Conroe falls to College Park

SHENANDOAH, Texas-- College Park turned three Conroe turnovers into three touchdowns and the Cavaliers rolled to a 48-28 district win on Homecoming Friday night at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

“I am very proud of how our kids responded, I’m proud how they bounced back. Last week we had some adversity, but we didn’t quit, but they came out tonight and did a great job and I’m very proud of them,” Cavalier Head Coach Richard Carson said.

Trailing 6-0 in the first quarter, the Cavaliers got their offense moving and picked up momentum when senior quarterback Colton Farmer converted a fourth down and one at the Conroe 34-yard line on a two-yard keeper. Three plays later sophomore running back Dominic Garcia capped off the drive with a 25-yard touchdown run up the middle to give College Park a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Cavalier defense was stout all night, forcing three turnovers to set up short fields for the offense to work with as the Cavaliers outscored Conroe 24-0 over the final 8:29 of the second quarter. The momentum of the second quarter started when Farmer connected on a 41-yard pass play to Chance Givens down to the Tiger 23-yard line with 8:19 left in the second quarter. College Park continued the drive that went 64 yards in 5 plays in 1:29, capped off with a 12-yard touchdown run by senior running back Nick Black to give the Cavaliers a 14-6 lead with 7:00 left in the second quarter.

The second quarter was just getting started for the Cavaliers (4-2 overall, 1-1 district), as special teams made an impact for College Park as senior defensive lineman Jayvon Jackson blocked the Conroe punt and the Cavaliers recovered at the Tiger 4-yard line. Nick Black capitalized on the very next play, as he ran up the middle on a 4-yard touchdown run, point after was no good, to give the Cavaliers a 20-6 lead with 5:23 left in the second quarter; they scored two touchdowns in 1:37.

Cavalier defense continued to dictate the pace of the game as junior linebacker Roosevelt Henderson forced a Stedman Bell fumble and senior linebacker Tristan Newman recovered and returned it 27 yards for a Cavalier touchdown to extend College Park’s lead to 27-6 with 4:25 left in the second quarter.

Following another Conroe fake punt attempt that was stopped at midfield, the Cavaliers got the ball back at the Tiger 42-yard line with 2:48 left in the second quarter. College Park went on an 8 play 42 yard drive in 2:31 capped off by an 8-yard Farmer touchdown pass to junior tight end Christopher Barnes to give the Cavaliers a 34-6 lead at halftime.

The second half saw a barrage of personal foul penalties as after another Conroe fumble, the Cavaliers continued to cash in the turnover check as Nick Black scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to give College Park a 41-6 lead with 4:04 remaining in the third quarter. Black finished with 14 carries for 43 yards and three touchdowns.

Conroe out-gained College Park 380-219 in total yards, however the Tigers had 17 penalties for 175 yards. The Cavaliers took advantage of short fields all night as the longest scoring drive for the Cavaliers was 64 yards in the second quarter.

Stedman Bell took advantage of a less aggressive defense in the second half as he racked up 224 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns and accounted for Conroe’s 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Conroe (1-2 in district and 4-3 overall) will play Oak Ridge (2-0 in district, 6-0 overall) at home Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m.