Tulsa World: Indians' defense smothers Bulldogs

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Indians' defense smothers Bulldogs
Catoosa still has a shot at winning District 4A-3.

By KEVIN HENRY World Correspondent
Published: 10/31/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 10/31/2009 6:44 AM

JAY - Catoosa head coach Aaron Meier has a special nickname for District 4A-3: The black-and-blue district. After watching his Indians' defensive performance on Friday night, it's easy to see why.

Catoosa's defense did it all on Friday night, scoring the Indians' lone touchdown and limiting Jay to 146 yards, including 44 rushing yards, as Catoosa posted a 9-0 victory over ninth-ranked Jay in a key district confrontation at Jay B. Earp Stadium.

"Our defense has played like that all season," said Meier, who saw his team improve to 6-3 overall and win its fourth consecutive game. "We knew Jay was a very good team that could score in a hurry. They had some good gains on us, but our defense bends, but doesn't break."

Mike Lunsford pinned Jay running back Casey Loomis in the end zone with 6:18 to play in the game, giving Catoosa the safety and a 9-0 lead. Lunsford was part of a swarming Indian defense that allowed one first down in the final period and preserved Catoosa's third shutout of the season.

With the win, Catoosa is now tied atop District 4A-3 with a 5-1 record and still in contention to capture its first district title since 1980. Catoosa's win marked a critical two-game district road sweep of Grand Lake-area teams, as the Indians knocked off Grove 21-14 last week.

After a scoreless first quarter, Catoosa's Ty Rainey stepped in front of a Brandon Edge pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown, giving the Indians a 7-0 lead with 4:21 left in the second quarter.

Catoosa's defense dominated the first half, limiting Jay to 39 yards on 15 plays.

The Bulldogs didn't earn their initial first down of the game until 6:39 remained before halftime, and Jay finished with two first downs in the opening half.

Outside of Jay's lone drive that ended in Rainey's interception return and a drive right before halftime, the Bulldogs went three-and-out on their other three possessions.

The Indian offense pieced together a drive to open the game, moving from its own 26 to the Jay 34 before Rainey was tackled for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-3.

Jay's best chance to score came on its first drive of the second half as Edge gained 33 yards on a third-and-1 play to move the ball into Indian territory.

However, seven plays later, Loomis' 32-yard field goal sailed wide right.

CATOOSA 9, JAY 0

Catoosa 0 7 0 2 — 9
Jay 0 0 0 0 — 0

C: Rainey 40 interception return (Watts kick)

C: Safety, Loomis tacked in end zone

	Catoosa	Jay
First downs	13	6
Rushes-Yards	51-170	21-44
Passing Yards	14	102
Comp-Att-Int	2-5-0	12-26-2
Return Yards	101	4
Punts-Avg.	6-32.2	4-38.8
Fumbles-Lost	3-1	1-1
Penalties-Yards	3-20	6-38

By KEVIN HENRY World Correspondent

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Catoosa defense keys win over Jay," which was published on 10/30/2009.

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