Stratford Freshmen Green couldn’t capitalize on second half opportunities and dropped a game on the road at Cy Fair 22-8.

The Stratford defense asserted itself early and forced a fumble on Cy Fair’s opening drive. The fumble was recovered by Callan Kirk at the Cy Fair 43. Stratford took advantage quickly and got to the end zone, keyed by a 25-yard run by Daemone Harris. The two-point conversation was good on a swing pass from John Briggs to Harris, and the Spartans were in business 8-0.

The defense again looked to be aggressive on Cy Fair’s second drive with solid tackles by Griffin Marye and Jayden Matthews plus a QB pressure by Cannon Thompson. But Cy Fair’s balanced attack eventually got them to the end zone, followed by a made PAT. Stratford held the lead 8-7 and the offense appeared to be poised to drive the ball on their ensuing drive. A catch by Ryan White for a first down, solid runs by Harris. and a nice QB keeper by Briggs had the Spartans driving to the Cy Fair 40.

The second quarter started with Stratford in striking distance, but the drive quickly stalled, resulting in a punt. On its ensuing drive, the Cy Fair offense had a couple of setbacks with a holding call and a nice pass breakup by Westy Bennett, but then quickly answered with an 80-yard touchdown pass. PAT was good, and the Spartans found themselves behind 14-8. The teams traded the next two possessions, with the Spartan defense responding, led by a nice tackle by Elliott Young and a big hit by Thompson.

Stratford’s final drive of the first half was a mix of penalties and a bad snap that set them back. But they managed to drive, keyed by nice runs by Harris of 15 and 11 yards. On 4th and 6, a Briggs pass was intercepted and returned to the Stratford 40 in the closing minutes of the half. A couple of nice pass plays had Cy Fair looking to score again, but a missed FG as time ran out kept the score 14-8.

Stratford’s Elliot Young started the second half with a bang, running a kick-off 75 yards to the Cy Fair 15 yard line. But Stratford missed the opportunity, and quickly turned the ball over on downs at the Cy Fair 12 yard line. Cy Fair then answered with a long drive and took it 88 yards to score with a balanced attack to extend the lead to 22-8.

Stratford’s next drive again had promise. The run game was strong and Harris had runs of 13, 12, and 10 yards. Jackson Fulweber also got into the act with hard runs of 8 yards and 6 yards. The drive took the Spartans to the Cy Fair 25 to start the 4th quarter. But after getting close, the Spartans were backed up by penalties and two runs for loss. The Spartans were forced to punt, and a nice kick by Fulweber pinned Cy Fair deep at their own 6.

The Spartan defense responded well with hard tackles by Ben Roberts and Kamari Williams and eventually got the ball back at the Stratford 40 on a fumble recovey. Stratford had one more chance to score and appeared to be on their way on their final drive. Briggs had a nice completion to Harris and a 42-yard strike to Matthews to again get within scoring range. But the drive ended as the time ran out, and Stratford again found itself on the short end 22-8.