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| TYLER - Coach Buck Prejean's Tyler Lions of District 5-AAAA struck for a quick touchdown in the first quarter and shoved cross another in the third period to defeat the stubborn Longview Lobos 14-0 here Friday night in the first game of the season for Coach Swede Dees' scrappy District 4-AAA eleven.
The Lions, playing their second game of the campaign after losing their opener a week earlier to Palestine 13-0, struck for a touchdown the first time this gained possession of the ball before the inexperienced Lobos could organize their defense. After that Longview battled the winners on nearly even terms except for Tyler's second scoring thrust, but the Lobos could never mount sufficient offense to reach pay dirt against the Heavier Lions. Tyler compiled eleven first downs to nine for Longview and held substantial margin in net yardage, 240 to 118. The Lions rolled up most of their yardage on the ground as they threw only five passes dnc ompleted two of them for 59 yards. Seven of Tyler's eleven first downs came in the opening quarter before the Longview eleven found itself on defense. The offense of the Lobos also sputtered throughout the first half before the beginning to find he range in the last two periods, in which Longview chalked up six of its nine first downs. A wet field made ball handling difficult and each team was guilty of six fumbles. Tyler required only eight plays to march 73 yards for a touchdown before the game was three minutes old. A 40-yard pass from Neal Velvin to Don Dorsett on the first play from scrimmage after Tyler received the opening kickoff launched the scoring march. In seven plays, including an incomplete pass, the Lions pushed their way to Longview's 10-yard stripe, from where Bonnie Neill took a pitchout from Velvin and scampered around right end for a touchdown. Charles Milstead place-kicked the extra point to give Tyler a 7-0 edge. The Lions had one touchdown called back in the opening minutes of the second quarter when Milstead, a 15-year old Sophomore connected with Dorsett on a 25-yard pass, but the play was nullified when Tyler drew a 15-yard penalty for illegal use of the hands. Four plays later the Lions threatened again when they recovered a fumble on Longview's 20-yard line but the defense of the Lobos - led by David Ash, Stephen Butter, and rugged Dan Fried - bottled up the tyler offense and took over on downs on Longview's 14-yard stripe. The Lobos made their most serious scoring threat of the game early in the third quarter when they recovered a fumble on Tyler's 29-yard line and pushed their ay down to the ten, but the Lions staved off the drive and punted out of danger. Tyler's second touchdown came late in the third quarter on a 69-yard drive sparked by the fancy running of Neill and Dorsett. Most of the distance was negotiated by Dorsett on a 44-yard scoring scamper. He took a pitchout, squirmed away from three Longview tacklers and romped into the end zone, skipping the final 20 yards just inches away from the sideline after twice appearing certain to be knocked out of bounds. The Lobos made another scoring threat early in the fourth period when Bill Ferguson, Tony Rothrock and Gilbert Moore teamed up to drive down to tYler's 16-yard stripe. Once again, however, the defense of the Lions bogged down the scoring thrust with the air of two penalties against the Lobos, one of them for 15 yards. The Longview eleven tried a total of 18 passes with George Myers and Bobby Randall, who alternated at quarterback on the throwing end, but completed only three of them for a total gain of 30 yards. The wet ball and unsure footing undoubtedly reduced the passing effectiveness of both teams. Under the circumstances, the performance of the Lobos was not discouraging and the Longview squad indicated that it was improve as the season progressed. |