posted an additional 277 rushing yards against a Georgetown defense that left Matador Stadium beleaguered and beaten.
“The offense did a really good job, took care of the ball and made some big plays and some big third-down plays,” Carson said. “I told the kids that I don’t love them any more tonight than I did last Friday — but I’m a lot happier and I know they are too.”
The Eagles had their moments on offense as well, as their two-man quarterback committee of Cody Ellerbee and Ian McCoig combined to throw for 302 yards and a pair of long touchdowns.
But Seguin’s defense again came up with some huge takeaways, as defensive backs Ronnie Lawson and Howard Matthews each finished with an interception. Matthews also made a big-time fumble recovery that prevented a Georgetown score and set up a 12 play, 99-yard Seguin touchdown drive that iced the game.
“That was a huge play,” Carson said. “Then we’re able to drive all the way down — one thing that was good about this game was we had some really long drives.”
In fact, the Matadors’ first touchdown of the game came on a 92-yard march, capped by a one-yard plunge by running back Jay Kolbe on the 17th play of the drive.
The visitors answered back quickly, though, as McCoig connected with receiver David Kerr for a 43-yard score. Both extra point attempts were missed, knotting the score at 6-6.
Although he had a rough night overall — going 2-6 on extra point attempts — Seguin placekicker Israel Rodriguez later nailed a 28-yard field goal to give his team the lead back, but it was only temporary. The Eagles took their first and only advantage of the night in the beginning of the second quarter, capping a 71-yard drive with a one-yard run by Taylor Sachs to make the score 13-9.
From that point forward, both sides kept turning over the odometer, as the two teams combined to put up 1,003 yards of total offense and only two punts — both by the visitors.
But it was Seguin’s relentless execution that set the Matadors apart Friday night.
“We had three really good days of practice,” Carson said. “They earned this victory with their workouts Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and the mental preparation Thursday and all day today.
“They took away what Georgetown wanted to do and it was very clean the way that we took care of the ball.”
After the Eagles took the lead, Seguin ripped off 25 unanswered points, beginning with a four-yard scoring run from Gerlich in which he fumbled the ball, picked it up on the move and ended up somersaulting over a defender and into the end zone.
Gerlich then added a 25-yard touchdown run on the very next drive, taking advantage of a gaping hole opened by center Chase Ramos and guard Anthony Razo.
“The offensive line did a great job blocking,” Gerlich said. “They led me to the house.”
The Matadors went right back to work after receiving the second half’s opening kick, traveling 80 yards in 15 plays and cashing in on Dequan Hedspeth’s six-yard sprint. Hedspeth would finish the game with 65 yards on just seven carries, providing a nice change of pace in contrast to Kolbe’s bruising, straight-ahead style.
Then again, Kolbe’s style seemed to work just fine down towards to the goal line, as the senior showed when he added the final touchdown of the game on another one-yard jaunt in the fourth quarter.
Before that score, Seguin and Georgetown traded one passing touchdown each — an eight-yard strike from Gerlich to senior Jared Curnel and a breakaway catch and run from Ellerbee to Ryan Holcomb that was good for 64 yards.
After the game, the same thought was in the minds of everyone in the stadium — clearly, this is not the same Matador team from a season ago.
“This year is definitely different than last year,” Gerlich said. “Coach Carson was preaching, ‘Practice to win and expect to win — then all we have to do left is play to win.’
“We played well, our defense stopped them and played a great game, and on offense, our receivers did a great job of catching the ball. I’m proud of them — I’m proud of everyone.”
The sure-handed senior duo of Dustin Read and Popeye Carter provided key third-down conversions all night, as Read hauled in eight passes for 64 yards, while Carter snagged five for 63 yards. Curnel had four receptions for 41 yards, including the score, and senior Thomas Cockrum added three catches for 35 yards.
From the backfield, Kolbe finished with 58 yards and two scores on 15 carries and Martinez had two carries for five yards.
Defensively, senior Nick Kolbe led the linebacking corps in punishing the Eagles’ running backs, as Seguin held Georgetown to 86 rushing yards on 20 attempts.
Moving forward, Carson says that a win like the one over the Eagles usually has a way of carrying over to the next contest.
“We go into next week with a good taste in our mouth,” Carson said. “It’s a lot easier when you’re coming off of a win.”
The Matadors will travel to San Antonio Friday to face East Central (0-2) at 7:30 p.m.
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