On a night where there were far more penalty flags thrown than passes, the Durant Cougars were able to capitalize.
Durant overcame its slew of penalties with 17 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Strawberry Crest Chargers, 24-6, in Dover on Friday night. The win gives Durant a 6-1 record in the teams’ all-time series and brings the school’s success streak there up to five games.
The Cougars scored on their first drive of the game to open up the scoring. After a series of runs got Durant inside Crest’s 10-yard line, quarterback Sean Williams found wideout Adrian Resendez in the end zone for a touchdown with 6:53 left in the quarter. Durant got the ball back just over two minutes later when Demarcus Governor picked off Crest quarterback Makenzie Kennedy, but the two big plays the Cougars fired off on that drive were called back on penalties.
Kennedy and the Chargers were able to engineer a scoring drive that bled into the second quarter, marching downfield on the strength of the quarterback’s legs and catches by Kadin Durgan. Kennedy and Durgan linked up for a five-yard touchdown pass with 11 minutes left in the half, but Crest’s point-after attempt missed the mark. The Cougars would hang onto their 7-6 lead through the rest of the half, as another potential Durant touchdown with 7:34 to go was called back on a penalty and a 37-yard field goal attempt shortly after scooping up a fumble in Crest territory went wide left.
Both teams played tough, physical defense throughout the game, but Durant’s defensive players were particularly eager to challenge Kennedy. Crest’s quarterback, who was previously with the Cougars and played in their 2018 spring jamboree game, ran like he had something to prove and was able to keep several drives alive with some shifty moves.
But the shiftiest moves anyone had during the game belonged to Durant running back David Haynes. After Marc Monrose nailed a 32-yard field goal to put Durant ahead, 10-6, Durant forced Crest to punt and eventually found itself around midfield on third down. The Cougars only needed three yards for a first down but the speedy Haynes zig-zagged through the defense for 53 and a score. Durant took a 17-6 lead with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
The Chargers put together a big drive from the end of the third quarter through the first two minutes of the fourth and got as far as Durant’s 17-yard line, but the Cougars forced them back and blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt by Josh Young.
Both teams traded drives with no scoring until, with 3:15 left in the game, Durant forced a turnover on downs at Crest’s 15-yard line and Tyrhon Brooks punched in a touchdown from up the middle less than a minute later.
Crest’s final drive of the game did make it into Durant territory, thanks in part to unsportsmanlike conduct called against the Cougars, but Kennedy was sacked and the ball stripped with 15 seconds left in the game. Durant recovered the fumble and took a knee to run out the clock.