Although it was expected to be a high-scoring affair, the football team slugged out a 21-13 win over Flower Mound Marcus on Sept. 20, 2013. The team improves to 4-0 under Coach Randy Jackson.
The pregame for this game in particular was interesting. Coach Jackson played a clip at the end of the “highlight reel” in which the Flower Mound Marcus coach was quoted as saying, “You can’t stop Plano East’s offense; you can only hope to slow them down.” This clip got the team motivated and ready to play.
Before the game, both teams met at midfield to pray, a meeting that was initiated by Marcus. East received the opening kick but only got one first down and was forced to punt. But the defense held Marcus to a three-and-out and East got the ball back. On that drive, East struck first blood as senior Anthony Maioriello caught a touchdown. After the kick, the score was 7-0 East. On Marcus’ ensuing possession, they faced a fourth-and-3 on the East 45. Marcus attempted to catch East off-guard with a fake punt, but senior Brandon Duke was not fooled and hit the punter hard to give East the ball. However, Marcus’ defense forced East to punt. Marcus started moving the ball down the field until a botched snap recovery by junior Landis Durham gave East possession again. Sophomore Ade Omotosho caught a screen pass that he turned into a first down. But later on in the drive, sophomore Miles Thompson threw an interception. Flower Mound Marcus started at the East 24-yard line. The intensity of the game heightened as the time until half decreased. Marcus faced a fourth down and inches from the East 45 and once again, they went for it. Senior T.J. Henson, normally an offensive lineman, came up clutch on the stop, as the Marcus running back had nowhere to go. After a questionable call, senior Lionel Wills ran for 20 yards to get East a first down. With the ball at the East-five-yard-line, Thompson threw a touchdown pass to senior Shawn Franks. The score, after the kick, was 14-0. Marcus drove down the field but fumbled at their own 12-yard line. Senior Max Maya came up with the football, but East couldn’t do much with it. After three downs, East was forced to punt. Flower Mound Marcus scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass to their tight end. The score was 14-7 after the kick. On the next East possession, a Maioriello 70 yard touchdown catch was negated by a holding penalty. That negated touchdown effectively ended the half. The score remained 14-7.
In the second half, Marcus received the ball first. But senior Chris Smith intercepted a pass and gave East the ball back. After three downs, East couldn’t move the ball 10 yards and was forced to punt. On Marcus’ ensuing drive, they drove down the field fiendishly, but Smith once again intercepted the ball, giving East the ball and the momentum. Maioriello had a 30-yard gain on a first down catch but after that play, East couldn’t move the ball down the field and was forced to punt. Marcus was forced to punt after senior C.J. White stopped the Marcus running back for a loss. East once again punted the ball to Marcus. Marcus started at the East 17-yard line. As they drove down the field, the fans could see why Jackson said that this was going to be a “statement game.” Marcus converted on every third or fourth down of the drive and after a 4th and 2 from their own 7, they finally scored. With the score 14-13, Marcus went for the win and attempted a two-point-conversion. The conversion failed after great defense by East forced an errant throw that the intended receiver could not catch. With only one minute remaining, Marcus had to attempt an onside kick, a kick in which the kicking team can regain possession of the ball if the receiving team either does not catch it or cannot catch it and the kicking team does. East recovered the onside kick, and then Wills scored on a 50-yard run to put the dagger in Marcus. After the final horn sounded, the score was 21-13 East.
The next game is at R.C. Clark Stadium and it is against a team from Venice, Fl. The game is set to start at 7:30 p.m. and fans are encouraged to be there, be rowdy, and loud.
