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STONEWALLED: Missed chances cost Poteet in regional final loss to Lancaster
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
ALLEN-Poteet's season came to an end on Friday when Nathaniel Gaines was tackled after making a catch at the Lancaster 4-yard line as time ran out.
It was a fitting ending.
Despite numerous opportunities, crossing the goal line was a frustrating challenge for the Pirates all night long, and that was the biggest reason why Lancaster was able to emerge with a 21-13 victory in the Class 4A Division II Region II championship game at Allen's Eagle Stadium.
Poteet, making its second regional championship game appearance in school history, finishes the year with an 11-3 record.
The Pirates advanced into Lancaster territory on seven of their eight drives, but were unable to cash in those opportunities into enough points.
That was the case on Poteet's final drive when they needed a touchdown and two-point conversion to keep their season alive. After Nick Harvey's 13-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers a 21-13 lead, the Pirates took over at their own 33 with no timeouts and 1:17 left in regulation.
Tanner Ramsey, who was 19-of-33 for 231 yards, converted a pair of fourth downs with completions to Gaines, but the seconds ticked away quickly and Poteet had one final shot from its own 23 with five seconds left.
Ramsey was pressured, but he got a pass away down the left sideline. Gaines hauled in the catch at the 4 but he was immediately met by a pair of defenders as time ran out on the Pirates' season.
"It's tough, it's really tough," Poteet head coach Randy Jackson said.
The Tiger defense gave up 357 yards, but it stiffened with its back against the wall, especially when Poteet tried to run the ball. The Pirates averaged less than four yards per carry on the night and had just 33 yards on 10 attempts in the red zone.
"We couldn't block them, that was the big key," Jackson said. "They're good. Good on defense like I knew they would be."
Lancaster's bigger stand came late in the first quarter when Poteet had first-and-goal from the 3. Two carries got them down to the 1, but Rodney Douglas and Ramsey were stopped short on back-to-back runs as the Pirates turned the ball over on downs.
The Tigers built on the momentum created by the defensive stand, moving 98 yards on a drive that took up nearly seven minutes. Lancaster did what Poteet could not, converting on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when Derrick Leonard just got the ball over the goal line for a 7-0 lead.
"We got the ball down there on the 1 early on and our 230-pound kid (Ramsey) couldn't get it in," Jackson said. "That was a big deal."
The Pirates again drove down to the 1-yard line on their next possession, but an illegal motion penalty pushed them back and they had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Brett Rattan that made it 7-3 with 4:32 left in the first half.
Poteet had another golden opportunity just before halftime when Mavlon Brown recovered a fumble on a bad snap at the Tiger 35, but a holding penalty pushed them back and they missed a 46-yard field goal.
It was the fourth trip inside the Lancaster 40 in as many drives, but the Pirates found themselves trailing at halftime with only a field goal to show for their efforts.
"I didn't think about it at the time, but you have to capitalize," Jackson said. "It is hard to get inside the 20 against guys like that; it is kind of like what happened to us last year (20-19 loss)."
Poteet appeared to have corrected its red zone woes to start the second half. They moved 62 yards in 12 plays, converting three third downs, and finally found the end zone when Gaines hauled in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ramsey to give them a 10-7 lead.
Lancaster responded immediately, chewing up nearly six minutes on a 75-yard drive that Harvey capped with a 14-yard touchdown run to regain the lead at 14-10.
Poteet was on the move again in an attempt to counterpunch, but another costly penalty pushed them back and they once again settled for a field goal, with Rattan splitting the uprights on a 40-yarder to close to within 14-13 with 10:24 left to play.
The Pirate defense did its job by forcing a Lancaster punt, but the offense stalled and had to kick it away for the only time in the game with 3:25 left.
Poteet used its timeouts on the next Tiger drive with hopes to get the ball back in a one-point game, but the problem was they were unable to slow the Lancaster running game. With fresh legs, Harvey replaced Demarcus Ayers at quarterback and moved the team 82 yards in seven plays, finishing the drive himself with a 13-yard touchdown run that made it 21-13 with just 1:17 remaining.
The Pirates made one final push, but as was the case for much of the night, they came up a little short.
"Our defense played well enough to win," Jackson said. "They got a little tired at the end, but they certainly gave us a shot."
Lancaster continues to make history with its deepest playoff run in school history and at the same time it denied Poteet a chance to match its longest postseason journey that it achieved in 2010.
And while the pain was evident on the Pirate sideline after the game, Poteet showed that the run of two years ago was no fluke and they expect to be back in this position again.
"We've won 30 games in three years and I'm really proud of that," Jackson said. "It's a good football team we had and we got beat by another good football team tonight. I'm proud to be at Poteet and we're going to keep going and keep getting better and I think we'll have a good team again next year."
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