Lee vs Sterling, August 27, 2010

The Lee Ganders and Sterling Rangers met up at Stallworth field in Baytown to kick off the 2010 season for both. The Ganders are now 4A while Sterling remains a 5A team. Both squads really have 4A numbers in the program though as they each had a lot of kids going both ways.

Sterling won 28-20 in overtime. They tied the game up late on a Chance Nelson touchdown but their extra point missed. Lee came back down and had a chance to score, but they could not get the ball into fg range as time expired.

Sterling was a three man show. Chance Nelson, CJ Mixon and Jamar Gibson did virtually all of the damage on the night for the Rangers. Nelson and Mixon are both a bit undersized, but they are extremely elusive once you give them a crease. Nelson is probably a touch faster than Mixon, but both of them have really good speed. While Nelson and Mixon are seniors, Gibson is a sophomore. Gibson is over 6' and 200 pounds. He also has some pretty good speed. He was tough to cover when they decided to throw him the ball.

Sterling's offense consisted of mainly Nelson at qb and Mixon at running back with a version of the zone read. Occasionally Sterling would bring in another qb named McWhirter. McWhirter was a much better passer, but he could also run the ball pretty well himself. Nelson's passing abilities are really non-existent. He just keeps the defense honest occasionally by heaving it as far as he can and hoping Gibson can out-muscle the defense for the ball. It worked a time or two in this game. Sterling has a large offensive line which was able to mach on Lee a little bit as the game wore on.

Sterling's defense was pretty solid. Von Anderson playing safety really laid the wood to a few Gander receivers. Mixon would come in on key downs to play some pretty solid cornerback.

Lee's offense is a 4 receiver set with Malcolm Ruben taking the snaps. They occasionally have a little zone-read action themselves, however it is not nearly as effective with Ruben having minimal running ability. Ruben is tall and can sling the ball around the field though. Keith Johnson had a little over 100 yards on the ground for the Ganders playing running back. I was impressed with the Ganders ability to create some lanes for Johnson to run through.

Jaevon Richardson, the Ganders top receiver, was not a big part of the offense's gameplan. They threw his way a time or two, mostly when they got to a third down and wanted to hit him on a fade route. They only throw to him on screens and fades, nothing in between. Josh Zellars was hurt for the Ganders early in the game and never returned. He is probably Lee's second best weapon behind Richardson. Darrion Landry missed the game completely. He is also a starting receiver and defensive back for the Ganders.

Lee and Sterling were both plagued with turnovers in this one. Ruben threw two interceptions. One of them was basically as good as a punt, as it was third and long and the int was way down field. The other was deep in Lee's territory though. Lee also fumbled a ball deep in Sterling's territory as they were driving in for a score. Sterling had a fumble that was returned for a td by Lee, another fumble in their own half of the field and an interception on 4th down that would have been a turnover regardless.

Sterling and Lee were about as well matched as two teams could be. Sterling has the three headed monster and Lee has Keith Johnson and Jaevon Richardson leading the way. Once Lee gets Zellars and Landry back, they will be a tougher matchup for teams. I was surprised at how well Lee's defensive front held up for the most part. They ended up giving up a lot of yards, but they did quite well for a first game considering 5 sophomores started on the defense.