Saturday, November 10, 2012
GREENLAND — Calvin Giddens showed his size as he repeatedly bulldozed his way through Centerpoint’s noticeably smaller defensive line.
On several occasions, the powerful Greenland running back carried a few defenders with him Friday while picking up one first down after another at Jonathan Ramey Memorial Stadium.
Greenland coach Lee Larkan was reluctant to throw the football on a windy night, so he turned to Giddens, who rushed 24 times for 225 yards and one touchdown to lead the Pirates to a 27-20 win over Centerpoint in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
Gamebreaker
GREENLAND 27, CENTERPOINT 20
Why The Pirates Won
Calvin Giddens rushed for 225 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries, helping Greenland explode for 20 straight points in the second quarter to regain the momentum and advance in the playoffs.
Why The Knights Lost
Centerpoint jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but its defense had trouble slowing down Giddens and mounting a second-half comeback.
“I think he was bigger than all of our linemen, defense, everybody,” Centerpoint coach Cary Rogers said. “He’s a little bit slippery and (has) decent speed, but he’s tough. That size, he’s thick all the way up and down.
“There’s not much to get a hold of that’s thin on him.”
The Pirates (7-3) relied on Giddens to help them break out of a slow start, which included a pair of fumbles that led to them trailing 7-0 to the Knights (3-8) after the first quarter. The junior did his part, and quarterback Darian Froud made plays with his feet as Greenland took control by scoring 20 straight points.
Froud ran for touchdowns of 10 and 5 yards in the second quarter, and Giddens extended Greenland’s lead to 20-7 after bursting through a hole and racing 49 yards for his lone touchdown with 3 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the second half.
Giddens took advantage of Centerpoint’s tendency to blitz as he found holes and had 11 carries for 169 yards at halftime.
“They’re kind of a gambling defense. They blitz a lot, and if you can catch them right, they leave something,” Larkan said. “It’s kind of a who gets who first, and early in the game we were able to get him free a few times.”
Centerpoint managed to regain the momentum and get within striking distance of Greenland in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to three forced fumbles. Running back Chad Arnold scored his second touchdown on a 12-yard run that cut the Pirates’ lead to seven points with 5:20 remaining.
But Greenland continued to rely on Giddens and Froud to move the ball and run out the clock. Froud finished with 18 carries for 80 yards and three touchdowns.
“The whole deal is to win a game you’ve got to make first downs late in the game,” Larkan said. “You’ve got to drive it, and sometimes we haven’t been able to do that. And tonight we were able to make a couple of big plays.”