Beaumont United faced Baytown Sterling in its district opener Thursday night. Stock photo
Rich Johnson of Spectacle Photo / Rich Johnson of Spectacle Photo/Getty Images/Flickr RFBAYTOWN — A fourth quarter full of mistakes sent the Beaumont United football team to a loss in its district opener on Thursday night. The Timberwolves fell to Baytown Sterling on the road, 14-7 at Stallworth Stadium.
Leading 7-0 at halftime, United went scoreless the rest of the way and made crucial errors en route to the loss. A bad snap by the Timberwolves on a punt attempt early in the fourth quarter set up the go-ahead touchdown for Sterling quarterback Reece Sylvester with eight minutes left to play.
Then, as United tried to tie the game a few minutes later in the red zone, Makhel Hockless fumbled as he fought for extra yards near the goal line. The Timberwolves (0-3, 0-1) would get no closer, instead staying winless on the season.
“We kept fighting, but we just made too many mistakes,” head coach Marcus Graham said. “A bad snap, a fumble, penalties…you can’t do that and expect to win games.”
Thursday’s game marked the return of United quarterback Jonathan Martin, who was injured a few weeks back in a loss to Port Neches-Groves.
With Martin at the helm, things were going acccording to plan for United early. The Timberwolves struck first as Martin hit senior receiver Sir Zollocoffer on a 39-yard go route down the sideline that went for a touchdowns, giving United a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, United’s defense stood tall, limiting the shifty Sterling quarterback Sylvester and keeping the Rangers off the scoreboard. After a fast-moving first half, United still held its 7-0 lead.
However, the Timberwolves’ offense stalled from there. Not helping the cause was another injury to Martin’s non-throwing shoulder in the third quarter. This time, he stayed in the game, but was noticeably hampered.
Sterling got on the scoreboard in the final minute of the third quarter. Sylvester powered into the end zone on a fourth-and-goal attempt, but the ensuing point-after attempt was fumbled to keep United ahead, 7-6, for the time being.
After United was forced to punt on its next drive, the Timberwolves soon gave up their lead for good. A bad snap sailed over the punters head, then an unsportsmanlike penalty after the play set up Sterling at United’s eight-yard line.
On the next play, Sylvester ran out the edge for his second touchdown of the game that would prove to be the game winner. He ran for 108 yards on 15 carries from the quarterback position while also playing in Sterling’s secondary on defense.
United had one last chance to tie the game, but was pinned at its own two-yard line with 3:05 left to play. The Timberwolves were able to drive to Sterling’s 29-yard line, but would get no further. Martin dropped back to pass on the game’s final play, but a sack sealed the win for Sterling.
Martin finished the game 13-of-25 passing for 205 yards and the second-quarter touchdown.
“He’s a warrior,” Graham said of his quarterback. “He was playing hurt and we couldn’t really protect him, but he kept giving us a chance.”
United returns home next week for another district game against Galveston Ball.
Matt Faye is a Sports Reporter and Columnist for the Beaumont Enterprise. Contact him at MFaye@BeaumontEnterprise.com or on Twitter by clicking here.
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