The Tomball Cougars gave head coach Tommy Kaiser just what he had hoped for Sept. 24 in their district opener against Westfield: a victory, and one in a close contest.

After starting out 3-0 and outscoring their opponents 130-32, Kaiser was concerned about how his team would face adversity should they be challenged in a close game.

That challenge awaited them in Westfield, a perennial Houston area powerhouse coming off a 2009 season in which they were Division 1 Area Finalists. The Mustangs were also 3-0 going into their matchup against the Cougars.

 The scoreboard at Cougar Stadium lit up early and often. The Mustangs got on the board first when quarterback Louis Pryor connected with Cameron Townsend on a 72-yard touchdown pass. However, the extra point failed, and the Mustangs led 6-0.

The Cougars answered on the ensuing drive when running back Brandon Green found the end zone from 27 yards out. The Dillon Duarte kick was good and the Cougars led, 7-6.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as Pryor and Townsend hooked up again on a scoring strike, this time on a 35-yard scoring strike with 6:18 left in the opening quarter.

Tomball marched the field again on their next drive and this time settled for a 34-yard Duarte field goal.

The Cougars trailed 13-10 going into the second quarter and it was as far behind as they would be all night. Early in the second, Duarte again split the uprights, this time on a 26-yard field goal to tie the game at 13 each.

Two minutes later, the Cougars would take the lead for the first time in the game when Green scored his second touchdown of the night on a 15-yard run. The Duarte extra point made it 20-13, Tomball.

The Tomball kicker, who has proven to be one of the best in the Houston area halfway through the season, made his third field goal of the night with 6:28 left in the second when he connected from 34 yards out to increase the Tomball lead to 23-13.

The Mustangs were only able to manage a 31-yard Hector Diaz field goal as time expired in the half to cut the Cougar lead to 23-16.

Down by seven in the third quarter, the Mustangs pulled even with a 3-yard Desmond Jackson touchdown push. The back-and-forth battled again tilted Tomball’s way less than three minutes later when Brian Angelle scored from 7 yards out to make the score 30-23, Tomball.

Clinging to a 7-point lead and with the clock ticking under 5 minutes in the fourth quarter, the Cougars sealed the win on Angelle’s second touchdown run of the night, this one from 49 yards out to put the Cougars ahead 37-23.

The Mustangs added a 4-yard Anthony Smith touchdown to close the gap to 37-30, but the Tomball offense ran the clock out and secured the Cougars’ fourth straight victory to open the season.

Tomball’s offensive attack was led by Green, who rushed for 127 yards on 16 carries. He and Angelle each scored a pair of touchdowns.

Pryor was the Mustangs’ offensive leader, running 16 times for 132 yards.

Last week, Tomball traveled to take on Spring Woods in the team’s second district game. They return home Oct. 8 to host Stratford at 7:30 p.m. in the team’s annual homecoming game.

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