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| TYLER - The fine Longview Lobos, displaying fine teamwork and good blocking, scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to break a 7-7 deadlock and trumped over Tyler's blue-clad warriors here today, 14 to 7. The victory threw the District 11 race into a scramble, with Kilgore's Bulldogs now holding the top of the heap.
Tyler next week meets Kilgore in Tyler with the championship in the balance. A win for Tyler would leave the Lions and Longview deadlocked, and a win for Kilgore would give the Bulldogs a clean road to the crown. It was a well-knit Lobo offense that scored once in the second period on a beautiful pass, Scott to Richardson, then rallied for a final touchdown after Scott's one bad kick of the day gave the Lions the break they needed to tie up the game in the third quarter. The first touchdown came on a 95-yard drive by the Wolves.The Lions had marched just 95 yards themselves after Hammett intercepted Scott's pass on his own goal line and returned it to the Lion 35 as a starter. With Johnson slinging passes all over the slot and completing half of them, the Lion moved to the Lobo 15. There three passes failed and a fourth-down aerial was inches short of a first down. The Wolves took over on the drive. By all odds a kick was in order, but Scott faked a kick and ran four yards around right end. Fambrough was nailed behind the line of scrimmage but an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Lions gave them a first down on the 23. Scott gained two at right end, then passed to Bivins, who ran 46 yards before he was singled out and brought down on the Lion 31. Then Scott passed to Murray on the 20 for 11 more yards and a first. On the next play, he passed to Richardson on the three and the fleet left end, who had made a beautiful catch as he leaned far forward, gathered it in and stumbled across the goal line for the first tally. Fambrough placed kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead that Longview held until halftime. With two minutes remaining in the third period the Lions tied the score. Scott, who had kicked beautifully all day, got off the one sour kick of the afternoon and it was good for but nine yards, going out on Tyler's 41. Burnett and Hammett alternated carrying the ball for a spell and a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness in piling into Johnson, Tyler passer, cost the Lobos again, placing the ball on the Wolf 40. An exchange of kicks then gave the Lions the ball on the Lobo 32, Burnett faked a reverse and slithered through center for 12 yards and Hammett, on the same play, crashed center for eight https://lobohistory.com. Hammett gained half a yard through right guard and an off-side penalty against Longview gave the Lions a first down on the 5 1/2 yard line. Hammett and Johnson alternated hitting the line and on third down Hammett went over right tackle for the tally. Hammett kick the extra point to tie the score. Just as the third period ended, Clint Smith recovered Hammett's fumble on the Tyler 32. It took just three plays in the final period to charge the Lions for their bobble. Fambrough, bottled up most of the afternoon by a defense set to stop him, did the work, showing conclusively that he had the stuff when the chips were down. The big fellow skirted Tyler's right end for 14 yards and a first down on the 17, then Scott cracked center for six to the 11. Tyler called a timeout to try to halt the march but on the next play Fambrough carried the same right end for 11 yards and the touchdown, going over standing up. He calmly kicked the extra point and the 1939 tie was avenged. From whistle to final gun it was a magnificently played game on both sides. There were comparatively few penalties called and little rough stuff on either side. Nearly all the boys on both sides played the entire 48 minutes without relief. The Lobo running attack, except for the hatchet-like blows in the fourth period that scored the clinching touchdown, met with only moderate success; but their aerial game netted 118 yards on six long heaves which incidentally were completed by dint of some marvelous pass recovering by Billy Richardson, Howard McDonald, Jack Murray and Knotty Bivins. But the thing that kept the Lions in the hole all day - they didn't cross the mid-field stripe until the second period - was Scott's fine kicking. Despite a bad angle that hammered him, the fleet halfback averaged 37.5 yards per boot for nine times, including the nine-yarder. And that average includes also several shorter ones that angled out of bounds inside the 20 - one on the 16, one of the 13 and another on the eight. One of his kicks sailed 59 yards, and a brace of quick kicks went (1) 50 yards and out of bounds on the 20 and (2) 56 yards to the 16, where it was killed. That, boys, is kicking, in high school circles. The Lobo end play was superb and was a big factor in thrilling the vaunted Lion aerials. One 15-yard penalty was called against the Wolves for smacking down a passer after he had already passed, but the continual cracking down on Johnson paid off. Several times the end hurried him so badly his aim was spoiled, Murray dragging down one in particular on the Lobo goal that, completed, would have been costly. Given better receiving, Johnson's passing might have beaten Longview. Several times he plopped long passes into receivers' arms, only to have them bounce out. But he was a gamester and never quit. The whole game, practically, was played in the air. The rugged Lobo line never gave the Lion backs much of a chance, except for the brief lapse that saw Tyler score its touchdown. With Scott kicking and passing so beautifully, the Lobos took no chances of causing further hurts to their injured backs - Fambrough, Bivins and Scott. They connected with but six aerials out of 16 attempted, but the gains were anything but puny. They totaled 118 yards, nearly 20 yards per try. The entire Lobo line deported itself perfectly afield, bottling up the Tyler running attack, handily. Clint Smith, Al Carter, John Linebarger, Bobby Griffith, Jimmy Goodson - all played outstanding games to fight back a Lion team that was primed for them and one that played its best game of the year. The Wolves rest not until President Roosevelt's Thanksgiving Day Nov. 21, when they tackle Marshall here. On that day Tyler entertains Kilgore and the outcome there will tell the story of whether the Lobos can gain a tie with either of the other two teams. As things now stand, either of the three clubs can take the crown. |