Sachse senior quarterback Christian McCaffrey pulls the ball back as he is being pressured by senior defensive end Z’havien Ramsey (7). Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media
By David Wolman
With the final seconds ticking off the game clock, Sachse senior quarterback Christian McCaffrey wanted to throw another deep ball.
McCaffrey took two small steps backwards after receiving the snap and threw a long pass up the left sideline. Junior wide receiver Julian Madison, who was two yards past a defender, hauled in a pass that was in the air for 42 yards and ran into the end zone to complete the catch and run for a touchdown.
McCaffrey had success with the deep ball. He threw for three touchdowns of at least 30 yards in last Friday’s spring game, two to Madison. Senior wide receiver Chase Barstow caught the other touchdown pass thrown by McCaffrey, a 55-yard reception up the right side.
“Christian is doing fine, and Julian can run,” head coach Mark “Red” Behrens said. “Julian was the 100-meter dash champion in the eighth grade in our district. So, he can run.”
McCaffrey played the entirety of the varsity portion of the scrimmage. Two 15-minute quarters were played, preceded by a junior varsity scrimmage that was also 30 minutes long. During the JV scrimmage, there were two simulated games, one on each side of the 50-yard line.
Sophomore quarterbacks Kayden Wilkerson and Kingston Williams each led multiple scoring drives that ended with touchdowns. Wilkerson also caught a touchdown pass. Williams looked up the field and threw to a wide-open Wilkerson in the end zone.
Wilkerson built a strong connection in the passing game with sophomore wide receiver Brady Anderson. Anderson caught an inside pass on a run-pass option play, cut inside the middle and ran into the end zone for a touchdown. On Anderson’s first touchdown catch, a good one-on-one block by sophomore running back Emilio Moya gave Wilkerson extra time to throw the ball.
For as well as Sachse’s running backs blocked, they also were elusive when given the chance to run the ball. Sophomore running back Cayden Cheyne, junior Nathaniel McCoy and senior wide receiver Kington Bennett shed defenders on at least two carries to churn out additional yardage. On one run, Bennett took the handoff, shed a defender near the line of scrimmage and finished the play with a touchdown.
The Mustangs’ defense also stepped up. Sophomore Sebastian Petrovski recovered a fumble just as the opposing offense was driving inside the 20-yard line.
Sachse’s defense continued to make big plays during the varsity scrimmage.
The Mustangs’ offense got the better of its defense to begin the scrimmage, with McCaffrey uncorking a long touchdown pass to Madison, followed by a big run up the right sideline by junior running back Ladainian Jones that resulted in a touchdown.
But Sachse’s defense proceeded to swing the momentum in its favor. Moments following Jones’ touchdown run, senior defensive end Z’havien Ramsey sacked McCaffrey and junior defensive end Trindon Bennett got his hands on the ball for a batted pass on the ensuing play.
Zamir Dalwkin, a junior safety, recorded two tackles for loss.
Sachse’s defensive front blew up several plays before the Mustangs’ offense had a chance to get away from the pressure, including a tackle in the backfield by junior Tay’Shawn Baltimore with less than three minutes remaining.
“We’re not as deep as where we want to be on the offensive line,” Behrens said. “We had some pressure on our quarterback. Our ends and tackles and middle linebackers are doing well. We’ve just got to gain more experience elsewhere, get a little more physical.”
The Mustangs will begin summer camp June 1. Behrens is hopeful that Sachse’s new indoor multi-purpose facility will be completed before the conclusion of the three-week long camp. Another three-week-long camp is set for July.
“It’ll be closer to the end than the beginning to when we can practice in there,” he said. “You don’t know how excited we are to have that possibility. There is never going to have to be a day where we have to stay off the field because of wet weather or storms.”
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