BY BRIAN GOSSET
X – @Gosset41
FORT WORTH – Coach Jacody Coleman is looking to rebuild a once proud football culture at Dallas Skyline. The Raiders went 1-9 and 0-10 in back-to-back seasons prior to his arrival in 2023. In his first year last season, the Raiders won three games.
Coming into Thursday night’s game with Crowley, Coleman and Skyline continued to take a step in the right direction.
Behind a powerful rushing attack, Skyline dominated the Eagles from start to finish on its way to a 31-0 shutout win at Crowley ISD Stadium. The Raiders improved to 2-1 while getting their first shutout since the 2018 season.
Meanwhile, Crowley dropped to 1-2 and took a step back.
After scoring 50 points against Birdville in the season opener, the Eagles hosted state powerhouse Galena Park North Shore. They only trailed 14-7 at halftime and the defense shined after picking off the Mustangs five times. However, the offense had a hard time moving the ball on North Shore’s menacing defense and fell 28-13.
The Eagles managed to gain nearly 300 yards against North Shore, but against Skyline – they didn’t break 200.
Skyline took the opening drive nine plays before setting for a 38-yard field goal by Kevin Fuentes. Crowley’s first two drives didn’t go as planned. The Eagles fumbled on their second play from scrimmage and Skyline’s Rohan Clarkson recovered and advanced it to the Crowley 19.
On the next play, Tyreke Cockroft scored to up the lead to 10-0 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.
Crowley’s second drive resulted in a three-and-out and its third drive went for 32 yards, but also ended in a punt. Perhaps the most impressive drive came from Skyline midway through the second quarter. After a 60-yard punt by Caleb Williams and Crowley that was downed at the 5, the Raiders began a new possession with 6:49 left before the intermission.
The Raiders went for 13 plays – with 10 runs.
Cockroft took the second play for 11 yards to the 22 and two plays later QB Donte Ware gained 17 yards to the Skyline 45. Cockroft rushed three straight times for 10, 4 and 7 yards and the ball was at the Crowley 34. After two short passes and two runs by Ware, the Skyline quarterback connected with receiver Delvin Cook on a 17-yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 17-0 with under a minute left in the half.
The Eagles looked to get something going with the ball first in the third, but that drive ended in an interception from Sammy Shepherd. Skyline turned that into points on a 35-yard touchdown run by Cockroft to make it 24-0 with 8:21 left in the third quarter. The Raiders added one more TD for good measure when Ware flipped a 1-yard TD to Cook on fourth-and-goal at the end of the quarter.
Skyline out-gained Crowley by nearly 200 yards while the run game picked up 235 yards. Ware passed for 115 yards and rushed for another 81. Cockroft rushed 18 times for 125 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders will open district in Week 4 with a trip to Cedar Hill on Sept. 20. Crowley will host Tyler Legacy on the same night.
