Overbrook cruises to victory

Tagged under: District 12, Gameday Hub, News

Billy Splain | August 28, 2022

The Panthers and the Vaux Cougars matched up to open the season. Under the extreme heat the game opened with the Panthers took the ball to start the game. Vaux actually got good air under the ball for the opening kickoff and the Panthers got the ball on their own 30 yard line. The first play from scrimmage Sr. RB Mekhi Gordon ran around and through 3 tacklers before dashing 70 yards for a score. The Cougars recovered to stop the Panthers from converting the 2 point conversion. The enduring kickoff was short and Vaux would start at their own 38 yard line. Brook would force a fumble and on the first play a perfect throw and catch to Alem Mainor-Jettel. The conversion would be unsuccessful and the lead would be 12-0. Vaux found a little success moving the ball in the 2nd quarter running the ball but would once again find themselves in trouble with costly false start penalties that led to them having to punt deep in their own territory. The punt would be blocked and Brook would set up at the Vaux 20 yard line. From there Mekhi would add his 2nd rushing score to make it 20-0 with a successful 2 point conversion. Once again Brook would force the Cougars into a punting situation and took over with under 4 mins left in the half. They put together a great drive mixing the passing and rushing attack before Sr RB Jineer Fogan ran it in from 22 yards out for a 28-0 lead going into the half. From their the Cougars showed heart playing hard but due to limited players available didn’t have the manpower to make a comeback with the final being 34-0. Coach Ivory thoughts of the game were:
He felt the offense played well but would like to see better execution on some offensive plays. He also felt the defense played well. Moving forward he feels they just need to fine tune what they do.

Star HB Mekhi Gordon started his senior campaign off with a 100+yard 2 TD game and felt lol. When asked what was his mindset heading into the game he stated “I had the mindset to help my teammates stay focus and to win the game also to have a great start to my senior season”. He also said he wanted to shout out his offensive linemen for playing hard every play and receivers for holding the edges. When asked what he can improve on he said “I think I can improve on being more vocal and not running out of energy after every big run but also helping more on blocking”.
“My personal goals are to become the best back in the state and to score every game and put my team on the map for people coming after me”.

As for team goals he states “ The team goals are to make a deep playoff run and to win the turkey bowl when we play West Philly High”. College coaches should know they their getting a hard worker and a team player who will make sacrifices for the better of the team while also being a leader.

Vaux as mentioned previously has some number issues due to injuries but showed tremendous heart and effort in defeat. Coach Robbie mentioned the following players who stood out for his team: Troy Brazelton, the only existing member of our founding team only two seasons (1.5 years) ago, balled out on both sides of the ball playing tight end, slot, and most impressively outside linebacker.

Qwinton “Q” Pierce in his first start at quarterback ever was a leader on an off the field. The success we had on offense was a result of his leadership, finding running lanes, and rolling out to find open receivers.

Trae Tindal, a cornerback and wide receiver, played fundamentally sound football. Playing both sides of the ball without questioning it, he was the most consistent player on the field.

Hassan Spencer made quite a few plays on defense along with Jermaine Davis on both offense and defense.

When asked what his team could take away from this game he said “We have to improve on the fundamentals. When we know our responsibilities and limit unnecessary mistakes, we play simple and fast—finding success. The good thing is that the things we struggled with are things we can fix. Not a talent issue, but a fundamentals and execution issue”.

He felt the turning point in the game was Overbrook did a good job of putting us against the ropes early with two long touchdowns. We weren’t gang tackling, and they were running straight through our attempts at arm tackling.

Finally when asked what players he felt recruiters should look at he mentioned Troy Brazelton, 6-2 190lb OLB/DE and Jamir “Tank” Turner, 6-0 300lb OL/DL

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