 
FHSC @ Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 5
Won 21-14
As of: end week 6
 |
| Standings |
W |
L |
T |
| Sonora |
5 |
1 |
0 |
|
| New Orleans |
4 |
2 |
0 |
|
| Atlanta |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
| Tampa Bay |
3 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
 |
| 
| WEEK 6 -- FHSC at Dallas Cowboys |
| Dallas comes up short and the FHSC moves to 5-1 |
 | Dallas RB Troy Hambrick is consumed in a pile of Sonora defenders |
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Dallas, TX - Trailing the FHSC 21-14, the Cowboys began their final drive of the game from their own 40 yard line and 2.5 minutes to play. The Cowboy offense was rolling along both on the ground and in the air, looking to send the game into overtime.
But, with only a minute and a half left in the game, the Cowboy hopes were dashed as Quincy Carter's attempted touchdown pass was intercepted by the FHSC secondary to salt away the Sonora victory.
What started out as a barn burner quickly slowed down into a defensive and turnover struggle that ended up going the FHSC way. The Cowboys' first drive ended in a Jason Pfeifer interception, his second on the year, and prevented a Billy Cundiff field goal attempt.
The following drive for FHSC resulted in 5 yard Thorpe touchdown run and the route appeared to be on.
Dallas, however, but the brakes on Sonora
when on the next FHSC drive, cornerback Derek Ross jarred
the ball away from Thorpe and Dallas recovered the loose
ball. 46 yards later 'America's Team' was in the endzone
thanks to huge running lanes and a 4 yard score by Troy
Hambrick, and the score was knotted at 7.
Sonora countered on the very next drive with
a 2 yard fullback dive by Brett Woodruff to give the FHSC
a 14-7 lead. Again Dallas responded, this time with a
6 play 80 yard drive of their own that resulted in a 23
yard Antonio Bryant touchdown reception from Carter. With
plenty of time left in the first half, the shoot-out appeared
to be on tap.
Instead, the game suddenly turned into a
defensive struggle as both teams seemed to figure out
the opposition at the same time. The closest the FHSC
got to the endzone in the remainder of the first half
was a failed field goal attempt from 57 yard out, and
the Cowboys only had one more chance at the end of the
half. But, with time running down, the FHSC defense came
up with back to back sacks by Matt Gonzales and Kevin
Cole to keep Dallas from scoring and preserving a 14-14
tie at the half.
Then Sonora took their opening drive of the
second half 65 yards on 11 plays to score on an Ian Thorpe
dive over the pile from inside the one. The rest of the
game was a defensive struggle and both sides were up to
the challenge, making each other work for each yard particularly
on the ground. "We really challenged our defense to step
it up in the second half and they delivered." said FHSC
defensive coordinator Jim Wall.
Evidently, for FHSC linebacker Jason Pfeifer,
good things have to come in pairs. On Sunday, Pfeifer
recorded his second interception of the season, and then
followed it up in the fourth quarter by recovering his
second fumble of the season. Remembering back a few weeks,
it was in game one against the Ravens that Pfeifer recorded
both his first interception and fumble recovery. Of course
both of those turnovers were turned into touchdowns by
Pfeifer, but even still it seems that opponents should
be wary if Pfeifer gets a turnover against them, because
a second one is sure to be on the way.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys mounted
a final drive, bent on tying the game up at 21. The drive
was fairly successful, making the most progress the Cowboys
had seen in the second half. "To be honest, I was starting
to consider our overtime strategies" said Roberts while
watching the Dallas drive unfold. However, the Cowboy
offering was not meant to be as Carter's pass intended
for Joey Galloway was picked off at the last moment by
a streaking strong safety Marcos Luevano. Luevano broke
on the ball and covered about 15 yards to get into a position
to make the play. "I didn't even see him [Luevano], all
I saw was Joey wide open" said Carter. The interception,
made at the FHSC 15 yard line, secured the FHSC victory.
With Dallas out of the way, Sonora will head
into Atlanta for a special mid-season Thursday night Match-up
against the division rival Falcons. This game is sure
to be intense as the Falcons are coming off of a 27-16
victory in New York and are poised only two games back
of the FHSC. Kickoff is at 7:00pm EST airing on ESPN.
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