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| MESQUITE - Joe Bergeron could solve the University of Texas football team's recent frustration in running the football, because he'll be a Longhorn in the future. As for the present, he made life miserable for the Longview Lobos.
Bergeron rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns, helping North Mesquite rally for a 24-14 win over Longview in a District 11-5A game on Friday at Mesquite Memorial Stadium. Bergeron had both of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter, when North Mesquite rallied from a 14-3 deficit. Bergeron, who has verbally committed to Texas, also helped bring a nearly seven-year-long streak for the Lobos to an end. Longview (4-4, 2-1) lost a district game for the first time since a 14-0 loss to Lufkin on Nov. 6, 2003, a streak of 36 games. It was also the first district loss as a head coach for John King, who took over at Longview before the 2004 season. Longview was also denied a chance to clinch a playoff berth. North Mesquite improves to 5-3, 2-1. "I feel disappointed for the kids. We had a chance to clinch a playoff berth and we didn't do it," King said. "I didn't even think about the streak coming over here. The streak wouldn't win this one." Longview took a 14-3 lead when quarterback LaDarrin Robertson capped an 84-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left in the third quarter. Robertson rushed for 144 yards on 22 carries. North Mesquite struck back with its best drive of the night, capping a 75-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass from King Davis to Horace Borders with 10:44 remaining, in which Borders ran over a Longview defender on his way to the end zone. North Mesquite went ahead on a nine-yard Bergeron touchdown run with 6:33 remaining. That 73-yard scoring drive was extended by a 42-yard pass from Davis to Chris Butler. Longview drove to North Mesquite 34-yard line on its next drive, but on a fourth-and-five play, a Robertson pass to D'Marjia Devine was stopped by North Mesquite linebacker Justin Owens for a one-yard loss. Bergeron then carried the ball four straight times for 65 yards, capped by a 27-yard scoring run with 42 seconds remaining. Bergeron rushed for 154 yards on 16 second-half carries. Longview had its own big game running, going for 318 yards on 53 carries. This included a career-high 123 yards from fullback Dakota Anthony on 15 carries. However, Longview's passing game wasn't consistent in a strong wind, producing just 75 yards. Longview was also hurt by nine penalties for 94 yards. "That's what big backs like Bergeron does. Our defense played well. We just got tired," King said. "Our passing wasn't good. The wind affected us and we had trouble with our pass protection." Longview's defense picked up where it left off, when it had a strong performance in a 13-8 win over Mesquite Horn last week, in the first half. The Lobos held North Mesquite to 41 total yards and two first downs in the first half. Bergeron was held to 37 yards rushing on 12 carries. However, Longview's offense struggled for most of the first half. Longview's first scoring threat was with 3:34 left in the first half, when a 51-yard field goal attempt by Kyle Jenkins had the distance, but went left. Two drives into North Mesquite territory ended with a fumble and an interception. Jeremy Young made the interception for North Mesquite with 8:10 left in the first half when a Robertson pass deflected out of the hands of his receiver. Longview would finally break through with a 15-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Robertson to Anthony with 11 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Lobos a 7-0 halftime lead. The touchdown immediately followed a play in which Robertson had thrown a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Olson was negated by a block-in-the-back penalty. The penalty flag on Olson's catch was thrown well after Olson was in the end zone. Robertson had 132 total yards of offense in the first half, including 70 yards rushing on eight carries. Sophomore linebacker Demarkus Lathan had four tackles, two for losses in the first half. Thomas Jones and Jalen Porter had two tackles for losses each for the Lobos. Chris Johnson had nine tackles for North Mesquite, three for losses. Derrick Lockett added two sacks for North Mesquite, which didn't have a turnover. Longview hosts Tyler Lee at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at Lobo Stadium. It's Longview's last regular-season home game of the 2010 season. |