With a 31-13 win on Thursday night in front a large group of Colonel fans that were full of energy and many more watching on television, the Colonels proved too much for the Texas State Bobcats as the Colonels walked away with the coveted “Battle of the Paddle” title for the third consecutive year.
The idea for the “Battle of the Paddle” originated in 1998 when a game between Texas State, formerly Southwest Texas and Nicholls State had to be rescheduled due to floods that ravaged the San Marcos, Texas, area. Ever since that season, the winner of this game has been presented with a paddle which is painted on one side with Texas State’s colors, maroon and gold, and on the other with Nicholls’ colors, gray and red.
The Colonels were the first to get on the board in the contest as junior kicker Jay Jones gave the Colonels an early 3-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Capitalizing on an 11-play, 63-yard drive in the second quarter, the Bobcats were able to gain the lead, 3-7, thanks to a six-yard run by Bobcats senior Jarvis Smith and an extra point by freshman Steven Dietz.
The next score came by way of the Colonels all time leading rusher, senior quarterback Josh Son on a one-yard scamper in the end zone for a touchdown. The Colonels finished the drive with a successful extra point attempt by junior place kicker James Wilcox that gave the Colonels a 10-7 lead.
The Bobcats were able to capture the lead once more on a 14-yard run by freshman running back Morris Brothers that gave the Bobcats a 10-13 lead.
Thanks to a valiant effort by the Colonels defense, when the Colonels took a 17-13 lead on Chris Crawford’s electrifying 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a Wilcox’s extra point, the Colonels never trailed again.
In the fourth quarter, the Colonels finished up strong like true champions with running back Phillip Brock’s one-yard run to give the Colonels a 23-13 lead, and later in the game with 41 seconds remaining, Son was able to get his second touchdown of the night with a 13 yard run to give the Colonels a 30-13 lead. Both scores were followed by Wilcox’s extra points.
On defense, the Colonels were led statistically by defensive back Joseph Ogletree, who had four solo tackles and eight assisted tackles. Also linebackers Torrian Thomas and Travis Douglas had eight assisted tackles as well.
Head coach Daryl Daye said after the game that his defense played well and he was happy to walk away with the win.
“I thought defensively we had a heck of a game; we gave up a lot of yardage but when it comes down to it, they didn’t score a lot of points,” Daye said. “Offensively we fumbled our way into the fourth quarter and got moving and picked it up in the fourth quarter. It’s just good to get the win.”
Senior defensive back Chris Thompson said the whole defense stepped up because the team talked about the game plan all week in preparation for the game.
“We made some big stops and when we needed them; we made big plays, we talked about it all week: make the plays when you need them, big players make big plays, and that’s what we did tonight,” Thompson said.
“Credit their defense, they came out with a really good plan, they had a few more days than us to work on it; credit their coaches coming out and executing what they did, credit our defense even more because man I love those guys,” Son said. “Defense kept us in the game, they kept us in the game with big plays.”
The Colonels, now 3-0 in conference, will take on Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas on Nov. 15 at 4 p.m.