LITTLE CYPRESS – It was tough sledding for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears against Class 5A juggernaut Crosby Friday night for Homecoming.
The undefeated Cougars jumped on the Bears early and never let up as they clawed their way to a 58-14 non-district victory at Battlin’ Bear Stadium.
Cougar quarterback Jaiden Howard passed for 155 yards and two scores
in the first half while backs Craig WIliams and Christian Solis added
two scores apiece.
The Cougars (4-0) outgained the Bears (1-2) 285-81 in the first 24 minutes, scored on a 100-yard kickoff return and cashed in on three LC-M turnovers to go up 50-6 at the half.

The Cougars ended up outgaining the Bears 334-177.

LC-M quarterback Ethan McCollum completed 10-of-16 passes for 95 yards and ran for 54 yards on 15 carries. Bear receiver Katon Brown finished with six catches for 91 yards.
The Cougars stunned the Bears on the opening kickoff. LC-M kicker Kooper Abernathy had a booming opening kick that went over the head of return man Williams. Williams, however, picked up the ball in the end zone, cut across the middle and then found the right side for a 100-yard return for the score. Yardly Cruz booted the point-after as the Cougars grabbed a 7-0 lead with 11:47 in the first quarter.
Crosby cornerback picked off McCollum on LC-M’s first series, hauling it in at the Bear 47 and returning it to the Bear 9. Three plays later Howard found receiver Cedric Patterson on a slant pass on third-and-goal from the 19 and Patterson did the rest, scooting into the end zone. The Bears blocked the extra-point to make it 13-0 Crosby with 9:48 in the first quarter.
The Bears responded with a superb six-play, 67-yard scoring drive.
McCollum rushed twice for 12 yards and the Cougars picked up a crucial unsportmanslike facemask that set the Bears up at the Crosby 30.
McCollum hooked up with receiver Katon Brown for a 23-yard strike to the 6 and Chris Winters finished it with a six-yard touchdown dart up the middle. The extra-point kick failed but the Bears pulled to within 13-6 with 6:54 in the first quarter.
Using a short field after a personal foul on the Bears and starting on the LC-M 39, the Cougars found paydirt in nine plays. Howard teamed up with Williams on a 15-yard screen pass on a fourth-and-5 play. Williams had a 21-yard run to the 3 and Howard capped it with a three-yard dart up the middle to make it 20-6 with 4:09 still in the first.
The Cougars made it 27-6 on the second play of the second quarter when Solis powered his way in from a yard out. It capped off a six-play, 79-yard scoring drive highlighted by a great 40-yard leaping catch by receiver Roony Woodard of a Howard pass at the Bear 1.
The Cougars picked up a safety to make it 29-7 with 10:04 in the half after Bear punter Abernathy saw a punt snapped way over his head from the Bear 33. Abernathy was able to boot it out of the end zone for the safety.
Crosby went up 36-6 with 9:06 in the half when Howard found receiver Chance Smith on a short pass over the middle and Smith took it the rest of the way 64 yards for the score.
Cougar Zachary Simon picked off a McCollum pass and returned it 16 yards to the Bear 21 with 7:36 in the half. Williams found the end zone three plays later, scoring from six yards out to make it 43-6 with 6:38 in the half.
The Cougars, after a Bear fumble, navigated 62 yards in eight plays near the end of the half capped off by a Solis three-yard touchdown run with 3:53 remaining.
The Cougars notched another safety when another Bear punt snap went over Abernathy’s head with 10:44 in the third to make it 52-6.
The game then went to a running clock after that.
The Bears put together a nine-play, 80-yard scoring march late in the third quarter. McCollum completed three passes for 36 yards on the drive and capped it with a 14-yard keeper. Winters ran in the two-point conversion making it 52-14 with 1:41 in the third.
The Cougars went up 58-14 with 10:46 remaining when backup quarterback Kobe Coker found Patterson for a 15-yard touchdown strike.
The Bears will have their bye week next week before opening District 10-4A Division I play at home against Silsbee Oct. 13.

Crosby 58,
LC-M 14

LC-M            6       0       8       0—14
Cros            20      30      2       6 —58

Scoring summary
Crosby: Craig Williams 100 kickoff return. Yardly Cruz kick.
Crosby: Cedric Patterson 19 pass from Jaiden Howard. Kick blocked.
LC-M: Chris Winters 6 run. Kick failed.
Crosby: Howard 3 run. Cruz kick.
Crosby: Christian Solis 1 run. Cruz kick.
Crosby: Safety, ball snapped over LC-M punter’s head.
Crosby: Chance Smith 64 pass from Howard. Cruz kick.
Crosby: Williams 6 run. Cruz kick.
Crosby: Solis 3 run. Tom Baird kick.
Crosby: Safety, ball snapped over LC-M punter’s head.
LC-M: Ethan McCollum 14 run. Winters run.
Crosby: Patterson 15 pass from Kobe Coker. Kick failed.

———
LC-M            Cro
First downs             16             20
Rushes-yards    31-34 23-124
Passing         143              210
Comp-Att-Int    14-21-2       13-20-0
Fumbles-Lost    3-1 1-0
Penalties-yards         7-66 10-100

INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing: LC-M, Ethan McCollum 15-54, J’Lon Douglas 5-25, Chris Winters 4-22, Brayden Babineaux 5-(-13), Team 2-(-54); Crosby, Christian Solis 13-69, Craig Williams 5-37, Jaiden Howard 2-21, Cedric Patterson 1-2, Kobe Coker 2-(-5).
Passing: LC-M, Ethan McCollom 10-16-2 95, Brayden Babineaux 4-5-0 48; Crosby, Jaiden Howard 8-12-0 155, Kobe Coker 5-8-0 55.

Receiving: LC-M, Katon Brown 6-91, Dameon Morris 3-23, Danerius Brown 1-26, Adam Pope 2-10, Chris Winters 2-(-5); Crosby, Roony Woodard 4-66, Cedric Patterson 3-52, Chance Smith 3-85, Craig Williams 2-22.