By Brian Knox | Published Sunday, October 18, 2009
It was a case of good news/bad news for the Northwest Texans Friday night at Texan Stadium. The good news is the team scored a season-high 41 points and got a great individual performance from running back Tristan Caesar who rushed for 225 yards and five touchdowns.
The bad news is the Texan defense couldn't make enough stops in giving up 56 points to the Indians in a 56-41 Northwest loss.
After giving up 35 points in the first half, the Texans defense showed signs of life in the third quarter while the Texans' offense hit its stride. Northwest cut into the 35-13 half time deficit when Caesar scored on a 33-yard run with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Cameron Langer's kick made it 35-20.
Keller's Oscar Cadena took the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for the score, and Seth Wick's kick extended the lead to 42-20.
Ceasar scored on a 37-yard run with 5:15 left in the third, and he added a 2-yard touchdown run with 2:06 left in the quarter. The successful two-point conversion, a pass from Taylor Barnhill to Cameron Langer, brought the Texans to within a touchdown at 42-35.
Keller quickly dashed any hopes of a Northwest upset early in the fourth quarter when the Indians scored two touchdowns, the first on an 11-yard pass from Cameron Allerheiligen to Dillon Farley with 11:29 left in the game and the second on a 13-yard run by Kelo Webster with 11:08 remaining to extend the lead to 56-35. The Texans added a final touchdown with 44 seconds left when Barnhill connected on a 19-yard pass to Cody Long. The try for two failed.
The Texans were victimized by Indians quarterback Allerheiligen who passed for 375 yards and threw five touchdown passes. He was especially tough in the first half with 346 yards and four touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown in the first half.
Barnhill was 12 for 25 passing for 97 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Long caught two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown.
The loss drops Northwest to 0-7 for the year.
Story by Brian Knox from game information provided by Robert Gage.
