Means to a win

By Todd Wills

October 11, 2008 01:47 am

— MIDLOTHIAN — With their season pretty much on the line, the Tigers unveiled a new backfield Friday night, one featuring the moxie of new quarterback Andey Means and the power running of the team's best defensive player, Cody Evans.
The Tigers' new "Dynamic Duo" left Midlothian feeling out-foxed and a little woozy after Corsicana put a 33-15 hurting on the Panthers before 5,000 fans at MISD Stadium.
The Tigers jumped right back into the 16-4A race with the explosive plays that tortured them in last week's 43-7 debacle against Waco Midway. Corsicana (4-2, 2-1) is only a game behind Ennis and Waco Midway for first place in 16-4A with the rival Lions invading Tiger Stadium next Friday.
Means provided the first bolt of lightning, recovering from a bad snap on the Tigers' third offensive play of the game to throw a 54-yard touchdown pass to Matt Ward, who missed most of last week's game with an injury. Ward was one of several Tigers that were either nursing injuries or who were hurt in the Midway game.
Ward ran a post pattern, got behind two Panthers and hauled in a lofted pass from Means, who started Friday's game because Cameron Young is out for the season. Ward caught Mean's pass around the Midlothian 20 and raced in for the touchdown.
"To execute on that first drive was huge," Tigers coach Dave Henigan said. "Andey threw a great deep ball. And that did was make our running game better."
The Tigers didn't score on their next two possessions, but the defense, especially the front four, was there to hold the 7-0 lead, staying in the face of Panthers quarterback Bryce Petty.
Petty, who at 6-5 has committed to Tennessee, never had a chance against Corsicana defensive ends Arsenio Cole and Troy McAdams and linebacker Ike Hunter. The Tigers had three sacks, and when they weren't bringing down Petty, they were harassing him.
"They did a good job on us in the first half," said Petty, who injured his left knee in the fourth quarter and didn't return.
Midlothian's offense picked up some steam at the start of the second quarter, as the Panthers picked up first downs on three consecutive plays. But Midlothian had a touchdown taken off the scoreboard on an offensive pass interference call, and on second-and-28, Hunter broke through and slapped the ball out of Petty's hand and Darrell Waites was there to scoop up the loose ball.
The Tigers again appeared to be stuck in neutral on offense, but Means kept the ball on third-and-nine, made a cut and sprinted for a 40-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 6:41 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers' defense provided the next blow as Cole scored his second touchdown in consecutive road games, picking off a Petty pass with open field in front of him and scoring on a 32-yard interception return for a 20- lead.
After another Midlothian punt with 2:48 left in the first half, the Tigers turned to Evans, who carried the ball seven of nine plays, just like two weeks ago against Waco University. Evans picked up a key first down on fourth-and-1 at the Midlothian 38. And after a Means keeper, Evans bolted through the line for a 38-yard touchdown run, giving the Tigers a 26-0 lead with 10 seconds left in the first half.
"That was a huge drive," Henigan said. "I told the coaches I wanted to score with no time left on the clock. The kids executed well and Cody blew right through there."
Evans had 116 yards in the first half and finished the game with 164 yards on 26 carries. Means was 4 of 5 for 73 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
Midlothian had 84 yards in the first half, but six plays that went for losses. The Panthers did score two touchdowns in the second half with backup Dylan Hackman in the game, but by that time the game was over.
"The defense did a great job and turned the ball over and scored," Henigan said.
Evans, who only played defense on the first series of the game, was proud of the effort, especially from his replacement, Matt Speed.
"They did as good a job as if I was still in there," Evans said.
Briefly...: JaVonti Hines started at receiver and the Tigers stuck mainly with Hines and Ward at receiver...Ostin Anderson played cornerback and Desmond White moved to safety...Corsicana statistician Mike Montfort missed his first Corsicana game since 1980 because he had to leave early for Miami, Okla. for today's Navarro-Northeast Oklahoma game.

Corsicana 34, Midlothian 31
Corsicana 7 19 0 7 — 33
Midlothian 0 0 3 12 — 15

First quarter
C: Matt Ward 54 pass from Andey Means (Carlos Cruz kick), 9:24
Second quarter
C: Means 40 run (Cruz kick), 6:41
C: Arsenio Cole 32 interception return (run failed), 4:31
C: Cody Evans 38 run (kick failed), :10
Third quarter
M: Vince Frawley 34 field goal, 8:38
Fourth quarter
M: Marty Barnett 8 pass from Dylan Hackman (kick failed), 9:31
C: Evans 21 run (Cruz kick), 7:18
M: Eddie Johnson 10 pass from Hackman (run failed), 1:03

C M
First downs 14 16
Rush-yards 45-210 20-70
Passing yards 87 227
C-A-I 5-6-0 20-32-1
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Punts-avg. 2-39 5-28.2
Penalties-yards 7-75 11-120

Individual
Rushing — C: Cody Evans 26-164, Andey Means 10-32, Johnathan Anderson 7-22, JaVonti Hines 2 - (-8). M: Bryce Petty 15-46, Michael DeLos Santos 4-23, Dylan Hackman 1-1.
Passing — C: Means 5-6-0 87. M: Petty 13-20-1 110, Hackman 7-12-0 117.
Receiving — C: Matt Ward 3-77, Evans 1-10, Hines 1-0. M: Dylan Fowler 7-105, Marty Barrett 5-40, Vince Frawley 1-33, Eddie Johnson 3-26, DeLos Santos 3-12, Dante Floyd 1-11.


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Todd Wills may be contacted via e-mail at twills@corsicanadailysun.com

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