Texas City uses special teams, ground game to bury Dayton

Texas City played it close to the vest for one half, then shoved all of its chips in and let its money ride on a familiar football formula with one new twist.

Behind a strong hand featuring stingy defense and a steady running game, the Stingarees improved to 4-1 in District 12-5A-2 with a dominating 35-7 victory over Dayton Friday night at Texas City ISD Stadium.

TC (7-1 overall) pounded out 301 rushing yards, kept the Broncos out of the end zone until long after the game was decided, and dealt itself a winning hand with two huge special teams plays.

Donavan Avery’s short return of a blocked punt provided the only points in an otherwise sluggish first half, but it was Donovin Carraway’s 40- yard return of the second-half kickoff which fueled the Stings.

“We just couldn’t get going,” TC head coach Leland Surovik said about his team’s opening quarters. “We were killing ourselves with penalties, just lack of focus.

“We were flat, we went into the game kind of flat, and we needed a spark. And I said we’ve got to make our own spark.”

Four plays after Carraway’s sideline-igniting runback, TC needed just four plays to cash in as Caleb Bell scored from two yards out for a 14-0 lead just 85 seconds into the half.

Avery then came up with another big play, this time a 23-yard interception return off an errant Blayne Denton pass which made it 21-0 eight minutes later.

After Dayton (2-6, 1-4) rallied to make 21-7 with a 15-yard TD strike from Denton to Ashton Garner, the Stings just handed the offensive load to Bell and Rickey Green, who each punched in fourth-quarter touchdowns.

Bell, who powered for 108 yards on 13 carries, barreled 25 yards for a score while Green, who slashed for 105 on 18 tries, danced in from the 9 with under a minute to play.

Surovik knows his club has to stay on point to maintain the best possible postseason slot, especially with a critical district road trip to Port Neches-Groves next week and the regular-season finale on Nov. 5 at home with Barbers Hill.

Crosby, which handed TC its lone loss last week, buried PN-G 69-28 on Friday night.

“You’re playing for position, and it’s very important,” Surovik said. “Going into the playoffs with a winning record and being on a high … we’re not there yet. We need to get going, get our mojo going and keep it at the highest level.

“But we have to play like each game like its our last and (PN-G) is fighting for the same thing.”