NW Washington, DC - If it wasn't for the orange helmets you'd swear you were watching the Indianapolis Colts spread offense of Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai, and Reggie Wayne.  The Coolidge Colts triple threat option of QB Emmanuel Yeager, WR Derrell "TO" Persons, and RB Avery Williams together was just too much for a tough and game Gonzaga team to overcome last night.

The Coolidge Colts first game of a tough upcoming schedule ended with a victory that wasn't easy.  Emmanuel "Young Gunna" Yeager racked up 349 passing yards and five touchdowns, four thru the air and one of the ground.  Yeager was joined by Derrell "TO" Persons who caught six passes, four of which went for touchdowns and running back Avery "2 Fast 2 Furious" Williams, who ran for 273 yards on 15 carries and one score.

As dominant an offensive performance as it was for the Colts, it was untimely penalties by the Coolidge team and big plays by Gonzaga that almost cost them the game.  Huge gains were wiped away by deadball fouls on the Colts offense.

Gonzaga jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter after a Yeager pass was picked off by Gonzaga's Kevin Hogan who brought the ball back deep in Colts territory. Gonzaga running back Alan Elder punched it in from 15 yards out to open up a 7-0 lead.

After receiving the kickoff, the Colts preceded to pound the football on runs by Avery Williams and Eric Shaw.  Coolidge drove the ball 50 yards but turned the ball over to Gonzaga on a fumble at 7:36 in the first quarter.  

Gonzaga on their next possession went to the ground game.  Led by running backs Alan Elder and Josh Furnary, drove the ball 53 yards as Furnary scored went in from 5 yards out to open up a 14-0 lead after a Robbie Colas extra point. 

In the second quarter, the Colts engineered an 80 yard touchdown drive led by the running of Avery Williams who accounted for over 50 of those yards.  Yeager punched it in for the score from one yard out.  The score was 14-6 Gonzaga.

On their next possession, Colts QB Yeager hit Persons on a short hitch pass and he raced 40 yards past the Gonzaga defenders for the touchdown.  The conversion attempt failed. The score was 14-12 Gonzaga.

Yeager and Persons hooked up three more times on plays of 38, 68 and 33 yards.  The 68 yarder was a fumble that was scooped by Persons who raced to the end zone. Avery Williams capped the scoring for Coolidge with a 45 yard run with 2:39 left on the clock to seal the win. The final score was 36-34. Williams backfield mate Eric Shaw finished with 103 yards rushing.

The Colts defense, while giving up big plays in the running and passing game, always seemed to make the big plays on 3rd down that put their potented playmakers back on the field where they exploited mismatches to get scores.

Colts QB Emmanuel Yeager, who was dedicating this game to his fallen friend Ralph,  said "We were fighting hard.  We made some mental mistakes early but we fought thru the adversity and came together as a team but we can play better."

Derrell Persons chimed in with his thoughts, "This is what we do! We got this win but the key for me and for us a team is to stay humble."

Head Coach Jason Lane was philosophical in his views. " We have some kinks to work out. At times we played undisciplined but overall I feel good about the win."

Coach Lane's thoughts about Yeager's contributions. "Yeager has the experience. He's been in similar situations.  He started slow but came around strong."

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