Tyler hands Cove rare early exit from playoffs Posted On: Saturday, Nov. 14 2009 05:52 AM By Angel Verdejo
Killeen Daily Herald

TYLER – Three minutes into Friday's Class 5A Division II bi-district playoff between Copperas Cove and Tyler John Tyler, everything was going right for the Bulldawgs while the Lions couldn't get out of their own way.

John Tyler had two turnovers on its opening two drives, with Cove scoring touchdowns after each.

Then came the Lions' third drive and the host team never looked back. John Tyler scored 28 unanswered points to end the first half and went on to a 49-21 win at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

Cove (8-3) snaps a four-year streak of reaching at least the regional final, a run that included consecutive 4A Division I finals appearances between the 5A Division II Region II final in 2005 and 5A Division II semifinals a year ago. The Bulldawgs lost a bi-district playoff game for the first time since 2002.

John Tyler (10-1) moves on to the area round and will face Richardson Lake Highlands, who beat North Garland 49-28. The two play Friday night at Wildcat-Ram Stadium in Dallas.

In a battle of run-oriented offenses, John Tyler had the upper hand behind quarterback Jeremy Johnson and running back Kedrick Chancellor. The Lions ran 55 times for 435 yards, the second-highest total Cove allowed this year (Bryan ran for 474 yards on 66 carries). Johnson, a Southern Methodist commit, led the attack with 20 carries for 240 yards. Chancellor ran for 111 yards while fellow back Ky'Ordric Black added 79.

Said Cove coach Jack Welch of John Tyler's run game: "It's very powerful. Their running backs are awesome and their quarterback is a Division-I football player, but they've got a 285-to-290-pound line. When you have those kinds of ingredients, it spells victory."

It didn't start that way for John Tyler. On the Lions' first offensive play, Johnson overthrew his target over the middle and was intercepted by Deneldric Hudgens, who returned the ball to the Lion 2-yard line.

Brandin Byrd went in on the next play, putting Cove up 7-0 just 16 seconds into the game.

On the ensuing drive, John Tyler reached midfield before Chancellor fumbled and Cove's Nik Greene picked up the loose ball.

"We had angels on our shoulders," Welch said jokingly. "Bottom line is they came out trying to make something happen and we capitalized."

The Dawgs needed just three plays to cover 37 yards, with Byrd going in from 19 yards out for the 14-0 Cove lead.

"It's hard to say," John Tyler coach Dereck Rush said of the game's start. "We can't come out and play quality teams like Cove and give them 14 points."

With 8:59 left in the first quarter, the teams flipped roles. John Tyler scored touchdowns on its next four possessions including a last-second reverse pass from wideout/quarterback David Bush to Ricky Collins. Cove's secondary was fooled by the play, but Collins fought off three Dawg defenders before falling in the end zone.

After its two touchdowns, Cove turned the ball over twice (interception and fumble) in the first half to go with a punt.

John Tyler outgained Cove 349-128 in the first half, with Johnson already over 100 yards rushing.

Cove adjusted coming out of halftime, and started near midfield after a 43-yard return from Orlando Thomas. The Dawgs threw on two of their first three plays, including a 29-yard Thomas catch to put Cove inside John Tyler's 10-yard line. Cody Vaughn finished the drive on a keeper from a yard out to cut the deficit to 28-21.

"We pulled everything we could and we did those things," Welch said. "We moved the ball around and I thought the offense was really in sync. We stuck it in the end zone on them and were right back in the ballgame but we couldn't stop them."

The Lions answered with touchdowns on their next three drives, throwing the ball just once in the span while Johnson, Chancellor and Black bounced off would-be tacklers and broke others.

"We made good adjustments – we were there," Welch said. "It wasn't like they were just running through us. We were there."

Vaughn, who was under constant pressure when dropping back to pass, was intercepted twice between the three John Tyler scores. He threw for 154 yards while the Dawgs ran for 100 on 26 carries.

Each team lost a fumble while John Tyler intercepted Vaughn a third time in the final minute.

"To win this football game we knew we had to play a perfect football game," Welch said. "When you're playing a team like this, they highlight your mistakes and our mistakes cost us dearly. You can't turn the ball over to them when you can't stop them. That allowed them to get a couple touchdowns up on us and made it very tough on us."

Contact Angel Verdejo at averdejo@kdhnews.com

or (254) 501-7564.