Special to the Sentinel
WALLIS – The Van Vleck Leopards and Brazos Cougars began district play with a good ole’ cat fight last Friday night.
Van Vleck started the game battling a case of fumblelitus, coughing up the ball on their first three drives while Brazos turned the turnovers into touchdowns.
After a quick 21-0 Cougar lead, the Leopards found their footing and outscored Brazos 50-22 the rest of the way en route to a 50-43 victory.
With the win, Van Vleck moves to 3-2 on the season, 1-0 in district play.
Brazos takes their first loss of the season to fall to 4-1, 0-1 in district.
The Cougars took the opening kickoff and needed only 1 play to get into the end zone.
Brazos senior quarterback Bryson Bennett took a quarterback keeper around the left side and raced down the sidelines 62 yards for a touchdown.
Rafeal Almaraz made the extra point, and it was quickly 7-0 Brazos.
Van Vleck committed two fumbles on their next two drives, with the second fumble turning into more points for the Cougars. After a long punt set the Leopards deep in their own territory at the 6-yard line, a Van Vleck fumble on the next play gave Brazos the ball at the Leopard three.
Vinny Aguilar took it in one play later to boost the Cougar lead to 14-0 with 6:24 left in the first quarter.
The Leopard offense took the next drive deep into Brazos territory, but another fumble gave the Cougars the ball back at their own 23-yard line.
Four plays later, Bennett took another quarterback keeper in from 38 yards out to extend the Cougar lead to 21-0 going into the second quarter.
Van Vleck withered the first quarter storm and went to work in the new period.
The Leopards took the first drive of the second quarter and went 72 yards in only 7 plays.
Van Vleck running back Cam Austin began what would be a huge scoring night, going 18 yards in to put the Leopards on the scoreboard.
Oliver Cortez booted the extra point to cut the Brazos lead to 21-7.
The Leopard defense took the energy from their offense, forcing a three-and-out on the next Brazos drive.
After a short punt set Van Vleck up at the Cougar 47-yard line, it was Austin taking it around the right side and racing untouched for his second score of the night. Keemar Allums two-point pass to Kealin Callis cut the Brazos lead down to 21-15 midway through the quarter.
Van Vleck was not done there.
Another short punt set the Leopards next drive up at the Cougar 32-yard line and it was Cam Austin once again needing only one play to score.
Austin took the handoff and darted up the middle for his third touchdown of the first half and with another Cortez extra point, the Leopards had taken their first lead of the night at 22-21.
The Cougars responded quickly with Bennett matching Austin toe-to-toe on touchdowns. Bennett scored from 44 yards out on a 6-play, 55-yard drive to retake the lead at 27-22.
Van Vleck wasted no time responding with Corey Austin, the younger brother of Cam, getting into the action.
Austin took the ensuing Cougar kickoff and raced through the Brazos kickoff team 75 yards for a touchdown.
Leopard quarterback Sam Brooks converted a two-point conversion to retake the lead at 30-28.
The Leopard defense made a big play on the next Brazos drive, with Ethan Ledesma intercepting a Bryson Bennett pass to set Van Vleck up at the Cougar 43-yard line.
This time, Van Vleck took to the air with Brooks connecting on passes to Callis and Corey Austin down to the 4-yard line.
Brooks found Austin again on a dump pass in the end zone to push the Van Vleck lead to 37-28 going into halftime.
The Leopards began the third quaOe this Friday night with a homecoming matchup against the Danbury Panthers.
Homecoming festivities begin at 7 p.m. with kickoff at 7:30.