By John Loop
Staff Writer
After rushing for only just over 130 yards in last week’s blowout win versus Longview, the Coppell Cowboys more than doubled their rushing efforts in the running game against the McKinney Boyd Broncos.
Junior running back Gavin McDaniel accounted for 100 of Coppell’s 218 rushing yards. McDaniel also added a key 22-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.
Slow goings hampered the offense from the very beginning of the game. The Cowboys’ first play from scrimmage was a draw to McDaniel for no gain.
“We had to come out and figure out what we were doing and figure out what the defense was doing,” senior center Leighton Light said.
McDaniel gained some tough yards on the ground, even though he was treated on the sideline for some minor cuts.
“He [McDaniel] is a great runner,” Light said. “He was bleeding on his elbows and everything else, just running as a hard as he could. The line was just trying to help him out, as much as we could, to find some holes.”
Right before halftime, senior quarterback Colby Mahon found senior wide receiver Jacob Logan on a check down. Logan walked untouched into the end zone from thirty yards out to give the Cowboys their first lead of the night, one that they would not relinquish.
After two well-timed Bronco turnovers, the Cowboys converted one fumble and one interception into 14 points.
“We really got rolling on offense,” junior middle linebacker John Herubin said. “A couple of turnovers gave us a little bit of fire and let us score a lot.”
The story of the night was the dynamic duo of McDaniel and sophomore running back Charles West. West gained 85 yards on 12 carries, including a 32-yard TD ramble in the forth quarter.
West, who scored on a two-yard run last Saturday at SMU, is proving to the coaching staff that he can run and run well.
No one expected the Broncos to be so unforgiving on defense, after Boyd gave up 38 points and 421 yards of total offense against Mesquite Horn in Week 1.
The Coppell offense will need the same ground-and-pound mentality when they play Rockwall, who hung 41 points on South Garland, in Week 3. The Yellow Jackets did give up 227 rushing yards, just 38 yards over their two-game average (189).
All in all, McDaniel, West and company ran wild on the Broncos, but will have to be quicker to outrun the eyes of the Hawks.
