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LONGVIEW - Longview jumped out to an early lead in Friday's UIL 5A Division I Region II bi-district playoff game against Magnolia, and overcame the road Bulldogs' second quarter surge in an advancing 45-24 win at Lobo Stadium.
The Lobos improve to 8-3 on the season, and will face Lancaster in next week's area round. That game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Memorial Stadium in Mesquite. Magnolia, on the other hand, finishes its season with a 7-4 mark. "We just kept playing," said Longview athletic director and head football coach John King. "We had things go against us in the second quarter. Big drive to start the third quarter from the offense, and the defense got stops." "I was pleased with the way we were able to run the ball with our quarterback," he continued. "And then we were able to hit some big throws to Jalen [Hale] and other receivers. Defensively, we settled down and quit giving up big plays." Longview scored 14 points in both the first and second quarters to take a 28-24 lead before halftime. The Lobos took an early 7-0 lead when Willie Nelson intercepted a Ross Choate pass, and returned it to the house for a pick six at the 11:16 mark of the opening quarter. Nelson finished the game with three of Longview defense's four interceptions. The Lobo defense also came up with big stops before the next two scores. The unit forced an unsuccessful Magnolia fourth-and-four run with 6:08 left in the period, and Kaden Brooks intercepted a Choate pass with 2:28 left in the frame. Longview's offense definitely took advantage of the defensive stops. Joshua Thomas ran into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Lobos a 14-0 lead with a minute left in the opening quarter. Thomas finished the night with an 11-of-16 passing performance for 198 yards and a pair of scores. He also rushed 16 times for 168 yards and a triplet of scores. The defense then forced a Choate incompletion on a fourth-and-one pass attempt at the 11:56 mark of the second quarter. Nine seconds later, the home team grew its lead to 21-0 on Thomas' 45-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Hale. Hale finished the game with six receptions for 166 yards and a pair of scores. "It's what they've been doing all year," King said of his team's defensive performance on Friday. "They play great team defense. They perform well and got a lot of pride." Magnolia flipped the script with a 24-7 run during the rest of the first half. The Bulldogs' charge began with Hunter Andrews' two-yard touchdown run, which made it a 21-7 game at the 10:50 mark of the second quarter. At the 9:34 mark of the second period, Thomas found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown run to earn the final Longview score of the first half. That didn't slow down Magnolia. The Bulldogs cut Longview's lead to 28-10 on Ernie Mendoza's 20-yard field goal at the 4:51 mark of the second quarter. They also dropped the Lobo advantage two more times in the half. It started when Choate found Andrews on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 1:31 left. Moments later, Magnolia recovered an onside kick attempt at the Longview 33-yard line. Choate connected with Marcus Childs on the following play to make it a 28-24 game with 1:19 left before halftime. Longview wasn't satisfied with a four-point cushion, and outscored Magnolia 17-0 in the second half. The Lobos refocused with a seven-minute and 46-second drive to open the third quarter that ended in Thomas' two-yard touchdown run. The home team wrapped up its 2021 playoff-opening victory with two scores in the game's final period. Michael Fields earned a 34-yard field goal at the 9:53 mark of the fourth quarter before Thomas' 59-yard touchdown strike to Jalen Hale occurred at the 4:14 mark. |