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| FORT WORTH - Scoring one touchdown in every quarter, the Longview Lobos completed their non-conference schedule with a record of four wins against a single loss by playing a sparkling running attach here Thursday night to defeat the Class AAAA North Side Steers of Fort Worth, 27 to 7.
A sparse Farrington Field crowd of some 1,500 fans, nearly half of them from Longview, saw the quick-striking Lobos run up a 21-to-0 lead and then step their bench depth as every player on the squad saw action while eh Lobos won without being closely pressed. At least three other Longview scoring drives were stymied by Lobo infractions in a penalty-laden game. The Lobos drew a 105 yards in penalties and would have won by a considerably large margin had it not been for penalties that came at crucial segments to halt promising offensive threats. Despite the large number of penalties against them, however, the Lobos still rolled up 16 first downs and gained a total of 351 yards from scrimmage to 11 first downs and 225 net yards for North Side, which absorbed its fourth loss in five starts. The Steers gained only 134 yards on the ground against 279 yards for Longview as the lighter but better forward wall of the Lobos charged the big North Side line throughout the game and consistently bottled up the Fort Worth team's offense. Halfback Dub Thomas scored two touchdowns for the Lobos while halfback Boots Cashell picked up one and sophomore Harry Moore the other, while Murvil Byrd booted three extra points from placement. Although he did not score, quarterback Jerry Crawford turned in a brilliant job of directing the Longview offense. His field generalship was flawless and his own subsequent smashed through the North Side line did much to keep the offense of the Lobos clicking. The Lobos lost no time in scoring their first touchdown with just two minutes and 58 seconds gone in the first quarter after the Steers failed to gain when they took the opening kickoff. The Lobos had a scoring opportunity when Randy Williams covered halfback Sherrill Headrick's fumble on the Steer's third offensive play on North Side's 27-yard stripe. Halfback Dub Thomas ripped 22 yards over right tackle to the North Side 5, but the Lobos had a 5-yard penalty for offense. Co-captain Tony Rothrock sprinted right tackle for five yards Burt North Side drew a 15-yard penalty for roughing to Longview a first down on the Steer's 15 yard stripe. Thomas ripped through right tackle for 12 yards and a first down on the 3, and on the next play he plowed over left tackle for a touchdown. Co-captain and tackle Murvil Byrd kicked the extra point from placement. North Side had a golden opportunity later in the first quarter when H.E. Braswell recovered a Longview fumble on the Lobo 23. The Steers made one first down and then pushed on to the Longview 13, but tackle Gene Martin recovered a fumble for the Lobos at that sot to stem the tide and Longview quickly got out of danger when Rothrock blazed 32 yards over right tackle on the first play after Martin's recovery. Early in the second period the Lobos threatened again but could not punch their way across. With Horrace Johnson and Rothrock blocking, the Lobos had an 11-yard jaunt by Thomas followed by a 22-yard jaunt over guard by quarterback Jerry Crawford in one of his infrequent efforts at toting the ball, Longview printed from its own 12 to North Side's 31 before the Lobos finally lost possession of the ball when a fourth down pass from Crawford to Rothrock fell incomplete. During this series of plays, the visitors held possession of the ball for 15 plays before they finally surrendered it. Longview struck for its next touchdown with only 20 seconds remaining in the first half. Byrd recovered a fumble on North Side's 12 to set up the score and Cashell immediately took a pitch out from Crawford and raced around right end to reach the double stripe, but Longview drew a 5-yard penalty for backfield in motion. On fourth down Crawford's pass to Curtis Lemmonds was incomplete in the end zone but pass interference was called against North Side, giving Longview a first down on the Steers' 1. On the next play Thomas slipped around right end standing up for a touchdown and Byrd kicked the extra point to give the Lobos. 14-0 lead at the half. Midway through the third quarter the Lobos struck again for their third touchdown, but and it came with startling suddenness. Longview gained possession after taking a North Side punt on the Lobo 45 and Rothrok hit tackle for 3 and Cashell reeled off 21 more around right end, but Longview drew a 15-yard penalty for clipping to its own 36-yard stripe. A pass from Crawford to Harry Moore fell incomplete but on the next play Crawford hit Cashell with a pass that was good for 64 yards and a touchdown. Cahsell turned in a great run after taking Crawford's pass on the Longview 45, shook loose from no less than four North Side tacklers and went the remaining 55 yards almost unmolested to score. Byrd booted his third straight extra point to put the Lobos in front 21 to 0. Early in the fourth quarter North Side had a touchdown temporarily delayed by a clipping penalty. The Lobos drove down to the Steers 18-yard line before losing the ball on downs and from there quarterback Dale Jackson whipped a pass to Billy Gault, Fort Worth schoolboy spring champion, who took the ball on the 50 and went the rest of the way untouched. A clipping violation, however, set the Steers back to their own 49. The respite, however, was only temporary and North Side drove right back for its only touchdown. A 23-yard pass again from Jackson to Gault reached the Longview 8 and finally on fourth down Weldon Wicker went over from their 1-foot line after it looked like the Lobos might be able to hold at that point. Mitchell Baxter kicked the extra point for the Steers. It took the Longview eleven just four plays to get that touchdown back. After the kickoff following North Side's score, Thomas, Moore and Crawford picked up a first down in three plays and then Moore took a handoff from Crawford, broke over left tackle and outran the secondary 57 yards to score with slightly less than three minutes to play. This time Byrd' try for extra point was wide. North Side managed to muster another scoring threat in the fading seconds of the game only to bog down in the face of Longview's stubborn resistance. A 40-yard pass from Jackson to Gault reached the Longview 15 and Gault had a clear field for a touchdown, but was tripped at the last second by guard Jerome Waits. In four plays the Steers managed to advance only five yards and the Lobos took over on their own 10 just as the game ended. |