At Thorne Stadium it was standing room only for the big-time neighborhood rivalry between Aldine ISD schools Nimitz and Eisenhower on Friday night.

Though the Cougars made a fourth-quarter push, it was not enough as the Eagles remain undefeated in District 19-5A play with a 20-14 victory Friday night.

“The kids fought…and persevered and came out with a win,” Eisenhower coach Darryl Phipps said. “But we knew it would be a tough game. Coach (David) Suggs does a great job with those guys. He has guys who can run as fast we can and want to win as bad as we do, so I knew it would be a dog fight.”

And that it was because early on neither team gave up much at all but there were plenty of big hits and pass breaks-ups defensively. But with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the stalemate was broken. After Eisenhower’s Christopher Dennis recovered a Cougar fumble, quarterback Kenneth Guiton tossed a long ball to Jaz Reynolds for a 49-yard touchdown pass.

But the Cougars responded with a score of their own. Quarterback Michael Thomas got things started with a big run for a first down. During the same drive, Nimitz was faced with a third-and-13 and Thomas would come through in the clutch.

Thomas scrambled out of the pocket and found Delfonte Diamond for a 40-yard completion. This play, along with another explosive run by Thomas, set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Andre Shorts. The Cougars used this momentum to carry over to the defense.

After the Eagles got back-to-back first downs, Nimitz’s Mark Williams recovered a fumble deep in Cougar territory. But, the turnover did not lead to any points. On the Eagles’ next drive they cashed in a few points when Oscar Ortez made a field goal from 24 yards out to give Eisenhower a 10-7 halftime lead.

On the second-half kickoff, the Cougars fumbled and Eisenhower’s Brandon Owens came up with the football. A one-play drive was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown run by Guiton. The majority of the third quarter was much like the first, all defensive.

Late in the third quarter, Guiton hit Curtis McGregor on a seam route that was good for 35 yards. This set up another Ortez field goal that was good from 34 yards. The fourth quarter was all about plenty of punts and fourth-down stops. Nimitz’s Sankietrek Wiggins and Eisenhower’s Marcus Thompson both recorded key sacks that halted drives.

With less than 5 minutes to go, the Nimitz offense put together another scoring drive. Thomas got things started with a 25-yard run. Then quarterback Zerick Rollins came in and completed a pass to Diamond and ran for multiple first downs.

Rollins finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass Kelvin Chatham with 1:14 remaining in the game. Nimitz’s attempt at an onside kick was recovered by De’Mon Smith to give the Cougars on last chance.

From their own 43, Rollins would connect with receivers Diamond and Chatham moving the chains closer to the goal line. But with 7 seconds to go, Eisenhower’s Craig Loston intercepted the ball at the 11-yard line to seal the victory for the Eagles.

GAME LEADERS
Passing:
E – Kenneth Guiton 8-of-23, 182 yards, TD
N – Michael Thomas 7-of-11, 95 yards
N – Zerick Rollins 8-of-12, 68 yards, TD, INT

Receiving:
E – Jaz Reynolds 3/67 yards/TD
N – Kelvin Chatham 5/47 yards/TD

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