The coaches felt it, the players felt it and the fans felt it. The Tomball Cougars were going to win their Sept. 25 district opener against the Spring Lions.

All Tomball needed to do was make one more stop, just one stop on a fourth and nine on the Spring 26-yard-line and they could run the clock out and open their 2009 district season 1-0.

But it was not to be. Lion quarterback Stephen McCleskey would connect with Ridgeway Frank for a 16-yard completion for the first down and the drive would continue.

Things came crashing down for the Cougars in the final seconds when Brian Baich hit a 40-yard field goal to put the Lions up 22-20 with just five second to go.

“It was just a gut wrencher for our kids,” Cougar head coach Tommy Kaiser later said. “All we had to do is make one more first down and we didn’t do it.”

After falling behind early in the first quarter, the Cougars rallied to take the lead 13-10 by halftime behind a balanced offensive attack.

Standout wide receiver Jordan Leslie scored on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Lance Ester in the opening minutes of the second quarter.

But the Lions kept it close when Baich connected on a 22-yard field goal with seven minutes to go in the third quarter to tie the game at 13-13.

In the fourth, Ester completed his second touchdown pass of the night when he found Brian Angelle on a 25-yard scoring strike to put the Cougars up 20-13.

The Lions answered with a seven play, 63-yard drive that ended with a Corey Phillips four-yard touchdown run. But the extra-point failed and the Cougars still led, 20-19 with 4:30 left in the game.

But the Cougar drive stalled after just five plays and 18 yards, and they were forced to punt to the Lions, setting up the game-winning drive.

The loss drops the Cougars to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in district. The Lions improved to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in district.

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