Indians rally in fourth quarter to win season opener

Comanche rallied for 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win its season opener over S&S Consolidated, 33-20, in Sadler, Texas last Friday.

The Indians led 13-6 at halftime, but the Rams scored 13 points in the third quarter to take the lead and the momentum as they looked to snap a 26-game losing streak at the expense of Comanche.

The Indians, however, fought back and kept the Rams’ streak going for at least another week.

“First and foremost, I have to brag about my assistant coaches,” said Gary Robinson, Comanche head coach. “Those guys are getting after it every day in practice. But it’s the enthusiasm and the excitement that they’re bringing to the game. The boys feed off that and they’re playing with excitement and enthusiasm, which helps make you a better football player.”

It’s more than teaching kickouts and fly patterns.

“Not only do they know their x’s and o’s, but they’re coaching them up with excitement that they bring and that really showed up Friday night,” Robinson said.”

Robinson was happy with the play of his team, especially on defense.

“That’s the best they’ve run to the ball in a game since I’ve been here,” Robinson said. “They tackled, got out there hungry and were trying to strip the ball and almost got a scoop and score for a touchdown. I feel like it was a fumble and should have been a touchdown. But, the thing is, the aggressiveness, they are flying to the ball, they’re hitting hard and they’re moving their feet. They are knocking the ball carrier backwards and other guys are coming to make it a gang tackle.”

Offensively, the coach praised the work on the offensive line.

“The offensive line is doing a fantastic job,” Robinson said. “They are understanding the blocking schemes, locking on their man better than they have in the past, driving their feet and opening up holes for our running backs. I was really excited about the way we played Friday night, especially coming out with a win.”

The Indians got on the scoreboard first with a 3-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Carson Vansickle, who was making his first varsity start at the position. Later in the half, he would add a 35-yard touchdown run. Cooper Johnson’s point after following the second touchdown gave Comanche a 13-0 lead.

S&S Consolidated would not go quietly, however. They fought back and scored a touchdown with just five seconds left in the half to take some momentum into the locker room.

That momentum carried over with a touchdown in the third quarter and then the Rams took the lead with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown at 20-13.

The Indians were able to respond and got the momentum back following the blocked punt TD when running back Erik Roy broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and ripped off a 30-yard run for a big play into Ram territory. 

Comanche would go on to score from there on a short touchdown pass from Vansickle to Rylan White to tie the game with 8:25 left. 

The Indians retook the lead a couple of minutes later on a 30-yard touchdown run by Vansickle that pushed the lead to 26-20.

White would put the game away just over a minute later when he returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown with 4:37 remaining. Vansickle would end the Rams last drive with another interception.

Robinson was proud of the way his team responded after falling behind.

“That was probably the best part of the game,” Robinson said. “I told the coaches at halftime, I told them historically in the second half is when we fall apart since I’ve been here and they tried a little bit to fall apart in the third quarter. But they never stopped playing hard. They never stopped. They never hung their head. They never quit. If we’re outmatched and they’re a lot better football team than us, still don’t quit and play your tail off until the end. That’s all we ask of them. And we finally saw that on Friday night.

Vansickle finished 8-of-15 passing for 42 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 99 yards on 19 attempts while scoring three touchdowns. Roy had 91 yards on 13 carries. 

White was the top receiver with five catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.   

The Indians will host the Savages of Wynnewood in their home opener and Robinson expects them to be a tough matchup like they were last year in Wynnewood.

“They’re very similar to what they were last year,” Robinson said. “They’re going to have a lot of different formations that you have to get lined up for. You have to go through all those at practice, just going and stepping through, showing all the formations, teaching the kids where to line up. They’ve got great skill players, running backs that hit the line hard and they’re moving fast.”

Robinson said it will nice having a home opener with a win already under their belt.

“We have great community support,” Robinson said. “Sadler is a two-hour drive and I looked up and the stands were full. It was great. The band was great. They were loud when they needed to be loud and were up there cheering for us. We really appreciate them. We hope we can have a big crowd this Friday.” 

Kickoff is at 7 p.m.