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| LONGVIEW - Palestine's passing knocked Longview's Lobos from the state's undefeated football ranks Friday night.
Quarterback Jack Murchison looped a 29-yard pass into the waiting hands of Willie Langston for a touchdown before the gam was two minutes old and came back early in the fourth quarter for another to Jack Cronin to break a 6-6 deadlock. Jerry Hall added a 27-yard touchdown pass to Langston in the same period to complete the scoring. Murchison showed a good passer how to pass, completing seven out of ten for 74 yards. Hall completed the only pass he threw for a touchdown. Longview's Jerry Matthews, considered a good passer, was able to complete only nine out of 32 for 121 yards. Eighteen of his passes were thrown in an effort to catch up after the Wildcats went ahead in the fourth period. Guard Tommy Overton set up the first Palestine touchdown by intercepting a pass from Matthews on the second play of the game. He took the ball on the Longview 38 and returned to the 33. Murchison called only one running play before passing to Langston for the first touchdown. That looked like all the scoring for Palestine, however, as the Longview defense stiffened and took advantage of one Wildcat mistake after another. The Lobos recovered two fumbles after Palestine had driven into Longview territory and took another on the Palestine 43. A 16-yard pass by Matthews and some fine running by Dick Nash moved the ball to the Palestine 7-yard line before being halted. With a first down on the seven, the Wildcats threw the Lobo back to the 17 in two plays and took possession of the ball. A 51-yard quick kick by Hall backed the Lobos up to their own 29 but then they started a drive which Nash ended with a one-yard touchdown plunge with only 48 seconds left in the first half. The extra point try failed and the score remained 6-6 until the fourth period. The Longview defense was based primarily on stopping Hall and it did keep him from making a touchdown for the first time this year. He still had a good night, however, picking up 70 yards rushing and 27 passing on 21 plays. He also had a 42.3-yard putting average on six kicks. He added the extra points after two of the touchdowns. Donald Morris, defensive end, gave the Wildcats a chance to score their second touchdown. Longview had been pulling the Wildcat defense in all night and then reversing across the field for long gains, but early in the fourth period Morris threw Nash all the way into the end zone after he had dropped back from his 17 and tried to circle the Wildcat defense. The play appeared to set up a safety for the Wildcats but officials put the ball in play on the one-yard line. A bad kick by Matthews carried to the 25 and from there the 'Cats broke the game wide open. Two five-yard penalties helped the Wildcat drive and gave the a first down on the Lobo 11. Murchison passed five yards to Cronin for a touchdown on fourth down. Disaster struck suddenly again for the Lobos as Carl Stendeback partially blocked a punt by Matthews after the kickoff and the ball went out of bounds on the Longview 41. Murchison set up a first down on the 27 with a 15-yard pass to Langston. Hall took the ball and threw his fist touchdown pass of the year to Langston who was waiting in the end zone. The Lobos drove to the Palestine 38 soon after that but an interception by Carroll Overton and a booming 61 yard punt by Hall backed them up so deep in their own territory they never got out. Just before the clock ran out Eddie Deeyo intercepted a Longview pass on the Palestine 32 and the Wildcats held it until the game ended. The Wildcats all worked hard in the game but a strong Longview defensive line kept the Palestine ground attack bottled up and allowed only 132 yards rushing. The most conspicuous thing in the game was the lack of Wildcat blocking. On defense, however, the Wildcats were superior to the Lobos and held them to 113 rushing yards despite the fact that Longview backs got off some long runs. Morris, Tommy Overton, Ben Elliott, James Atwood, Maurice Stewart, Tommy Davis, John Barington, Jimmie Dickey and A. J. Hudson all played hard in the line but stillest of them had their worst night of the year. |