Anderson-Shiro Owls drop a close one
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Coronado calls his own number in the Anderson-Shiro Owls 14-8 district loss on the road to Corrigan-Camden. Examiner photo by Carter Benton
CORRIGAN - The Anderson-Shiro Fighting Owls traveled to Corrigan to take on the Corrigan-Camden Bulldogs in a District 12-3-A Division 2 District 12 game. Despite being huge underdogs, the Owls surprised a lot of people with spirited play and a lot of effort but fell short of their first league win with a 14-8 loss.
Both teams exchanged punts and turnover on downs to start the game. Field position and dominate defenses ruled the first quarter for both teams. Late in the second quarter, the Owl defense came up huge when Jordan Coronado’s punt pinned the Bulldogs inside their own 5-yard line. Junior linebacker Travis Anderson crashed the party on second down tackling the quarterback a yard deep in the endzone for the Owl safety.
“Anderson has a motor and it really showed tonight,” said Owl Head Coach Brad Hodges. The safety gave the Owls a short lived 2-0 lead. Corrigan answered late in the second quarter with a drive that resulted in a touchdown with 58 seconds remaining. The Owls drove downfield with under a minute remaining but came up just short of answering the Bulldogs late finalizing the halftime score 6-2, in favor of Corrigan.
The Owls came out of halftime fired up and got a quick stop to start the third quarter. The offense marched downfield behind strong running by Coronado and senior running back Karrter Ellis. Coronado capped the drive on a misdirection play to give Anderson an early 8-6 lead. The Bulldogs answered scoring another rushing touchdown with 5 minutes left in the third taking a 14-8 lead into the fourth quarter.
Anderson fought valiantly in the fourth but couldn’t find pay dirt, finalizing the score 14-8. Despite the underdog label, the young Owls showed up and put on a show. “I am proud of their [the Owls] effort and fight,” explained Hodges. “This one was hard to swallow as we were such big underdogs and we really came out and gave them everything they wanted and more tonight.”
Offensively, the Owls were led by quarterback Coronado with nearly 100 all purpose yards. Senior receiver Jonathan Ritchie led the wideouts. Ellis rushed for 128 yards on 18 carries. Defensively, Senior linebacker Duncan Benton had 11 total tackles and a sack. Trevor Fernandez recorded 4 tackles for loss and Anderson finished with 7 tackles and a sack for a safety.
Next week is Senior Night at Owl Stadium. Hodges said it will be an emotional night for a great group of seniors. “That group has sacrificed so much for this program. They have shed a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for their school and teammates. They deserve a great night and an all out effort from our team and fans. We want to send them out with a win!”
The Owls host the Kountze Lions in Anderson Friday, Oct. 22. Kickoff for Senior Night will be at 7pm. Come out and support your Fighting Owls!