Defense powers C-M football to win over Saydel

COLFAX — Isaiah Baucom ran the ball just one time for nine yards in the first half of Colfax-Mingo’s Friday night non-district football game against Class 2A Saydel.

But once he got rolling in the second half, he knew the game was over.

Baucom ran for 70 yards after halftime and played a significant role on defense, while Cael Bracewell threw for a touchdown and ran for two more during Colfax-Mingo’s 20-14 win in the team’s home opener.

“As soon as I started running the ball, it was game over,” Baucom said. “That’s how I felt every time I got the ball.”

It wasn’t always easy for Colfax-Mingo. Saydel got on the scoreboard first and drew within one score with a long kickoff return for a touchdown late in the fourth.

But unlike the past few weeks, the Tigerhawks made plays when they needed to and ran the ball with tremendous success in the second half.

“When there was an opportunity to make a big play and take control of the game, we did it,” Colfax-Mingo head football coach Jeff Lietz said. “And we didn’t do that last week. I can’t say enough about the play of our defense. They were fantastic.”

The Tigerhawks (1-2) held Saydel to 18 rushing yards on 16 carries. The defense also forced four punts and a pair of turnover on downs and the special teams recovered a fumble on a punt return.

Colfax-Mingo improved to 7-0 against the Eagles since 2008.

“It feels great,” Bracewell said. “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot the first two games. We finally stepped up our defense. The defense won us this game and we were able to run the ball and took advantage of some of their defensive looks on offense.”

Both teams went three and out on their first possession.

The Eagles marched 60 yards in five plays to get on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter.

Saydel quarterback A.J. Ollin took advantage of a C-M penalty and then connected with Landen Soma for a 21-yard gain. The Eagles made it 7-0 following Ollin’s 23-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Goode.

Neither team scored again until the second. The Tigerhawks drew within 7-6 after driving 59 yards in 10 plays.

Bracewell completed four passes to Shane Hostetter before hooking up with Conner Wood for a 23-yard TD. Wood ran wide open on the visitor’s side of the field.

After forcing another three and out, C-M got the ball back and drove 57 yards in 10 plays.

A sack put the Tigerhawks behind the sticks, but Bracewell found Hostetter for a 14-yard gain on third and 12. Back-to-back 9-yard runs by Baucom and Bracewell got another first down and Hostetter hauled in two more passes later on the drive.

Bracewell capped the possession with a 13-yard TD run and the two-point conversion failed to give C-M a 12-7 lead with 26 seconds to go until halftime.

That was enough time for Saydel to get all the way down the C-M 2-yard line though. The Eagles went 70 yards in four plays but came up short on a pass play as time expired.

The drive was extended following a roughing the passer penalty against the Tigerhawks, but Baucom pressured Ollin on the final play of the half and his throw hit the crossbar.

“That was really big. Having the lead at halftime was a big confidence booster,” Bracewell said. “Being able to get that stop after we scored and they drove all the way down the field, was big for us.

“Isaiah really stepped up on that play and got some pressure. The QB killed us the first two weeks. We were not going to let him hurt us today.”

Neither team scored in the third. A 14-play drive for the Tigerhawks out of the locker room resulted in no points after they turned the ball over on downs.

It also showed C-M’s coaching staff that running plays in the middle of the field were possible. Baucom gained 16 and 12 yards on back-to-back runs.

Bracewell gained 13 yards on third and five and then gained seven on fourth and six to extend the drive, but it stalled after a holding call put them behind the chains.

Lietz said they took what the Saydel defense gave them. The Eagles had seven, eight and sometimes nine guys in the box in the first half.

“They were giving us our stuff on the outside,” Lietz said. “We thought they’d pull some of those guys out in the second half and when they did, we went to the run game more. Jake (Lietz) and Dylan (Berkley) did a good job adjusting to that and took what they gave us there.”

Each team lost a fumble early in the fourth. Momentum shifted back to the Tigerhawks when Saydel went for it on fourth down deep in its own territory.

Baucom came up with the sack on fourth and eight and then C-M extended their lead a few minutes later.

The scoring drive featured 15 yards in seven plays. Bracewell picked up a first down following a 2-yard run on fourth and one and then scored from 1-yard out on third down.

Trailing 20-7 with 3:43 to play, Saydel’s Jimmie Bridges returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score.

The Tigerhawks’ offense responded though as they ran out the clock with a pair of first downs.

Baucom began the drive with an 11-yard run and Bracewell found Hostetter on a 16-yard gain on third and 12 to put the home team in victory formation.

“Isaiah and Gibby (Bracewell) carried the rock for us and Shane made some big plays,” Coach Jeff Lietz said. “We had guys all over the field making plays.”

Bracewell came into the game with 61 rushing yards in two games but had 105 and two scores on 21 carries against Saydel.

He also bounced back from a 2-of-7 start to finish 18-of-26 through the air for 159 yards and a TD.

Baucom gained a career-high 81 yards on his nine carries and 70 of those came after halftime.

Hostetter came into the game with 12 catches for 123 yards but had another big day. He finished with a career-high 11 catches for 100 yards.

“We put our trust in the receivers in the first half and then got it done up front in the second half,” Baucom said.

Ollin’s first two games of the season resulted in 309 passing yards and 138 rushing yards. He finished 7-of-17 through the air for 133 yards against C-M.

Goode added 75 yards and a TD on three catches and Soma finished with 59 receiving yards on his three catches.

Jace Embry registered 10 tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery and Grady Godwin had 10 tackles.

Baucom led the C-M defense with five tackles and one sack, Donnie Baucom added three tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one fumble recovery and Hostetter registered 3.5 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Bracewell chipped in three tackles and Logan Exley collected 1.5 tackles for loss. Both teams had three sacks.

Notes: Wood gained 33 yards and scored a TD on his two catches, Konner Dalton grabbed three passes for 19 yards and Exley hauled in two passes for seven yards. … Saydel was coming off its first win since Oct. 16, 2020. … C-M senior Joe Earles is expected to miss the entire season after tearing his ACL on the third play of the game in the season opener. The Tigerhawks also were without Michael Camp on the offensive line. “Isaiah ran it hard and the line stepped it up,” Bracewell said. “Kudos to them. We had some injuries on the line and now have two young guys in there. Alan Bregar and Izaiah Lewis are playing varsity for the first time. I’m super proud of both of them.”