EC 'Birds get set for Spartans
Ricebirds hope to rebound from loss
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photos by Chris Barbee Runnin' Ricebirds Ricebirds Maverick Smith (above) and Anthony Terrell (right) are having a great season in El Campo's Ground game. The two primary rushers for the Ricebirds have combined for 1,867 yards and 19 touchdowns this year.

El Campo returns home Friday to host Katy Seven Lakes and attempt to rebound from a sudden shock last week.

The Ricebirds experienced their first loss of the season Friday in a tough game with Foster. Now the challenge for El Campo is to step up and take down a deceivingly good Seven Lakes team.

"We need to get back on the winning track," Bob Gillis, El Campo's head coach, said. "It's been very nice not to experience a loss up to this point. A loss doesn't feel very good, so we need to get back on the winning track and this is just the next step toward getting into the playoffs."

A win in either of their last two games should clinch a playoff spot for the Ricebirds. With games against 1- 7 Seven Lakes Friday and 6-2 Lamar Consolidated Nov. 9, the 'Birds best chance may be this week.

"I'm glad we have them at home," Gillis said. "I think our guys are going to come out with a lot of intensity, understand what's at stake and go play. We just need to relax and not worry. Things take care of themselves when you relax."

The Ricebirds will have to stop one of the most balanced offenses in District 24-4A.

Quarterback Dalton Livingston is ranked as the second best passer in district with 89 completions on 192 attempts. He has passed for 1,293 yards, 10 touchdowns and thrown eight interceptions.

As targets, Livingston has two of the district's top three receivers to throw to.

Anthony Kendrick has 34 catches for 574 yards and three touchdowns. Stephen McCormack has 28 catches for 428 yards and five touchdowns.

Along with the air attack, the Spartans also have a strong rushing game.

Aaron Salem ranks third in the district with 93 carries for 695 yards and five touchdowns. He averages 4.67 yards per carry and is a big-play threat with a 64-yard run as his longest of the year.

Each member of the Spartans has experience from last season as this is Seven Lakes' first senior class.

"Seven Lakes is going to come in here ready to play," Gillis said. "They've got 22 starters back and they're very, very big up front. They've got a really big receiver there and the quarterback can throw the ball. They've got a running back who can run it."

The Spartans have played close games with all their district opponents so far this year. Seven Lakes even touts a win over the Foster Falcons, the team that delivered the Ricebirds their first loss last week.

Foster 21, Ricebirds 14

The 'Birds fell Friday to the Falcons in a game that seemed to feature a bit of identity theft.

The usual clock-running scheme the Ricebirds bring to each game did not work against Foster. Instead, the Ricebirds saw the Falcons run the clock on them.

"Foster played well," Gillis said. "We weren't as sharp as we needed to be and they took advantage of some of the things that we didn't do. They played some ball-control offense on us and we couldn't get our ballcontrol offense going. My hat is off to them."

Even though Foster took charge, it was El Campo that made the first score of the game.

On their second possession, the Ricebirds drove 57 yards in seven plays to finish with a 12- yard touchdown run by fullback Anthony Terrell.

Foster responded four minutes later with a drive-ending 1-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:11 left in the first quarter.

The Falcons held El Campo to three plays and a punt and scored the go-ahead touchdown on the following possession.

Another deep drive that took a lot of time off of the clock resulted in a 2-yard touchdown, this time by running back Isaac Kerr.

The Ricebirds showed great effort to drive back and tie the game with only a few seconds left in the first half. An 86-yard drive was finished off with a 16- yard run by Maverick Smith.

Tyler Woods hit the extra point to tie the game at 14-14 with 10 seconds left in the first half.

The only score in the second half was Fosters, though El Campo came close.

The Ricebirds made a drive at the end of the third quarter that took them to the Foster 5- yard line at the end of the quarter. Foster came through at the start of the fourth to stop the Ricebirds short of scoring on the 1-yard line.

Later on, the Falcons scored their third touchdown to move ahead 21-14 with 47 seconds left in the game.

The Ricebirds tried to rally back and came close as time ran out. A deep pass by Woods in the end zone was picked off to end the game.

Gillis said early in the year that he thought the race for a district title and three playoff spots was up for any team to take it. Friday's game against Foster may have proved him right.

"Foster played a really good football game," Gillis said. "I said this back in August, and I think every coach would agree, this district is wide open besides probably Lamar Consolidated, who won in overtime Saturday against Terry. They've got to be the top choice now, but everybody else is pretty well matched and I think you're seeing that right now."

Gillis said he knows his team gave a good effort on the field Friday. The surprising loss could help the Ricebirds to refocus on the end of the year and their last two opponents.

"What I hope is that, sometimes a loss kind of brings you back down to earth," Gillis said. "It shocks you back into the reality that things aren't easy and we can't give up. We just have to go back to work and concentrate on what we're doing.

"Sometimes, when a team has success like we've had and everybody is patting them on the back for a great game they played against Bay City, we tend to overlook how we got there. Well, we got there by work. We'll all go back to work and put our best foot forward on Friday."

24-4A Football DISTRICT STANDINGS