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| RICHARDSON - Longview found itself in a spot the Lobos weren't too familiar with at halftime on Saturday: behind.
But that didn't phase the 11-1 Lobos. A 20-point third quarter quickly changed the complexion of Saturday's Class 5A Division II Region II area playoff for the Lobos, who rallied from trailing at the midway point for the first time this season, 10-7, to a 27-10 win over McKinney Boyd at Wildcat-Ram Stadium in Dallas. "I didn't tell them anything at halftime," Longview head coach John King said. "We didn't push the panic button and went out there and played football and cleaned up our mistakes." Longview held a slim 165-161 yardage advantage in the opening half, running 29 snaps from scrimmage on four possessions with one ending in a lost fumble, one punt, a missed field goal and the Lobos' lone score to 43 plays from Boyd, whose season ends at 7-5. The script flipped in the second, with Longview outgaining McKinney Boyd 225-129 and taking advantage of four Boyd turnovers. "We were our own worst enemy in the first half," King said. "In the second, we were fortunate enough to get some turnovers and come away with some big plays at the right time." Junior quarterback Dezmond Chumley accounted for 191 yards total in the contest, throwing for 121, including touchdown strikes of 13 and seven yards. He also hauled in a touchdown on a 10-yard halfback pass from JaMycal Hasty to accompany 70 yards on the ground, which allowed Longview to sustain key drives in the second half. "It was big for Dez to be able to run the ball," King said. "We had some long yardage situations when they covered us in routes and he did a good job of tucking the football and getting us a first own or getting us a manageable down and distance. It's just those hidden yardage plays that happen throughout the course of the ballgame that they may not be the way you draw them up, but it helps your team move the sticks and score points." Hasty - who was limited to 54 yards on 12 touches in the first half - turned in 167 rushing yards on the night and added a 21-yard catch. Dorian Leonard hauled in a 13-yard touchdown and Jordan Whitaker was on the receiving end of a seven-yard scoring strike from Chumley. "(Boyd) has a really good defense and they've played well all year long. They're very well coached and have a sound football team," King said. "We knew it would be difficult (to run the football) but we were able to crease a few of them and make some throws when we needed to." Defensively, Travin Howard pulled down his team-high eighth interception and scooped a Boyd fumble, taking it 25 yards to the house. Laurent Johnson had a fumble recovery and Jakoriyan Walker added an interception. Omar French had a pair of sacks while Roderick Alexander added a big sack on a crucial fourth-down play. Alexander's sack set the Lobos up at the Bronco 43-yard line and Longview got on the board first with Chumley's 13-yard pass to Leonard across the middle with 32 seconds left in the opening quarter. Boyd responded with a near six-minute, 17-play, 79-yard drive, capped with a five-yard run from Dedrick Scrivens, who finished with 77 yards for the Broncos. Longview's ensuing march was halted by a fumble and Boyd marched again, this time for 78 yards, ending with a 25-yard field goal from Cameron Powell to give the Broncos a 10-7 advantage at halftime. The opening kick of the second half pinned Boyd at its own one-yard line and, after a quick three-and-out, Longview set up shop at the Bronco 36. Chumley found Whitaker for a seven-yard score six plays later to give Longview a lead they would not relinquish. Johnson then scooped a fumble and the Lobos used trickery with Hasty taking a pitch and finding a wide-open Chumley in the end zone to give Longview a 20-10 lead just six minutes into the third quarter. Howard's scoop-and-score capped a six-minute span where Longview went from trailing by three points to leading by 17. Now the Lobos enter the third round for the seventh-straight year, meeting an A&M Consolidated team fresh off a big 41-16 win over Austin Westlake in the area round. "It doesn't get any easier," King said. "They've scored a ton of points and are on a roll as well. They had a big win over Westlake and are playing with a lot of confidence now. It's going to be another difficult task and hopefully we can get ready this week." |