TCW Varsity Team vs Kincaid Falcons
The Warriors lost to the Kincaid Falcons 30-14 on September 2, 2022. Despite the loss, the Warriors kept fighting and wouldn’t be shut out, with the offense coming alive in the fourth quarter. Kincaid is ranked 81st out of all high school football teams in Texas and is the highest ranked team that the Warriors have ever played. They are also the highest nationally ranked team any NHFA Homeschool team will play this year. Even though the final score wasn’t in the Warriors’ favor, we can rest assured that we held our own against a very tough team.
The Warriors won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball going into the second half of the game. During the first quarter, the Warriors played 3 series on defense and 3 on offense. On the first play of the game, the Kincaid quarterback struggled with the snap, which put their offense in a tough situation. 5 plays later, the Warrior defense returned to the sidelines and RB/WR/FS Daniel Abraham received the Falcons’ punt, taking it to the Warriors’ 37 yard line. Daniel rushed three times in a three-play offensive drive, where the Kincaid defense didn’t allow a rush longer than 4 yards. When the Warriors got ready to punt, the snap was fumbled and the Falcons got the ball in Warrior territory. The defense was unable to stop the offense from completing a long pass to about the 2 yard line. They gave up a short rushing touchdown but prevented a two point attempt. The Kincaid Falcons were ahead 6-0 with 6:05 left in the first quarter. WR Jackson Resurreccion received the kickoff and the offense took the field. The Kincaid run defense continued to keep the Warriors from rushing successfully. The passing defense only allowed QB Drew Harrison to complete one pass on the drive. RB/OLB Conner Burke had the reception for 19 yards. K/WR Ethan Rice punted and the returner brought the ball deep into Warrior territory. Once again, the Warrior defense wasn’t able to stop their opponent’s offense from scoring a rushing touchdown. The kick was good and the Falcons led 13-0 with 1:23 to go. The offense only had time for 3 plays before the quarter ended. RB/OLB Caleb Harmon was featured in the run game and had back to back rushes for 15 and 7 yards. Drew Harrison was sacked to end the first quarter. The Falcons were ahead 13-0.
In the second quarter, the Warriors finished their drive from the previous quarter with an incomplete pass and a punt. After that, they had 2 offensive drives and played on defense for 3 series. Jackson Resurreccion had an excellent tackle on special teams where he stopped the returner in his tracks and caused a fumble. Fortunately for the Falcons, another player fell on the ball at their 25 yard line. They proceeded to stun the Warrior defense with a pass for 16 yards and two runs for over 20 yards. Daniel Abraham tackled a running back at the Warriors’ 1 yard line, barely preventing a touchdown on the 29 yard run. However, on the next play, the Falcons rushed into the end zone and added 7 points to their lead. With 9:10 left in the second quarter, they led 20-0. The offense gained 3 first downs on their next drive thanks to a 15 yard pass to Jackson Resurreccion, an 11 yard pass to Ethan Rice, and a 12 yard rush by Drew Harrison. However, they only made it to the Falcons’ 39 yard line, couldn’t convert on a 4th and 10, and the series ended with a turnover on downs. Daniel Abraham returned the ball to the Warriors immediately afterwards. He sped past the intended receiver to catch an overthrown pass along the sideline. Unfortunately, the Warrior offense didn’t take advantage of the turnover and the drive ended with two incompletions, a sack, and a punt. Back on defense, even though the Falcons entered the red zone, the Warriors held them to a field goal thanks to an 11 yard sack by RB/LB Garrett England and good pass coverage by Daniel Abraham and LB Reagan Zbylot. The second quarter ended with the Falcons leading 23-0.
The Warriors only allowed one touchdown in the third quarter on three defensive series and had four offensive drives. The offense went three and out on their first series, but the Warrior defense caused a fumble two plays into theirs. Daniel Abraham and Garrett England were in the process of bringing down a running back when SS Jack Alderson hit the runner and forced a fumble. The ball fell to the ground and was recovered by DE/T Mark Haynes. Unfortunately, the Warrior offense didn’t utilize the takeaway and their second drive only lasted for a few plays. The defense forced the Falcons to punt from their 35 yard line on the next series, but once again, the offense didn’t do well on their possession. They only gained ten yards before a turnover on downs ended the Warriors’ turn with the ball. To close out the quarter, the Falcons got the ball at their 49 yard line and quickly scored a touchdown on a passing play. The Falcons led 30-0 with 1:33 left on the clock. After the touchdown, that was their last addition to the scoreboard. On the other hand, the Warriors weren’t going to be shut out. The offense started to wake up on the final plays of the third quarter. They received the ball at their 25 yard line thanks to a touchback. Drew Harrison started the drive with a 5 yard scramble and then completed three straight passes before the quarter ended. The first was to Jackson Resurreccion for 7 yards. After a reception for 8 yards, Ethan Rice outran two defensive backs and was open for a 45 yard catch. The third quarter ended with the Falcons leading 30-0, but the Warriors were on the 10 yard line and had momentum.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors were on defense three times, started two offensive drives and completed one from the third quarter. Unfortunately, the offense took a 6 yard sack that pushed them back to the 16 yard line, where an interception put the Warriors back on defense. They returned the ball to the offense after effectively stopping the run game. They forced a punt that Daniel Abraham took to the Falcons’ 45 yard line. A few plays later, he outran several defensive backs for a 39 yard reception, which ended up being his second touchdown in as many games. Ethan Rice kicked the extra point and the Warriors were finally on the scoreboard with 7:16 left on the clock. The score was 30-7. The defense continued to hold back the Falcon offense, especially in preventing the run. After 8 plays, CB Anthony Carias ended the series with a tackle for loss. Caleb Harmon set the tone for the third and final offensive drive with a 36 yard run. After a few plays and a penalty in the Warriors’ favor, Drew Harrison evaded a sack and threw a 38 yard pass to Jackson Resurreccion, who raced past a defensive back into the end zone. Ethan Rice’s extra point made the score 14-30 with exactly 1 minute left in the game. The Warriors tried an onside kick but failed to recover it, and the Falcons let the clock run out to end the game. The final score wasn’t close, but the Warriors didn’t give up. Even when they were down 30-0, they kept trying and cut the Falcons’ lead down to 2 scores. This was the most highly ranked team the Warriors will face all season, and they proved that they can face tough competition.
QB Drew Harrison didn’t match last week’s performance, but he still had a decent game. He was 10/29 for a total of 174 yards, 2 passing touchdowns, and one interception for a QBR of 64.4. Caleb Harmon led the team in rushing yards with 5 carries for 64 yards, with his longest carry being for 36 yards. Daniel Abraham had the second most rushing yards with a total of 9 on 6 carries. He also had the third most receiving yards on the team, with one touchdown reception for 39 yards. Jackson Resurreccion once again led the team in receiving yards with 4 catches for a total of 60 yards, including a 38 yard touchdown reception. In addition to kicking 2 extra points, Ethan Rice had the second most receiving yards with 2 catches for 53 yards. The defense had a total of 76 tackles and 5 TFLs. Caleb Harmon and Mark Haynes tied for first with 10 tackles each, and Mark recovered a fumble. Garrett England was right behind them for second place with 9 tackles. He also had 2 TFLs and had an 11 yard sack. Jack Alderson had the third most tackles with 7, in addition to causing a fumble and deflecting 3 passes. Joe Cassidy had the fourth most with 6 tackles and a TFL. Daniel Abraham had 5 tackles and an interception.
I interviewed WR Jackson Resurreccion about his performance, playing a highly ranked team, and his preparation for a bigger role in the offense.
Ella: Kincaid is ranked 81st out of all high school football teams in Texas. Taking that into consideration, what’s your opinion on the team’s performance tonight?
Jackson: Taking that into consideration, plus we only had one day of practice, we did actually pretty good. We’re a good team; like not in a prideful way but we need to have some confidence as a team, which we do. But we were on the field with those guys and they’re a well respected team, and honestly we did all right as a team. We did pretty good.
Ella: How do you feel about your performance in tonight’s game?
Jackson: The first half I was not doing very good. Later on we picked up. Got a few yards, got a few catches, had a touchdown so I did ok. I could have done better but I’m not mad about my performance.
Ella: Who are some of your teammates that played well tonight?
Jackson: Daniel Abraham. That guy is a stud. He had the first touchdown, he did great on returns, he had a pick. And then just the o-line in general; they had some mishaps but they were good. They’re tough and they fought it out. And then Garrett had a huge sack and then Caleb running the ball…I mean I wish I could shout out the whole team. We have some good players.
Ella: Last year two of our starting receivers graduated, which allowed you to take on a bigger role in the offense. How did you prepare for that over the offseason?
Jackson: Over the offseason knowing that I needed to kind of step up, I definitely did work out more than I have in the past. And you know with a new quarterback too we tried to practice, but I definitely did try to prepare more this offseason both physically and mentally.
Ella: Last week, Drew said that the team has to get the small things right and the big things will come later. Do you think y’all did that tonight?
Jackson: When he said small things, I think he was really talking about mental things like false starts or shooting ourselves in the foot. And overall I think we did do better. We were more disciplined and the big things are still coming because we can definitely do better, but we didn’t do badly.
Ella: We’ve lost our first two games. How is that going to play into the team’s mindset going forward?
Jackson: Going forward I think we’re really just trying to clear it out because we know we’re a good team. And we know we can compete, especially coming off of this game playing a really high ranked team. We saw some good things today so I think we’ll be fine mentally and we’ll be good for the season.