Scott Hall's alma-mater beats state champs

[GreenBat]

Rockets misfire as Clemens rallies

By David King

San Antonio Express-News

Web Posted : 10/04/2003 12:00 AM

The Clemens Buffaloes needed no pep talks at halftime, no win-one-for-the-Gipper speeches.

All they needed was to remember to hang on to the ball and stop the Judson Rockets' big plays.

They did both, in abundance, Friday night in rallying from a two-touchdown halftime deficit to win 26-21 in front of an overflow crowd of 8,031 at Judson Stadium.

"We felt like we just needed to stop the mistakes on the big plays and come together as a team," said Clemens tackle Yaniv Barrett, who led a Buffs defense that gave up 1 yard of total offense and no first downs to the Rockets in the second half.

The Buffs (4-1, 1-1 26-5A) scored all of their comeback points in the fourth quarter, using drives of 47, 52 and 45 yards to claim the victory in the Cibolo Creek showdown.

Sophomore running back James Henry led the Clemens offense, rushing for 133 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns, all in the second half.

"That little sophomore did a heck of a job," Clemens coach Robert Lehnhoff said. "We lost some kids to grades this week, and we knew he had to step up."

Henry had a 23-yard gain in the Buffs' first scoring drive of the fourth quarter, then gained 40 yards and scored from the 3 on the march that made it 21-20. A bad snap doomed the extra-point pick, but it didn't matter — Judson was going nowhere fast on offense and the Buffs were rolling.

On the third play of Clemens' next possession, Henry sprinted 34 yards for the clincher (the pass for two failed). An interception ended Judson's last possession of the game.

"Our defense just played awesome," Lehnhoff said.

Indeed. Judson's three touchdowns in the second quarter came on three big plays. Take away Chancy Campbell's 67-yard touchdown run and Joel Waldon's scoring passes of 48 yards to Brian Robinson and 17 yards to Shawn Small and the Rockets had 103 yards of offense.

Clemens lost three fumbles in the first half after driving 70 yards to take a 7-0 lead on a 39-yard run by Ben Tedtaotao and Matt Litt's extra point.

"We kept fumbling the ball and putting our defense in a hole," Lehnhoff said.

But then Henry, who also played some in the defensive secondary for the Buffs, took over the offense.

"He's a heck of an athlete," Lehnhoff said.

And it was a heck of a victory for the Buffs, who have come up short in close battles with the Rockets the past two years.

"Anytime you beat a team like Judson, it's a big plus for your program," Lehnhoff said.

Barnett, the 290-pound anchor of the Clemens defense, agreed.

"This is the best, oh yes," he said. "We seem to have lost to them for years and years."