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| LONGVIEW - A dropped touchdown pass may be the single most definitive play in Longview's 14-0 run. However, the ball wasn't dropped by the Lobos, but by Killeen in the second week fo the season.
"They dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone," explained Longview head football coach Robert Bero. "I said at that time: 'Hey, these kinds of things have got to happen if you're ever going to build momentum.' "We've created a lot of things, this hasn't all been just luck. But you've got to be a little bit lucky. We've just been trying to ride this thing one week at a time." The Lobos needed a strong defensive effort in the second half against the Killeen Kangaroos to escape with a 12-7 win in their first road game of the season. Winning a championship, all coaches agree, takes a certain amount of having things fall in your favor. From dropped touchdown passes by the opposition to extra points hitting the crossbar, yet still bouncing over. Longview now prepares for its biggest game in the last 60 years. Saturday, the Lobos meet Katy (13-1) for the Class 5A, Division I State Championship at the Astrodome in Houston. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:07 p.m. On Christmas Day 1937, the Lobos won their only state title at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, defeating Wichita Falls 19-12. Bero said that his elections for this year's team goes back as far as when his seniors were still in middle school. "It was probably when they were eighth graders," said Bero. 'I went to the middle schools then and first saw (Lee) Nix, (Jay) Hurst, Lee J (Jackson) and (Shawn) Byrdsong. I can still remember talking to several of those kids then and saying they were going to play for us right after their ninth-grade year. "I was hoping this was going to be that kind of group." Nix, Hurst, Jackson, Byrdsong, along with Ben Price, Dexter Daniels, Darnerious Watson, Leon Bell and Jacob Pierece are all third-year letterman. In addition, Hurst and Nix have co-existed at the quarterback role; Daniels and Byrdsong started on both sides of the line; Pierce recovered from a broken fibula in his right leg, missing most of the non-district schedule, but being fully recovered in time for the playoffs. "Getting to a state championship is not just for these players, but all the guys who have been involved in our program," Bero said. "Guys who also dreamed of winning a state championship. This is not just for this team, but it's for those guys also - they're kind of an extended family."
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