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| ARLINGTON - Longview's defense just needed one stop.
The Lobos had just taken a 35-34 lead over Beaumont West Brook with less than five minutes remaining in the Class 6A Division II state championship Saturday at AT&T Stadium. On third and 13, La'Ravien Elia delivered a 25-yard pass to Deonte Simpson for a first down, but with the Bruins approaching midfield, the Lobos got their play. On a run by West Brook running back Robert McGrue, Longview junior Tyshawn Taylor jarred the ball loose from behind, senior Ja'Vontae Writt delivered the hit on McGrue, and senior Michael Martin recovered the ball for the Lobos with 3:40 remaining. "We had to communicate and let each other know what we needed to do," Writt said. "The first thing that came to my mind was punch the ball out, and we were able to get on top of the ball and end up getting it back." That was the final time the Longview defense had to take the field as the offense put the finishing touches on a 35-34 state title victory. After a first half where the Lobos had no answer for the Bruin offense, the Lobo defense stepped up to the challenge in the second half. "We stuck to the game plan," senior defensive back Jephaniah Lister said. "In the beginning, we weren't sticking to the game plan. The game plan is the scramble rule, which is when the quarterback takes off running, we lock on to our receivers until we hear that whistle. In the second half, we made sure we communicated, and we made sure we knew to stay on the receiver until the quarterback was down." West Brook had 348 yards in the first half, including 234 on the ground. The Lobos held the Bruins to 145 yards in the second half and 30 through the air. Elia, who was 8-for-16 for 11 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, was limited to 2-for-5 for 30 yards in the second half - 25 on that final drive. Longview allowed 21 points to West Brook in the second quarter, which was a season-high. The Lobos responded by limiting the Bruins to a single touchdown in the final 24 minutes. Lister finished with 12 tackles, earning Defensive MVP honors for the game. He finished with 133 tackles for the season. Taylor had 11 tackles, two tackles for loss and the forced fumble. Isiah Rodgers had 10 tackles. Robert Pierce and Jaylon Allen both had a half sack. |