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The 2008 Bryan Vikings met Merrill Green on Thursday.
On Friday, they gave him a present.
The Vikings wrapped up a special night for the retired Vikings coach with a hard-fought 28-20 victory over Cy-Falls before a large home crowd at renamed Merrill Green Stadium.
Chris Ramirez returned a fumble 28 yards to set up Monterrell Washington's fourth touchdown run that added a postscript for the plaque presented to Green, who has won more football games at Bryan than any other coach.
"He came in and shook all of our kids' hands and so they had a better feel about who Coach Green was," said a beaming Bob Bellard, the Vikings' current coach who played high school football for Green. "It was special for our team to go out and get that done, and to see the crowd we had tonight was fantastic. It was important to get a victory against a great football team at home.
"It was a total team effort and we got it from all phases."
Bryan held a 21-20 lead when 150-pound senior running back Josh Figures was stripped of the ball and Cody Young recovered for the Golden Eagles at the Vikings' 38-yard line.
A play later, Cy-Falls quarterback Kolby Gray was hit hard on a run to his left and fumbled. The ball rolled toward the Eagles' sideline when Ramirez, a 190-pound senior defensive end, outran his teammates to pick it up and get the return.
"That was tide-turning," Bellard said.
It was the second of Cy-Falls' two turnovers, both of which the Vikings turned into touchdowns. Trying a trick formation with Gray at receiver, Jacob Poole threw his way, but Bryan safety Justin Hartgroves cut in front of the pass for an interception.
"It was a great win, and we did it in a ways that I need to see us do," Bellard said. "We overcame some adversity and our defense came in at halftime and got some things fixed. They came out in the second half and made some big plays."
Bryan trailed only once, after the Golden Eagles mounted a 15-play, 80-yard drive to take a 14-7 lead on a 3-yard run by Cy-Falls running back Christian Norris. He took a quick pitch from Gray and scored easily on the play.
Bryan responded with a five-play, 75-yard drive that opened with a pass across the middle from Kesnick Taylor to Krey Bratsen. Bratsen snagged the high throw and slanted away from the defense. He followed that up with a short reception that he turned into a 33-yard gain.
Washington, who rushed 24 times for 161 yards on the night, evened the score at 14-14 with 47 seconds left until halftime.
Washington's best scoring run started with his vintage move on a sweep to the left. He added a new flair, with an abrupt change of direction for one final move to the sideline, leaving the last defender flat-footed and giving Bryan a 21-14 lead.
It was Washington's most impressive run on a night when the senior often found good blocking early in his runs.
"A lot of credit goes to our offensive line, because they got a hat on some people," said Bellard, whose line had just one varsity starter -- center Fono Vakalahi -- returning. "There was nothing easy about what they handled tonight. I thought they were still coming off the football at the end and dominating."
The four JV players who joined Vakalahi in the blocking front worked in concert with the quick-step moves of Washington.
"Monterrell made some unbelievable cuts tonight," Bellard said. "I always said of Monterrell that his best football game is still in front of him, and this was his best football game in high school."
Cy-Falls had a chance to tie the game at 21-21 when Norris took a late pitch from Gray and scored on a 7-yard run, but Brice Christian's extra point was blocked, his second miss.
Gray, who had 160 yards of total offense by halftime, finished with 118 rushing yards and 88 passing.
