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#1 in 5A Undaunted by Rival, Dayton

Dayton - Wow, a heavyweight bout indeed. The Highway 90 Showdown has been the biggest rivalry game for these two teams for a very long time. Dayton has dominated the rivalry with a record of 33-17-1 against the Crosby Cougars. Crosby had not won a game in this rivalry at Dayton in 29 years!

The #1 team in Class 5A the Crosby Cougars left their biggest rival, the Dayton Broncos' house undefeated and still atop the polls with a 30-20 victory. The Cougars behind the heroics of Nathan White and Emmanuel Netherly, claimed their first lead with a little over nine minutes remaining in the game. They did not look back as they put District 21 and all of 5A on notice. This is a

Crosby and Coach Jeff Riordan remain unblemished at 7-0 and 2-0 in district with seemingly only their final game against #20 Houston C. E. King and their star tailback, Trayveon Williams, standing in their way to a perfect regular season. Dayton moves to 6-2 on the season and 1-1 in district play.

The first quarter was an all out war with both teams punching away but coming up with zero points on the scoreboard. On the second play from scrimmage Crosby quarterback Tristen Cotton’s pass was picked off by Broncos senior Dylan Moore. Moore was Mr. Everything for the Broncos, on offense, defense and special teams.

The teams traded possessions and turned the ball over on downs with some strong body blows as they felt each other out.

It was Dayton who struck first. With 9:40 left in the second quarter after a big Jaylen Styner run and a Kevin Rideau jet sweep, Hunter Hancock scored on a 14 yard QB keeper to take the 7-0 lead.

Crosby responded when Cotton connected with Emmanuel Netherly from 39 yards out. The PAT was no good so Dayton maintained the lead 7-6.

On their next drive, Cotton tossed another interception, returned to the 23 yard line of the Cougars. Hancock hit Lagarious Mcquirter for a 24 yard screen pass for Dayton's second TD. The missed PATs continued though and the score was 13-7, Dayton.

Bad luck hit the Broncos right before half. Dylan Moore took the Crosby punt and turned in what looked like a fine return to midfield. Not only did he fumble but Dayton was called for an illegal chop block opening the door for the Cougars. The result gave Crosby the ball deep in enemy territory. Cotton eased into the end zone a few plays later on a keeper tying the game up with 34 seconds left in the half.

The two teams traded possessions to start the second half and then Dayton looked to continue its strong first half play with a long drive. Styner sprinted in from 5 yards out as Dayton remained the only team to have led the game - now 20-13.

Whenever Dayton struck however, Crosby countered. Emmanuel Netherly quickly answered, this time with an 85 yard kick off return for a touchdown and their 3rd tie of the night, 20-20.

The teams jabbed and countered, trading possessions once again. Crosby fumbled and senior E. J. Hackett recovered for Dayton. Shaq Long replaced Hunter Hancock when he had an equipment issue. As he returned to play he then threw an interception to Crosby's Joseph Pinkney. Back and forth they went - body blows, hooks and jabs.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Crosby's Emmanuel Netherly grabbed his third touchdown of the night - this time snatching the ball away from the Dayton defenders. For Crosby it was their first lead of the night against the longtime rival 27-20.

With 3:42 remaining, the Coogs extended their precarious lead with a 28 yard field goal. On the following drive, Dayton's chance of victory slipped away on 4th and 2 at their 44 yard line when they failed to convert and turned the ball over on downs. The whole Crosby defense swarmed QB Shaq Long led by Nathan White. He ended the game with 3 sacks.

White had this to say about the game, “Coach said to play your hearts out, a big rivalry game like this. I just took that to heart, its something I love football, and I just came out there and played the best game I can.”

He did, they did and indeed it was great game on a heavyweight type of night.

by Glenn McCarthy

@GlennMcCarthy44

Players of the game- Wide Receiver Emmanuel Netherly and Defensive End Nathan White

Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final Crosby 0 13 7 10 - 30 Dayton 0 13 7 13 - 20

This was an important win for Crosby. We have had them at #1 since the preseason and it is games like this that will continue to hone their resolve enroute to NRG Stadium. (Preseason interview with Coach Riordan)

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