Cypress High’s football team held off Fullerton High 26-21 to secure their first victory of the 2014 campaign on Friday, Sept. 5 at Western High’s stadium.
The Centurions took the lead early in the game thanks to their powerful offense bolstered by the notable efforts of quarterback Nick Buras and receiver Quinten Pounds.
Buras lead his team by example and hustled his way to a successful night that saw the Centurions put up a couple touchdowns in a row to start off the game.
Buras’ willingness to go the extra mile for his team seemed to have rubbed off on the rest of the Cypress squad and influenced others to play the same way.
Buras showcased his drive to succeed when left with no options in the pocket and a swarming Fullerton defensive line. Buras broke to the right and made a dash to the endzone. With only one defender between him and the goalline, Buras attempted to hurdle the player but was clipped on the way over, which caused the Centurion to flip into the endzone.
The play was remarkable and caught the attention of the crowd in a heartbeat. It would’ve been Buras’ first rushing touchdown of the season but the officials over-ruled the play on the count that what he did was against the rules.
The ability to make something out of nothing was also exemplified in Quinten Pounds’ performance on Friday night.
The Centurion receiver gained the most yards for his side against Fullerton, and Pounds efforts led to a great start to the second half of the game.
Fullerton came out of the locker room roaring and yelling at the top of their lungs, “what time is it?”, with the reply “game time.” The intensity displayed by Fullerton going into the second half made the 17-7 lead that Cypress had put up look it was about to change.
It did change.
Just not in Fullerton’s favor.
Pounds received the second half kick off around the 10 yard-line and then it was off to the races. Pounds skipped by Fullerton defenders on the left side of the field then he cut in and dodged a few tackles before making a break to the right side of the field, and eventually ran into the endzone.
Pounds’ touchdown put his team on top 23-7 with a half to go, and gave Cypress just enough momentum to go on and win the game.
With the offense doing it’s job Cypress’ defense rallied and provided some great third down stops in the latter half of the match.
Fullerton would not go away, however, and kept persistent in it’s attack until it could break down a fatigued Cypress defensive line. It’s persistence would come up short in the end as they could not convert a final touchdown to steal the game away from Cypress’ grasp.
This first victory of the season will be a great boost for Cypress’ new head coach Rick Fellowman. With his team showcasing abilities that can break down the best of teams so early on, this year’s squad is surely going to go above and beyond last year’s run, which saw the Centurion finish with a 3-3 league record.
Cypress plays its next game against Los Amigos on Friday September 12. The Centurions will feel confident going into this week’s game against the Lobos coming off this win. They will especially feel confident knowing that last year they blew out Los Amigos by a score of 30-3. Cypress needs to add to its momentum by getting a victory this Friday not only for their record, but also to display that they can put away teams like a championship program is supposed to do.
Look for Cypress going far this season if Buras and Pounds can provide stellar performances week after week.
