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| LONGVIEW - Longview's start went to District 11-6A action went about as good as Lobo head coach John King could've hoped for. The finish for the Lobos on Friday night in the district opener against Mesquite Horn was the opposite.
In the end, the scoreboard, however, was all that mattered. With a balanced attack, Longview build a 25-point halftime lead and held on in a turnover-plagued second half, taking a 47-37 win over the Jaguars at Lobo Stadium. With the win, Longview moves to 3-1 on the season and starts 11-6A action at 1-0. Horn now sits at 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the district race. "What could go right in the first half, did," King said. "We didn't come out with that same focus in the second half and, credit to the kids, they found a way to make enough plays to pull it out. "We're very fortunate to be 1-0. However it happened, we had to find a way to get out to a 1-0 start." Longview scored on its first five possessions, building a 35-10 lead at halftime. The Lobos, who entered Friday night without a lost fumble on the season, coughed it up four times over the final 24 minutes, enabling the Jaguars to whittle the lead down to 11 points early in the fourth quarter. Longview responded with a touchdown and the defense followed with a turnover on downs in the red zone to sure up the win. Quarterback Gaylon Wiley turned in his second-straight 200-yard night through the air, passing for 224 yards on an 11-for-14 night. He threw three first-half touchdowns, two to Eric Timberlake and the third to Jaylin Brown. Timberlake finished with five catches for 110 yards to lead seven different targets for Wiley. On the ground, six ball carriers notched 300 yards against Horn, which, coming into Friday, had held opponents to 150 rushing yards per contest. D'Crayvan Polk had a one-yard score and racked up 127 yards on 15 carries. Kendrevian White totaled 84 yards with a six-yard score and Trajan Bush had a 27-yard touchdown for the Lobos. Chris Kessler connected on field goals of 31 and 26 yards and belted four touchbacks in the win. Horn took the ball to start and the Lobo defense forced a quick three-and-out. Longview converted a fourth down and a 3rd-and-15 - its longest conversion on the season - en route to an 18-play, 66-yard march capped with an 18-yard strike from Wiley to Timberlake. Horn, with Oklahoma commit Chris Robison making his first start since the season, connected with Katrell Blakeley for a 59-yard score to make it 7-7. Longview then rattled off 21 unanswered points with Polk punching in a one-yard score, Timberlake hauling in his second touchdown pass and White capping an 87-yard drive with a six-yard run for a 28-7 Lobo lead with 6:24 left in the second quarter. Horn went on the move but, once again, the Lobo defense forced a red zone stop, resulting in a 30-yard field goal from the Jaguars. With 2:54 left until the break, White made his first catch of the season, a toe-dragging 14-yard haul in to set up Wiley's 31-yard scoring toss to Brown to give Longview a 35-10 lead at halftime. For the first time this season, the Lobos fumbled the ball away on the first snap of the third quarter, setting up a touchdown drive from the Jaguars - the first of four in the second half that resulted from Lobo miscues. Kessler booted 31 and 26-yard field goals to make it 41-17 with after three quarters. The fourth quarter started the same way for Longview with a fumble, resulting in a Horn touchdown. The Lobos then coughed up the ensuing kickoff and Horn Sophomore quarterback Jermaine Givens scored on the next play as the Jaguars whittled a 24-point Lobo lead down to 11 points in 19 seconds off the play clock. Polk ripped a 38-yard run, setting up Bush's 27-yard rumble to paydirt for push Longview's lead to 47-30. The Lobo defense thwarted a long Horn drive before fumbling it away again for the fourth time, setting up Givens' three-yard scoring strike to Davione White.. Facing third-and-three, Polk picked up the first down inside the final minute to send the Lobos into victory formation and to a 1-0 start in 11-6A. Longview visits Tyler Lee next while Horn takes on Mesquite. |