Tidehaven’s powerful offense and punishing defense gave the Tigers a 37-23 win over the Odem Owls in the Class 3A-2 area playoff Saturday, Nov. 20, at Victoria’s Memorial Stadium.
The combination of 480 yards of offense and an often smothering defense enabled Tidehaven to surprise Odem.
After all, Odem was undefeated and had dominated Tidehaven’s district foe East Bernard the week before in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
But the Tigers (7-4) already had surprised favored Rogers the week before and they kept Odem on the ropes all night long.
Tidehaven senior quarterback Logan Crow followed last week’s 300+ yards rushing against Rogers with 281 rushing yards again Odem.
With 21 carries, Crow averaged 13.3 yards per carry against the Owls, with four touchdowns.
His longest ones was 62 yards in the first half and 56 yards in the second half.
Another Tiger standout back, Joseph Dodds, had 5 carries for 112 yards – a 22.4-yard-per-carry average – and a touchdown.
Crow also was 5 of 9 for 71 yards passing.
Tiger receiver Jachen Duran had four catches for 52 yards, while Kevin Rickaway had a catch for 19 yards.
And Alex Cisneros was his usual effective self with PATs and a 22-yard field goal that boosted Tidehaven to a 17-15 halftime lead.
The Tiger defense was relentless.
Tidehaven defenders often became regulars in the Odem backfield – short-circuiting offensive plays before they even began.
Tiger senior defensive tackle Jerry Johnson frequently kept Odem quarterbacks on the run, pressuring them to make ill-advised throws.
The Tiger defense signature moment came late in the game deep in Tiger territory as the Owls were driving for a potential game changer.
The Tigers shut down the Owls on downs, soon followed by another Tidehaven score.
“It was a great game,” said Tiger Head Coach David Lucio.
“Crow had another outstanding game running the ball and Joseph Dodds averaged over 20 yards a carry too.
“Our defense had their hands full and did a well enough job to put them away in the fourth quarter,” the coach added.
“Our freshman Jachen Duran made some great plays on offense at receiver and some huge tackles late in the game on defense.”
Poth (10-1) is next up in the playoffs for the Tigers.
That regional game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, at Cuero’s Gobbler Stadium.
“Poth will be our biggest challenge of the season,” Lucio said.
“They are coming off a game in which they dismantled East Bernard.
“We will need to stay focused through Thanksgiving week and execute on both sides of the ball flawlessly to have a shot.”
