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| PORT ARTHUR - Facing an attack that featured crushing power, smashing blocking, deft ball handling and big league quarter-backing, the Longview High School football team lost Friday night to the Port Arthur Yellow Jackets in a game played on the victors home field before a crowd of 7,200 by a one-sided score of 41 to 0.
A glance at the statistics will belie these figures, yet there it is - 41 to 0. On their principal scoring plays the Jackets clicked in mid-season form, mowing down Lobo defenders time after time as their rapid first reverses paid dividend in the form of four touchdowns. Another was scored on a pass interception by Griffith and the other on a well executed pass Crim to Thrower for 23 yards. The entire Yellow Jackets backfield, plus their second stringers, stood out as they made their touchdown attempts count with terrific blocking, especially downfield. Newman, Hamman, Thrower, Griffith and English were also effective in stopping the Lobos as they reached the line of scrimmage, Newman being especially outstanding. It must be remembered that three of the scoring plays were indirectly set up by fumbles, one on a pass interception and another on a direct interception. However the Jackets made the most of their opportunities in that they seemed to execute the right plays in order to reach pay territory. Longview met a team, coached by Tom Dennis, that is destined to be the District 14 AA champion. They just simply had everything and made very few mistakes. They have power, blocking, excellent passers, punters, runners, etc., a team that most coaches dream about. The Lobos weren't disgraced in losing to such an aggregation as this. The Longviewites fought to the last ditch, but were out-manned, out-maneuvered and out-rushed. Time and again the Jackets' fast charging line pushed the Lobos back for either short or no gains. This plus their clever manipulation of the ball while executing their reverses from the single wing, double-wing and T formation caused the score to mount. Late in the second quarter and during all of the third, the Lobos played the Bay City boys to a standstill. Here the winners reached into their bag of tricks and came up with the T setup to help in accounting for the final two markers. Abie Aycock played a fine offensive game, as did Rowland. Poe and Dill managed to break through for gains also, but mainly the Longview blocking wasn't able to cope with the fast charging Cardinal and Gold. Hibbing, Brown and McGraw had a shade the better of the others on defense. The Port Arthur team is probably the best team the locals will face this season, but some ragged tackling and blocking was in evidence and Coach Pete Shotwell will lose no time in trying to weed out these deficiencies. The boys have a good spirit and plenty of fight, and will be heard from as soon as they master the fundamentals without which no team can succeed. They are young and inexperienced, but willing. The experience they gained in this encounter should prove valuable in the District 11 games to come. How much they learned should begin to show in next Friday night's game at Lobo Stadium against Paris, Texas, another toughie. |