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Top sports stories of the year: No. 1:
Football: Creekview responds following death of a player, top Timber Creek, 24-21, in emotional game
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
CARROLLTON - Football wasn't the only thing on the minds of Creekview's players Saturday morning at Standridge Stadium when they hosted Keller Timber Creek for a non-district contest.
Playing in his honor, Creekview clung to a 24-21 victory over the Falcons, just as they vowed to do one night earlier when students gathered on campus for a candlelight vigil.
"It was an inspiration for us," said Jay Cline, Creekview head coach. "The kids played hard and we expected them to. It was a great tribute to a fallen comrade."
Members of Creekview's football team entered the field carrying Nguyen's letter jacket and a moment of silence was held before the game in addition to a tribute following the win. The team also wore towels adorned with Nguyen's No. 9.
On the field, the Mustangs may have needed a few minutes to gain focus, surrendering a 43-yard touchdown run to Timber Creek's Cedric Dale on the first play from scrimmage.
But Creekview got a much-needed lift on its ensuing possession when it drove 70 yards on 11 plays. Quarterback David Blough connected with receiver Dylan Kittrell twice in the series for 32 yards and Kittrell later capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
"We didn't open up how we wanted to," Cline said. "But our offense just fought right back. We took it right down and scored. That was the attitude; refuse to lose."
In the second quarter, after Christian Guerra gained the lead for Creekview with a 46-yard field goal, the Mustangs extended their advantage to 17-7 when running back Johnny Jones found the end zone from 20 yards out.
Jones finished with 97 yards on 18 carries - with just four attempts in the second half - while Deven Barnes chipped in 36 yards on the ground.
"When you can run the ball, that really opens everything else up," Cline said. "We were down a linebacker and had a linebacker get hurt, so Johnny had to expend a lot of energy on defense. We needed him on defense and wanted to keep him a little fresher on offense for the end of the game. He had a couple of big runs late for us."
Creekview increased its margin on the opening possession of the second half when Blough rolled right and found Kittrell uncovered deep down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown pass. Kittrell posted team-highs with four catches and 141 yards, while Blough's final tally included 227 yards and the score on 50 percent passing.
"They had kind of taken the momentum from us a little bit and David hitting Kittrell for that long pass was a really big play," Cline said. "David did a great job today. He did a great job of reading and throwing the ball and he was able to evade the pass rush and get outside to make things happen."
Dale kept the Falcons within striking distance, however, scoring touchdowns on two of Timber Creek's next three drives. The Falcons finished with 144 yards rushing as the team pulled to within three at 24-21 with 9:50 remaining.
Later in the fourth, Timber Creek advanced to Creekview's 32-yard line, but the Mustangs defense bowed up and forced a turnover on downs. Jones then helped put the contest away with a 23-yard scamper on 3rd-and-4 to chew up much of the remaining time and pin Timber Creek deep in its own end.
"I'm so proud of these kids and the effort they had today," Cline said.
Creekview will now receive a much-needed break to clear their heads as the Mustangs have a bye week before resuming play Sept. 27 in their District 10-4A opener against West Mesquite.
The Mustangs didn't practice Monday and services for Nguyen - whose cause of death is yet to be released - have not been scheduled as of press time.
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