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| TEXARKANA - Longview's No. 2 ranked Lobos struck rapidly here Friday night and withstood as inspired second half effort by the Texarkana Tigers for a 21-8 District 14-AAAA victory.
The Lobos, in winning their eighth consecutive game of the season, drove 69 yards for a score after the opening kickoff and took advantage of a fumble on the Tigers' first offensive snap of the game for a lightning quick 13-0 lead with 5:58 remaining in the period. Still another score on its first possession of the second half gave Longview a seemingly insurmountable 21-0 lead but Texarkana stiffened on the defensive and added a 67 yard drive for a third quarter touchdown to narrow the gap to 21-8 with 34 seconds left in that third period. It was only the second touchdown Longview has allowed this season, both coming through the airways. Johnny Fuller, however, intercepted passes on two consecutive Texarkana possessions in the final quarter to seal the victory for Longview, it's fourth straight league win. The loss dropped the Tigers to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in loop action. Tim Martin opened the game at quarterback for Longview and promptly moved the "Green Machine" the necessary yardage for the score and capped the drive by hitting Fuller with a 37 harder. Henry Williams tacked on the extra point for a 7-0 Lobo lead with 8:34 left in the opening period. Linebacker Finis Snoddy fell on a Tiger fumble just moments later at the visiting team's 30-yard line giving Longview a golden opportunity. Five played later McCoy capitalized on the opportunity when he bootlegged left for 15 yards and the score. The extra point was no good but Longview had a 13-0 lead with plenty of time still left in the first quarter. Texarkana mounted just one serious drive in the first two quarters, a move to the Lobo 15. The march, however, ended in a seven yard loss back to the 22 when an attempted a field goal snap was bobbled and Thomas Cook rushed in to drop Jimmy DeMoss for the loss. The Tigers managed three first downs in the drive, the only ones recorded the entire first half. Oddly enough the advance started after Kirk Covert literally nabbed the ball from the grasps of tight end Gil Harris after Harris had latched on to a Martin pass. Texarkana was unable to move after the second half kickoff and punted the ball away when Longview took control at the Tiger 40 and drove in for a score, a 36-yard pass-and-run play to Harris from Martin. Leo McCoy took a pitch from Martin and skirted around right end for a 2-point conversion and the 21-0 margin with 8:29 left in the third period. Each team exchanged punts and Texarkana began its scoring drive 67 yards from pay dirt. Tony Elam marched his strops the 67 yards on a mixture of passes and running plays for the score. He put the ball in the air 10 times in the 15-play drive and missed a brilliant opportunity early in the march when Don Davis dropped the ball when he was wide open and far behind the Lobo secondary. Elam connected with Paul Phillips for an apparent touchdown only to have it called back because of an offside penalty. He hit Eric Jones, however, on the ensuing play a fourth and goal from the Longview 10, for the six-pointer and then found Zack Jones for a 2-point play. Longview drove to the Tiger 6 late in the contest but was driven back by the Texarkana defense and the score stood at 21-8. Longview will host the Marshall Mavericks next week and Texarkana travels to Lufkin as 14-AAAA play continues. |