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| LONGVIEW - On Saturday night, the faith of Longview football coach John King was rewarded.
Leading Longview's 41-30 victory over Denton Guyer in a Class 4A Division I state semifinal at Texas Stadium in Irving was the long passing game anchored by quarterback Aaron Johnson. Johnson was 10-for-11 passing for 278 yards and four touchdowns, with three of the touchdown plays going for 50 or more yards each. Before Saturday's game, Johnson had not thrown more than two touchdown passes in a game and his previous high in yards was 154 against Pine Tree on Oct. 30. Since Longview has a strong running game, the offense was usually complimented by a short passing game, frequently making long passes just an occasional threat. However, King said long bombs, and Johnson's ability to make them, were always there. "He's been throwing it a lot better in practice now," King said. "I've had faith he could do it since the second half of the Lufkin game (in September)." Johnson said he has improved his footwork lately to correct a flaw that caused him to overthrow passes early this season. He said when he threw short passes on Saturday, the deep ball was available. Guyer coach John Walsh said his team's safeties did make some mistakes in pass coverage. However, Johnson was quick to share the glory with his targets. "Our receivers were running very hard," Johnson said. "They Mae it easy for me to throw it to them." King said receiver Carey Fortson also rewarded his faith. Fortson had a personal landmark game with four receptions for 140 yards with touchdown catches of 12, 50 and 51 yards. King said he was most impressed with Fortson's 12-yard touchdown on a third-and-10 play, which gave Longview a 13-7 lead with 6:46 left in the second quarter. "Carey had to make a couple of moves to get free," King said. "I thought that was the biggest pass play of the night." Adding to Longview's big game on offense was 101 yards rushing by Tyler McCray, his fourth straight 100-yard game. McCray's seven-yard touchdown run with 11:32 remaining put the Lobos up 34-30. The touchdown was set up by McCray's 72-yard kickoff return, which King credited to good moves by McCray and good team blocking. Two more plays in the fourth quarter, helped the Lobos keep their lead. On the ensuing drive, Guyer had a fourth-and-five at the Longview 46-yard line. Guyer took a delay-of-game penalty on the play, but Walsh said they had planned on something else. "We were going to try a fake punt. We tried to hide a receiver, but longview was all over it and we had to take the penalty," Walsh said. The game-clinching play may have come on Longview's next drive. Facing a third-and-eight at its own 44-yard line, Johnson's skill helped set up a screen pass to fullback Jonathan Oliver for 15 yards. The drive eventually ended with Johnson scrambling 35 yards for a touchdown with 1:38 remaining. "We had Johnson in trouble, but he got out of it and found No. 6 (Oliver)," Walsh said. "To me, that was the biggest play." The play helped insure the Lobos will be playing in the biggest game. Longview (13-2) takes on Lake Travis (15-0) in the Class 4A Division I state final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco. Lake Travis won the Class 4A Division II state championship last year and is led by quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who has verbally committed to the University of Texas. The work for King and his staff started Sunday studying film. "To me, the win over Guyer is just another game. I don't feel any different about it than any other game," King said. "Maybe I'm not appreciating it as much as I should be, but for us, there is still work to be done." Facing a defending state champion, the Lobos are considered an underdog by some observers. Yet in part because of the way they threw the ball on Saturday, the Lobos have at least one additional believer. "When you have Garrett Gilbert, you will move the ball, but I don't think Lake Travis will stop Longview's offense," Walsh said. "I think it will be a shootout. "I think Longview will win. Absolutely." |