Vidor quarterback Maverick Quirante (23) looks for room behind the blocking of fullback Hogan Stogner (20) during the Pirates bi-district playoff game on Thursday night against the Crosby Cougars in Baytown.
A magical football season for the Vidor Pirates came to a halt Thursday night.
The Crosby Cougars defeated Vidor, 33-24, at Stallworth Stadium in Baytown on Thursday in the Bi-District round of the Class 5A Division II playoffs.
Both teams came out firing as Crosby only needed two plays and 18 seconds to score as quarterback Emmanuel Netherly raced 53 yards for an early Cougars score.
The Pirates answered on its first drive as the Vidor offense marched 80 yards in seven plays in less than four minutes as quarterback Maverick Quirante darted in for a 29-yard touchdown. The Pirates grabbed its only lead of the night, 8-7, following the two-point conversion.
Both teams settled in on its next drives, but it was Netherly who would plague the Pirates all night long as he had four big plays which resulted in scores for Crosby.
Netherly was the main source of the Cougars offense as he had 139 yards rushing and 93 yards passing for 232 combined yards of the Cougars 320 total yards for the game.
On its first play of the second quarter, Netherly found receiver Terryl Wiley cutting across the middle alone and connected with him on a 21 yard pass for the touchdown. On the Cougars next drive, Netherly again used his arm to find paydirt as he hit open receiver Roony Woodard on a 9-yard touchdown pass to give Crosby a 20-8 lead.
Quirante and the Pirates offense dug in their heels and marched the ball 75 yards in seven plays on its next drive as Quirante again found the end zone on a 3-yard run around the right side to cut the Cougars lead, 20-15.
Just when it looked as if Vidor had Crosby pinned down and the clock running out, Netherly, on fourth down and two, sprinted through the right side of the line on a quarterback keeper and went 45-yards for the touchdown right before the half.
The Pirates had 244 total yards of offense at the half, while Crosby had 256 total yards, but the Vidor defense answered the bell in the second half and limited the Cougars to only 64 yards output in the final two quarters. However, the Pirates could not put points on the board despite seemingly moving the ball at will.
Following a punt from deep in the Cougars end zone, Vidor used a short field to capitalize late in the third quarter as Kolbie Humble fought his way into the end zone on a 6-yard run to narrow the Cougars lead, 27-22.
The Cougars added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter as Craig Williams scored on a six-yard scamper.
Vidor marched the ball down the field in quick fashion but Quirante was interecepted in the end zone by a Cougars defender, who opted to run the ball out of the end zone instead of falling on it and was tackled at the one yard line.
On the Cougars first play following the turnover, the Pirates defense swarmed Crosby running back Carlos Grace in the end zone for a safety.
Vidor received the ball back on the free kick, but the clock was now a factor with only 1:40 remaining in the game. The Pirates again marched the ball downfield using a nice mix of runs and passes, but Quirante was again intercepted in the end zone by the Cougars defense to seal the game for Crosby.
Vidor (8-3) ran a total of 70 offensive plays for 427 total yards, while Crosby gained 320 total yards in 37 plays. Crosby (9-2) will now face the Fort Bend Marshall Buffalos (9-2) in the Area round of the playoffs, which defeated Houston Sterling 58-12 on Thursday night.
-Tommy Mann, Jr-
Crosby 33, Vidor 24
Vidor – 8 7 7 2 – 24
Crosby – 7 20 0 6 – 33
SCORING
C – Emmanuel Netherly 53 yard run, Yardley Cruz kick (11:42)
V – Maverick Quirante 29 yard run, run good (7:46)
C – Terryl Wiley 21 yard pass from Netherly, run failed (11:52)
C – Roony Woodard 9 yard pass from Netherly, Cruz kick (5:49)
V – Quirante 3 yard run, Bridger Quirante kick (2:45)
C – Netherly 45 yard run, Cruz kick (1:10)
V – Kolbie Humble 6 yard run, B. Quirante kick (1:09)
C – Craig Williams 6 yard run, kick failed (10:20)
V – Safety. Defense tackled running back in end zone. (1:50)
Vidor Crosby
First downs 23 13
Rushes-yards 57-345 28-227
Passing 82 93
Comp-Att-Int 6-13-2 5-9-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-yards 8-65 7-56
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing
Vidor: Maverick Quirante, 21-148; Kolbie Humble, 13-84; Hogan Stogner, 8-72; Haylon Leckelt, 14-45; Bridger Quirante, 1-(-4); Crosby: Emmanuel Netherly, 8-139; Carlos Grace, 15-51; Craig Williams, 4-35; Terryl Wiley, 1-2;
Passing
Vidor: Maverick Quirante 6-13-2, 82; Crosby: Emmanuel Netherly 5-9-0, 93;
Receiving
Vidor: Haylon Leckelt, 3-50; Kolbie Humble, 3-32; Crosby: Roony Woodard, 3-74; Terryl Wiley, 2-19;
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