(SportsRadio 610) - As the Texans rookie fourth-round draft pick was in the midst of it, all Dameon Pierce could think to himself was “go country boy, go.”
That 20-yard run on a 2nd-and-5 from the Jacksonville 22-yard line catapulted the Texans into the red zone for the first time all day.
When the dust settled after Pierce powered through defenders, stepped out of the grasp of desperate hands, spun out of would-be tacklers and reached for the end zone, the rookie had willed himself to the 2-yard line with just over four minutes remaining in a 6-6 tied ballgame.
"What I really felt, I was tired at first,” Pierce said after the win. “We be tired at first. But after I caught my breath a little bit, man, like we just needed a surge, man."
That surge came with a much-needed breath, as Pierce explained.
Before the first-and-goal, the Texans called a timeout with 4:11 to give a breather to their lead back, as they planned on using him to finish the drive with a touchdown.
Pierce got the next carry out of the timeout, breaking more tackles and rumbling to the goal line.
He fell short and the ball fell out.
The initial call on the field was down by contact. Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson challenged the ruling, but the review upheld the call.
The Texans, confident in the rookie and wanting to reward his tenacity and grit, called his number again on the 2nd-and-goal.
Pierce exploded into the end zone, splitting two defenders to give the Texans the go-ahead points, and a 13-6 lead after the extra-point, with 3:11 remaining in the game.
It was the first time all season the Texans had used Pierce that late in the game. Prior to Sunday afternoon, Pierce hadn’t gotten a meaningful touch inside the 6:13 mark of the fourth quarter or an overtime.
He finished the game with 99 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown, his third of the season.
The rookie from Bainbridge, Georgia is also now fourth in the NFL in rushing yards with 412 at the close of business Sunday night.
As the Texans work through the rebuild, they often mention that it comes down to stacking more good days than bad.
Pierce has put together back-to-back defining runs.
The 75-yard touchdown run against the Chargers gave them hope last weekend. On Sunday, the violent 20-yard dash toward the end zone helped deliver a win.
In an ugly game in which both teams struggled to establish a rhythm offensively, Pierce with that "good old country boy" mentality summed it up perfectly.
"It was just iron sharpens iron, every play, man, they'd get their plays, we'd get our plays," Pierce said. "It just came down to who wanted to fight more and who had the will to win, and I'm just grateful that we come out with a win. Hopefully we can build off of it."
Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
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