The first matchup between two top 10 NHFA teams: #6 Tomball Christian Warriors win over #8 ACA Defenders 44-0
On September 10, 2022, the Tomball Christian Warriors beat the Acadiana Christian Defenders 44-0. The Warriors dominated in all aspects of the game. The special teams put the Defenders deep in their own territory and gave their own offense excellent field position. The offense took advantage and scored five touchdowns, while the defense shut out the opponent and didn’t even allow a field goal attempt. They also contributed a touchdown and a safety to the final score. Overall, there was a lot to be excited about from this game. The Warriors dominated from the very first play and brought home a hard-earned and welcome victory.
To begin the game, the Defenders kicked off to WR Jackson Resurreccion, who took the ball 81 yards down the field to the 10 yard line. The offense and defense each played 4 series during the 1st quarter. After Jackson set up the Warriors in the red zone, RB/OLB Caleb Harmon rushed for a 10 yard touchdown on the second play of the drive. K/WR Ethan Rice kicked the extra point and the Warriors were already up 7-0. Ethan kicked off to the Defenders and the defense ended the series after 7 plays with a turnover on downs. The offense received the ball at the 45 yard line and immediately utilized WR Josiah Stavinoha in the passing game, with QB Drew Harrison throwing back to back passes his way for 18 and 32 yards. Drew ended the drive 2 plays later with a .5 yard touchdown run. The extra point was good and the Warriors led 14-0 with 7:16 left in the 1st quarter. The Acadiana offense went three and out thanks to pressure on the quarterback from DE/T Mark Haynes and RB/OLB Garrett England. On the next drive the Warrior offense got the ball in the red zone because of a bad punt but weren’t able to get a first down. The field goal attempt was blocked and the Defenders got the ball deep in their own territory. The drive didn’t last long. Mark Haynes sacked the quarterback. On the very next play, OLB Peter Zyblot intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Warriors. The offense got the ball back in the red zone and Caleb Harmon scored a rushing touchdown. Ethan Rice’s extra point made the score 21-0 with 0:56 left in the 1st quarter. Ethan’s kickoff was excellent and allowed DE/RB Josiah Damiani to tackle the returner within the Defenders 5 yard line. 2 plays later, the 1st quarter ended with the Warriors ahead 21-0.
The Defenders’ offensive drive continued in the second quarter, where the Warriors quickly forced them to punt. They played two series on offense and four on defense. Their first was unsuccessful with three straight incompletions that forced them to punt. Jackson Resurreccion downed the punt within the Defenders’ five yard line. Their offense was put to the test as Caleb Harmon delivered several tackles and Garrett England sacked the quarterback for a loss of several yards. At the end of the drive, RB/FS Daniel Abraham intercepted a pass at the Warriors’ 1 yard line and returned it 99 yards for a pick 6. Ethan Rice’s kick was good and the Warriors were ahead 28-0 with 5:53 left in the 2nd quarter. They returned to defense, quickly forced the Defenders to punt again, and got the ball deep in enemy territory. Daniel Abraham and Drew Harrison ran the ball down to the 8 yard line and RB/OLB Conner Burke rushed into the end zone for the fifth touchdown of the night. Once again, Ethan’s extra point was good and the Warriors added to their lead. The score was 35-0 with 2:26 left in the second quarter. Ethan kicked off and the ball was downed deep in Defender territory once again. Three sacks by DE Jeremiah Wilkins, Mark Haynes, and NG/G Joe Cassidy stalled their drive. LB Reagan Zyblot also had a TFL. The second half ended with the Warriors ahead 35-0.
The 3rd quarter was short and sweet. A running clock was implemented because the score was so lopsided. There were three total series played by the Warriors, one on offense and two on defense. The defense began the second half with a TFL by Joe Cassidy and got off the field after 8 plays. The Warrior offense got the ball around their 30 yard line and then proceeded to go 3 and out. Ethan Rice’s punt was downed at the 1 yard line by Jackson Resurreccion and the defense returned to the field. The Acadiana offense struggled under pressure and two plays into their drive, Jeremiah Wilkins ended the 3rd quarter with a safety. The Warriors led 37-0.
Much like the previous quarter, the 4th quarter didn’t last very long. The Warriors played 2 series on offense and one on defense. The offense began the last quarter of the game with an 8 yard run by Garrett England, followed a few plays later by a 28 yard rushing touchdown by Daniel Abraham that brought the game to 44-0 with 7:55 left in the quarter. Ethan’s extra point was good and he followed up with a kickoff. On defense, Caleb Harmon had a TFL to begin their last series of the game, followed with a sack by Jeremiah Wilkins. The Acadiana offense punted to Caleb, who returned it 47 yards to the Defenders’ 40 yard line. From there, the clock ran out as the Warriors rushed three plays in a row, ending the game with a run for 13 yards by Daniel Abraham. TCW won 44-0.
The offense took advantage of their field position and scored 5 touchdowns. Drew Harrison was 2/12 for 54 yards, with his longest pass being for 36 yards. He had 25 rushing yards on 6 carries and scored a rushing touchdown. His QBR for the evening was 45.8. Josiah Stavinoha caught both of Drew’s passes for a total of 54 receiving yards on the night. Daniel Abraham led the team in rushing yards with a total of 5 carries for 60 yards. His longest run was for a 28 yard rushing touchdown. Caleb Harmon had 3 carries for 25 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.
The defense was absolutely dominant and pressured the opposing quarterback all night. Garrett England led the team in tackles with a total of 14. He also had 3 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, and 4 QB hurries. Mark Haynes had the second most tackles with a total of 10, in addition to 4 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, and 2 QB hurries. Caleb Harmon had the third most tackles with 9, including 1 TFL and a sack. Joe Cassidy had the fourth most with 8 tackles. He had 4 TFLS, 3 QB hurries, and a sack as well. Daniel Abraham and Jeremiah Wilkins each contributed to the scoreboard, with Jeremiah getting a safety and Daniel returning an interception 99 yards for a touchdown.
I interviewed Garrett England about the team’s performance, execution, and communication.
Ella: How do you feel about the team’s performance tonight against a highly ranked homeschool team?
Garrett: I’m extremely proud of the way these guys came out with fire in their eyes. They knew that if we didn’t win this game then it wouldn’t have been good for us in the rankings. The coach has been saying all week don’t underestimate this team; Coach Cassidy was preaching to us that we gotta treat this game like a playoff game and that’s exactly what we did. We came out here and on the first kickoff Jackson had a 81 yard return that lit a fire under us and we just kept that momentum to the finish and that’s why the score was 44-0.
Ella: What do you think you did well tonight and what could you improve on?
Garrett: I think we did well on just getting after the quarterback. I mean we had that guy running all over the place and we had I don’t know how many sacks or tackles for loss but it was a lot. One thing that our defense as a whole needs to get better at is communicating because we’re not huddling up as a defense anymore. So on defense we just need to be looking for the calls on the sideline from Coach Price because I was having to scream at guys all game losing my voice. Just getting guys where they need to be; that was getting me tired but that’s an easy fix so we’ll be fine but we just need to work on communicating.
Ella: Who are some of your teammates that stood out to you tonight?
Garrett: Joe Cassidy. That boy was getting after the quarterback every play. Daniel Abraham being electric on offense, getting the ball and making plays with his hands. Drew, making the right decisions and the linebackers as a core adjusting to all of the different calls Coach Price was making and all the all the blitz packages and everything and just being able to adjust on the fly.
Ella: What was the biggest challenge tonight defensively?
Garrett: Getting off the field on fourth down. So we had a lot of third downs and fourth downs where they got just big gains we let up and that was just fatigue. I mean the defense was on the field for more than half of the second quarter so that wasn’t good. But other than that after we made adjustments at halftime we had them figured out and that’s why they didn’t score at all.
Ella: Did the distance of this away game change your preparations?
Garrett: Not really, no. I mean we didn’t have practice on Monday because it was Labor Day but we still got that extra practice in on Friday so we were still prepared. We didn’t have a film session but I think we all came together as a team and going 0-2, close first game, second game was in our grasp but we didn’t win; we knew that we had to come out of the gates fired up and we had to get a W in this game. So I think just coming together with the team and just getting that as our goal was good preparation and carried it no matter what the distance of the game was or whatever.
Ella: After tonight’s game, what are y’all going to work on in practice to prepare for the next game?
Garrett: We’re going to work on just being disciplined. Executing plays on offense, catching the ball with the receivers, picking up our man on the o line, and on defense like I said before, communicating, getting the plays right, running the plays right. But I think our execution on defense and our fire and our hustle on defense was good, we just need to pick up on the communication.
Note: The Warriors face the Austin Crusaders next at home. The game starts at 6:00 PM and will be held at Klein Oak stadium in Spring, TX. Always check the Warriors FB and IG pages in case of last minute changes.
Get your tickets for the next home game at https://bit.ly/ATXCruTCW
Excellent article!