College Park Clamps Down On Bryan For First Win

BRYAN, TX — It took a little while to get going, but College Park found some offensive momentum and gave its defense all it would need to notch its first win of the season.

The Cavaliers shut down Bryan after an opening drive touchdown until late in the fourth quarter and earned a 24-14 victory in a Class 6A non-district football game Friday at Merrill Green Stadium.

With a 14-7 lead in the fourth quarter, College Park senior quarterback Ty Buckmon connected with receiver Holden Rook for a 48-yard gain, and sophomore receiver Conner Dunphy scored on a 4-yard run out of the wildcat formation to make it 21-7 with 8:09 left in the game.

Buckmon completed 9 of 14 passes for 176 yards, and only had to throw twice after halftime, going 2 of 2 for 59 yards. He also added 13 yards and a touchdown rushing. Dunphy did a little of everything, catching four passes for 57 yards and rushing eight times for 22 yards, mostly out of the wildcat. Brenton Martinez led College Park (1-1) with 28 rushing yards but left in the second quarter with an injury.

"Buckmon came up big, made a couple tremendous throws and ran the ball tough, got some big plays in the running game for us," College Park head coach Lonnie Madison said. "Dunphy had some great catches and some great runs in the wildcat stuff."

After going up 21-7, the College Park defense then held on fourth-and-4 at midfield with six minutes left in the game, forcing an incomplete pass from Bryan quarterback Karson Dillard, who was filling in for injured starter Malcom Gooden.

College Park’s Blake Brennan then recovered the muffed punt at the Bryan 11-yard line, and Sebastian Parra hit a 28-yard field goal to put the game away.

Bryan (0-2) scored with 30 seconds left on a 32-yard touchdown pass into triple coverage from Dillard to receiver Hunter Vivaldi.

The inconsequential score was the first the Cavaliers allowed since Bryan's first drive. College Park held the Vikings to just 286 yards. Over half of those came in Bryan's first and last drives.

Dillard had 111 yards on 6-of-21 passing and added 62 yards on the ground. Isaiah Nutall led Bryan with 68 yards rushing, and Tyson Turner caught three passes for 47 yards.

It was a solid bounce back effort for College Park after a 35-14 loss to Katy Cinco Ranch to open the season last week.

"The defense played phenomenal, made a ton of plays and ran around the football," Madison said. "It was really nice to see them get back on track this week."

Bryan started the game quickly by forcing a three-and-out and taking its opening possession 91 yards for a 7-0 lead. Dillard completed a 32-yard pass to Turner to get deep into College Park territory, and senior running back Nic Carraway took a hand off down the left sideline for a 20-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead.

College Park responded with two touchdowns in the second quarter, both involving Buckmon.

Buckmon went 2 of 3 for 56 yards on the Cavaliers’ first scoring drive. He capped the drive by stepping up in the pocket to avoid the rush and firing a 20-yard strike to wide-open tight end Cody Mladenka in the end zone to tie the game with 6:06 left in the half. He also hit a 36-yard pass to Dunphy on the drive.

On College Park’s next drive, Buckmon powered over Bryan defenders for a 4-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper to give the Cavaliers a 14-7 lead with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

After a slow start, Buckmon finished the first half with 117 yards on 7-of-12 passing.

"It took us a little while to get going in the first quarter, but once we got going in the second quarter, I thought they made a lot of nice plays the rest of the game," Madison said.