I'm proud of my family, and I love to celebrate the good that I see in the generation behind me. This moment is dedicated to my nephew, Mr. Damon Pitts. Honestly, I won't be surprised if you know his name in a few years. Some lucky college is going to get a beast of a player! Check THIS out! GO, DEE!
Bulldogs blow out Turner
By Dave Sorter, McKinney Courier-Gazette
(Created: Saturday, September 1, 2007 3:50 AM CDT)
Senior running back Damon Pitts (21) had one of McKinney North’s all-time best first games as he compiled three touchdowns on the ground and another on an electric punt return. Keith Owens/Special to the Courier-Gazette
CARROLLTON — Damon Pitts didn’t need long to make McKinney North football fans very happy he moved in from Richardson.
The Bulldog Nation knew the senior running back was the leading rusher for Richardson last year, on a team competing in the grinding District 9-5A. But Pitts needed just 20 minutes of game time in Friday’s 49-0 victory over Carrollton R.L. Turner to score four touchdowns and show some moves that may have put to rest a lot of fears about North’s young offense.
“Nothing’s easy,” Pitts said after sandwiching rushing touchdowns of one, 14 and three yards around a highlight-reel 68-yard punt return score in both teams’ season opener at Standridge Stadium. “We were well prepared.”
“Damon looked good,” Bulldogs heads coach Shawn Pratt said. “He made some great cuts and showed good speed. I think our kids came out with good energy and good enthusiasm.”
Though Pitts is not currently North’s leading rusher — Charles Cole got the bulk of the second-half carries and outgained Pitts 75 yards to 67 — it was Pitts, the battery of quarterback Vince Stanko and receiver David Douglas, and a defense led by omnipresent linebacker Colton Floyd that had R.L. Turner shaking almost instantly.
“We just sort of self-destructed right from the start,” Lions coach Larry McBroom said. “When the other team gets the momentum that they got, it’s hard to get off the floor. We learned that we sure can’t start that poorly.”
It didn’t help that Turner (0-1) had its longest gain of the game on its third play from scrimmage, when running back Michael Jackson swept right for 13 yards and a first down. The stage was set when Jackson fumbled on the next play and McKinney North’s (1-0) Kris Williams recovered it on the Turner 40.
Almost all of North’s snaps came in Lions territory. The Bulldogs snapped the ball only six times on their side of the 50, just one of those in the first half.
After Williams’ recovery, Douglas took an end around, then cut back to where he came from to gain 29 yards. Two plays later, Pitts scored his first touchdown as a Bulldog.
His second one came little more than a minute later. Steven Meyer kicked off a high popup that a teammate recovered. Three plays later, Pitts breaks through on a trap play for a 14-yard touchdown.
Then came the shockwave. After Turner gained seven yards in six plays, Juan Santana punted to Pitts, who caught the ball at the North 32. He raced to the right sideline, put on a burst of speed and left potential tacklers flailing at him. Six and one-half minutes into the game, the score was Pitts 18, place kicker Meyer 3, everyone else 0.
Williams relieved Stanko for the first series of the second quarter, and led North on a 39-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown pass to Ty Crump. The starters then returned, and a 65-yard drive ended with Pitts’ fourth touchdown. A 28-yard touchdown pass from Stanko to Douglas with 10 seconds left in the first half — right after two consecutive illegal procedure penalties — was basically superfluous.
Pratt said this certainly was a turnaround from last week’s 49-0 scrimmage drubbing.
“Yes, they wanted to get that taste out of their mouth,” Pratt said. “We have a lot of new faces, and it showed last week. But this was a great effort by our kids.”
Lost in the offense’s big day was the shutout effort by the Bulldogs’ defense. Floyd’s named seemed to be called on two out of every three tackles, while Marquise Milord-Sims — who intercepted a pass — Jayce Boyd and Rodney Nelson also got a lot of calls.
“The coaching staff did a great job in preparing,” Pratt said. “They simplified a lot of things. But we made plenty of mistakes that we’ll have to work on.”
Turner, meanwhile, will try to gain some lessons from the defeat. Sophomore quarterback Matthew Bernal had a tough day passing, completing three of 16 attempts, though he showed good potential running the ball, with a team-high 47 yards. Defensively, Jario Garcia , Corey Hall and Denzel Green made some good stops. And Siri Tim blocked a fourth-quarter field goal attempt that would have put the score over half-a-hundred.
“We’ve got to go back and re-evaluate,” McBroom said. “Hopefully, we’ll learn a lot.”
McKinney North 49, R.L. Turner 0
at C-FB ISD’s Standridge Stadium
Scoring
First Quarter
MN — Damon Pitts 1 run (Steven Meyer kick) 9:21
MN — Pitts 14 run (Meyer kick) 8:18
MN — Pitts 68 punt return (Meyer kick) 5:34
Second Quarter
MN — Ty Crump 13 pass from Kris Williams (Meyer kick) 9:42
MN — Pitts 3 run (Meyer kick) 4:10
MN — David Douglas 28 pass from Vince Stanko (Meyer kick) 0:10
Third quarter
MN — Josh Matthews 3 run (Meyer kick) 2:23
Fourth quarter
None
Team Statistics MN RLT
First downs 25 7
Rushes-yards 47-252 30-77
Passing yards 115 26
Total yards 367 103
Passing 10-16-0 3-16-1
Punts-avg. 1-23.0 3-35.0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 4-1
Penalties-yards 7-60 3-25
Individual Statistics
Rushing -- MN: Charles Cole 14-75, Damon Pitts 12-67, Josh Matthews 12-52, Kris Williams 8-28, David Douglas 1-29. RLT: Matthew Bernal 17-47, Frank DuBose 4-20, Michael Jackson 4-18, Brent Bilger 4-3, Juan Santana 1-(-11).
Passing -- MN: Vince Stanko 9-14-0 102, Kris Williams 1-2-0 13. RLT: Matthew Bernal 3-16-1 26.
Receiving -- MN: David Douglas 7-71, Damon Pitts 1-20, Ty Crump 1-13, Chris Allen 1-11. RLT: Brent Bilger 1-13, Ismael Solis 1-12, Charles Moore 1-1.
