by Waxahachie, TX – In an old-fashioned Wild West showdown, it was Cowboys vs. Indians, and in this round, it was the Indians who came out on top. The No. 7 Waxahachie Indians hosted the No. 14 Coppell Cowboys Friday night in a game that was won and lost in the trenches with both teams throwing for more than 100 yards, but Waxahachie’s run game was the story of the night as they ran on all 11 plays to march down the field and secure the win with just under two minutes to go.
The Rundown
The Cowboys got off to a fast start scoring first in the game after marching down the field and capping off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore Zavier Kichan. This would be all though for either team in the first with Waxahachie going three and out following the Coppell touchdown. Both teams exchanged punts before what would have been the second touchdown of the night for Kichan.
Having broken through the outside and shaking a defender he took off down the sideline for a 56-yard run to the endzone, but when he looked back there was a yellow flag on the field indicating a hold by the Coppell offensive line. This drive would end in a punt, and Waxahachie would take over from roughly their twenty-five with a few minutes remaining in the first. They would make it to about the opposing 40 before the field was flipped for the second quarter.
Picking up right where they left off the Indians continued to march down the field landing at the thirteen with 4th and 1 to go when junior Taylen Strange took the ball in the backfield shook past one defender and walked right into the endzone to even the game at 7 a piece.
Coppell would respond quickly as a 40-yard connection between juniors Carter Zingelmann to Corson Lindley set the Cowboys up for an easy field goal to take the game to 10-7. However, the Indians would not go down without a fight as quarterback Jerry Meyer III connected with Jordan Thompson-Woods for an over 50-yard pass to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Strange to put the Indians up 14-10 heading into the half.
Waxahachie came into the second half with the momentum and the ball, but it was no help as a miscue by their special team’s unit led to a turnover on a muffed punt that gave the Cowboys possession deep into Indian territory. Coppell quickly capitalized with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Zingelmann to Jacob Anene and once again had the lead at 17-14.
The quarter slowly moved along as Waxahachie continued to pound the ball through the middle of the field capping off the drive with yet another running touchdown this time coming from senior Jordan Smith on an 11-yard run to cap off his drive total at 53-yards on 3 carries.
Entering the fourth the Indians had the lead 21-17, but after a late push in the third Coppell took the lead for the final time on a 1-yard rush by Kichan on the first play of the quarter. The packed Lumpkins Stadium would find itself having déjà vu as Strange ran for 13-yards scoring his third touchdown of the night to give the Indians the final points of the game making the score 27-24 after a failed 2-point conversion
Kee-On Players of the Game: Taylen Strange
The story that usually comes out of Waxahachie games is about its high-powered passing offense, but in this matchup, it was all about the trenches. Strange carried the ball six times for 45 yards on the winning drive and finished with 24 carries for 139 yards and three touchdowns. This was over half of Waxahachie’s total 215 rushing yards.
What’s Next
The Indians (2-0) will hit the road head north to take on the Denton Guyer Wildcats (2-0) in a Thursday night matchup on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. For Coppell (1-1) they will return home to take on the Timber Creek Falcons (1-1) on Friday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
