Erath falls in shootout with Iowa

ERATH – Cheers turned to tears for the Erath Bobcats here Friday night as a swarm of Iowa Yellow Jackets bounced EHS from the Class 3A playoffs in a wild 54-48 shootout.
Coach David Comeaux’s squad, which had stormed into postseason with an impressive win over E.D. White in its season finale, had earned the school’s first home playoff game since 2004.
And, buoyed by stands full of blue-clad backers, the Bobcats traded blows all night with the potent invaders as the two foes piled up a combined 1,008 yards of offense.
But the Jackets had the final salvo, a 2-yard plunge from Joseph Figueroa to break a 48-all tie with 1:24 to play that ended the Bobcats’ campaign.
“It seems like we had a chance at the end, with (under) two minutes to play,” Comeaux said. “We just ran out of time. I think with a little more time, we would have put points back on the board and the outcome would have been different.”
The Bobcats’ Elijah Mitchell tied the game at 48 with his third score of the night from 49 yards away with 4:51 to play. IHS coach Sean Richard knew the hosts were capable of scoring again given time.
That’s where Figueroa comes in.
On the ensuing, game-winning 65-yard march, the burly runner carried on 9 of 10 plays, including a 30-yard rumble to the EHS 5, to set up his fourth touchdown of the game.
The score was vital, but the way it was attained – draining more than 3 minutes off the clock – was just as critical.
Figueroa totaled 134 yards on 20 carries, but for most of the game the focus was on quarterback Zack Jongbloed (21-of-36, 392 yards, 3 tds) and his fleet of sleek receivers led by Cole Fleming (7-226-2).
They seemed to score at will, but the Bobcats went stride-for-stride with them most of the way behind Mitchell (19-for-196), Scott Moore (86 rushing, 69 receiving, a TD each way) and Ben LeBlanc (47 yards rushing with a score, 125 passing with two more).
It was a case of the last team to touch the ball, wins, and that was Iowa as the Jackets stopped the final Erath possession without further damage.
“Give Iowa credit,” Comeaux said. “They have a great offense, an explosive offense. At the same time, I want to say how proud I am of our offense and how well we played. We didn’t quit attacking.”
The back-and-forth affair saw Jongbloed run for a 5-yard score and hit Fleming from 33 yards out to sandwich a 47-yard Mitchell touchdown. Figueroa’s first TD made it 20-7 before Erath got Moore involved as he scored on a 10-yard run and 20-yard pass play for a 20-20 tie.
It was 27 apiece at half as Jongbloed hit Kaden Jones from 9 yards out and LeBlanc countered with a 7-yard slant to Taylor Collins 11 seconds from halftime
Clearly, this was no ordinary game.
The Jackets, who showed an uncanny ability to overcome negative plays, went up 34-27 on a Figueroa run. EHS answered on a LeBlanc run.
Jongbloed hit Fleming for a 63-yard bomb, but missed the extra point, so the Bobcats had their first lead at 41-40 on Mitchell’s 7-yard run and an extra point.
Back came the visitors, going 65 yards in 7 plays and scoring with Figueroa and a two-point conversion. So with Mitchell scored once more for a final tie, Richard apparently figured enough was enough and ate clock with the winning drive.
It was a heartbreaking end to a special season for Erath.
“I’m proud of my kids, and proud to be here,” Comeaux said. “It’s been so much fun this week, to see the community get excited about hosting a playoff game, and to see them step it up and get behind us.”