Sports and Outdoors

 Lake Info

Normal Lake Level is 322.00 feet above Mean Sea Level.
Current level for Cedar Creek Lake is: 321.97
Water Temperature:
75  degrees - top
73 degrees - bottom

White edges Green in Panther spring scrimmage
By Kerry Yancey
Monitor Staff Writer
MABANK–Austin Craig’s 60-yard gallop up the visitor sideline gave the White team a come-from-behind 17-14 win over the Green team Friday evening.
The Green-White scrimmage in front of 50 or so fans at Panther Stadium marked the end of spring football practices, but Mabank High School players are expected to continue working out through the summer in various programs, including the 7-on-7 season.
“It was about what I expected,” head coach Jimmy Cantrell said afterward. “The big thing was that we got through it without anybody getting hurt.
“We had some folks step up tonight that I had hoped would step up,” he added.
Fans (and coaches) were paying particular attention to the play of three candidates for the quarterback spot being opened with the graduation of all-state standout Kolton Browning, and all three showed they might have the right stuff.
Jordan Featherston went the distance for the Green team, completing 9-of-17 pass attempts for 80 yards, and adding another 81 yards and both Green touchdowns on 13 carries.
Craig and newcomer Blake Turner split time at quarterback for the White team. In addition to his 60-yard touchdown, Craig completed 4-of-9 passes for 34 yards and one touchdown.
Turner completed 2-of-6 passes for 20 yards with one interception, adding eight yards on three carries.
“He (Turner) isn’t quite sure what he’s doing yet – he’s only had, what, 14 practices? But he looked good,” Cantrell said.
“Featherston showed some toughness down there on the goal line (scoring on a one-yard plunge),” Cantrell said. “Spencer (Endelman) met him right in the hole, and Spence brought it. That’s a 300-pound lineman he twisted away from.”
Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball early, as Green ballcarriers fumbled twice and lost both, while the White team fumbled three times and lost all of them – all in the first half.
Part of that was due to some hard licks delivered by both defenses. Both offenses settled down and didn’t turn the ball over in the second half.
Working with a running clock in the first half, the Green opened with a three-and-out (there weren’t any actual punts), but the White offense obligingly coughed up the ball on the White 22.
After getting nowhere, Green lined up for a Michael Blackburn 32-yard field goal attempt.
The White defenders yelled “Red Oak! Red Oak!” (referring to his narrow miss in the final seconds of regulation against the Hawks last year, which ended up keeping the Panthers out of the playoffs), and Blackburn’s attempt went wide left.
Once again, the White team coughed up the ball, this time fumbling backward, with Green recovering at the White 15.
They were unable to capitalize on the excellent field position however, as Featherston’s stirring scramble – losing his helmet while twisting away from two defenders – came up short at the 12.
For the third straight possession, the White got just one play off, fumbling on second down at the White 22.
This time, Green was able to capitalize on the turnover. Featherston hit Dustin Schultz for a 16-yard gain to the White 10, and on third-and-goal from the 9, got the TD with a run to the right.
Blackburn’s PAT gave the Green a 7-0 lead.
White finally put together two first downs, the first coming on a 17-yard run by Craig and the second on a seven-yard run by Jesse Plunkett, but White stalled at the Green 40 on three straight incompletions.
After a “punt,” the Green team started at their 10. Featherston hit David Walker for a 25-yard gain, but Walker fumbled at the 35, putting the White team back in business.
Craig moved the team in for the tying touchdown in five plays, hitting Jake Runey over the middle from seven yards out for the score.
Key plays in the brief drive were a 13-yard gain on a pass to Matt Lowe and an eight-yard gain on a pass to Chris Middleton.
Nathan Ventrua nailed the PAT to tie the score at 7-all.
Green got another first down on a 15-yard run by Featherston, but he was sacked for a loss by Justin Pinson to end the first half.
With a regular game clock in the second half, the White team opened with a sustained drive, keyed by the first play, a 41-yard gallop by Darius Robertson up the home-side sideline.
On second-and-one at the 20, Turner made a great play to haul in a high snap, and then found Jacob Walker for a 15-yard gain to the Green 5.
They couldn’t get much closer, however, and settled for a 24-yard field goal by Ventrua, which put them up 10-7 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.
The Green came right back with their own sustained drive, moving 70 yards in 13 plays.
White defenders helped the drive immensely when Green faced a fourth-and-four at the White 25.
Green committed a false start, but the White defenders bumped the receiver downfield on a clearly overthrown ball.
Instead of a free play for the defense, the 15-yard personal foul penalty gave Green new life at the White 10.
On fourth-and-one, Featherston twisted away from Endelman to score the touchdown, and Blackburn’s PAT gave Green the lead again, 14-10, with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.
White’s first play was a deep throw, which Michael Tanner intercepted at the Green 44.
Green got nowhere, though, and “punted” right back, giving White possession at their 34.
After Craig hit Middleton for a gain of six on second down, he kept right, cut up and out to the sideline, and was gone for a 60-yard TD.
Ventrua’s PAT ended the scoring with 7:10 left to play.
It looked like that would be plenty of time for the Green to march downfield and score, and they did march 54 yards in nine plays, only to stall at the White 16 when a fourth-and-two pass fell incomplete.
Key plays in the march were a 13-yard run by Featherston, a 14-yard run by Blackburn and a 14-yard catch by Tanner.
White needed to get a first down, and Cameron Cantrell did that and more with a 15-yard run.
On the next play, the shotgun snap went over Turner’s head, but Cantrell, running left behind Turner, alertly snagged the ball and turned upfield for a nine-yard run, enabling Turner to kneel and run out the final seconds.