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| LONGVIEW - Fullback Pete (The Train) Burks staged one of the greatest individual offensive performances in the history of the storied Lobo Stadium as he scored four touchdowns to lead the offensive-minded Longview Lobos to a wild 47-33 victory over the Denison Yellowjackets here Friday night.
Although used sparingly in the last half because of leg injuries, Burks scored on runs of 13, 49, 33 and 63 yards and personally accounted for 291 yards rushing in 17 carries for an average of slightly more than 17 yards per try. In two games Burks has now scored six touchdowns and gained 471 yards rushing. A crowd of nearly 5,000 fans was never able to catch its breath after the first quarter as the two teams poured a total of 12 touchdowns across the goal stripes and converted extra points on eight occasions. In one of the wildest games ever witnessed here, the teams battled to a 20-20 stalemate at the half as both elevens scored at least one touchdown in every quarter. The score was even tied at 33-all early in the fourth period before the Lobos shoved across the two clinching touchdowns in the fading minutes of the game. Quarterback Bill Bolger scored two touchdowns for the Lobos, one of them on a 55 yard punt return for the final score of the contest, and Eddy Cooper, who replaced Burks at fullback during most of the last half, accounted for the other. Sophomore quarterback Bob (Applejack) Abney kicked five extra points for Longview. Halfback David Burden scored twice for Denison, as did end Bill Heath, while the fifth touchdown for the Yellowjackets was scored by end Butch Goodman. Guard Gary Pitcock added three extra points for the visitors. It was Longview's second straight victory in two starts while the defeat was the first for Denison after opening the season with a 13-7 win over El Reno, Okla. Co-Captain Dub Thomas, Longview halfback, saw only limited action in the game, most of it on defense and carried the ball only one time. The Lobos needed only nine plays from scrimmage to score their first touchdown after Richard Cobb returned the opening kickoff 13 yards to Longview's 32. Harry Moore hit guard for five and Burks slammed over for 13 more and a first down. Cobb lost two at tackle, but Burks raced over left tackle for 14 yards and another first down on the Denison 44-yard stripe. Bolger lost three on an attempted pass and then Burks went at it again, blasting his way over right tackle for 30 yards and a first down on the Denison 17-yard line. Moore picked up four at tackle and Burks on a quick opener, slipped through right tackle and went the remaining 13 yards untouched to score. Abney's placement kick on the try for extra point was wide to the left and low, leaving the Lobos in front, 6-0. An intercepted pass led to Denison's first touchdown with five minutes and 11 seconds left in the opening period. Pitcock hauled in Bolger's screen pass on the Longview 23 and return it to the four-yard line of the Lobos before Bolger finally pulled him down. Two plays later Burden spanked right tackle to score from the three. Pitcock's try for the extra point was wide to leave the score deadlocked at 6-all. Longview drove 68 yards to score again early in the second quarter. Burks return the succeeding kickoff 17 yards to his own 32 and then smashed left tackle for seven yards. On the next play Burks blazed 25 yards around left end for a first down on the Denison 26. Cobb was thrown for a six yard loss at right end by Goodman, but Moore picks it up on the next play. At that point Cooper came in to replace Burks and turned in a fancy running performance to keep the drive alive. Cooper gained three at left tackle and then, on a fourth down gamble, slipped around right end for seven yards more and a first down on the Denison 23. In two tries Moore gained two yards and Cooper threaded his way around right end for 11 more and a first down on the Denison nine. Four plays later Bloger went through center from the one to score on the second play of the second quarter. Abney converted from placement to give Longview a 13-6 lead. With 10 minutes left in the half Burks broke loose again, shaking free over right tackle and blasting 48 yards for Longview's third touchdown. Abney again kicked the extra appoint as the Lobos widened their lead to 20-6. The Yellowjackets, however, were still far from through and struck for two touchdowns in the final three and a half minutes of the second quarter. The first one came after Bolger had gotten off a remarkable punt - not in distance but remarkable in that he was able to get it off at all. Standing deep in his own territory, Bolger got a high snap from center that he was barely able to snare with a leaping, one-handed catch. With Denison tacklers swarming down on him, the slender quarterback broke to his right to escape the rushing linemen and got off a 27 yard punt while running almost at full speed, banging the ball down to Denison's 47-yard stripe. From there, however, it took the Yellowjackets only six plays to score, three of them completed passes from quarterback Stanley Ballou to John Wilson and two to end Bill Heath. The third was to Heath for 24 yards and a touchdown as Heath slipped out of Harry Moore's grasp on Longview's 10-yard line. Pitcock booted the conversion. Denison's third touchdown came with 14 seconds left to play in the half after guard Mike Pendue had recovered a fumble for the Jackets on Longview's 48-yard line. Guard Jerome Waits immediately intercepted Jim Hunt's pass, but interference was called against the Lobos, giving Denison a first down on the Longview 37. Ballou connected for four passes in five attempts, the last one to end Butch Goodman for five yards and a score. Pitcock converted to tie the score at the half, 20-20. Burks went back into action early in the third quarter to romp 33 yards for another Longview touchdown, with co-captain Rex King throwing a tremendous block to take David Markham, Denison center, out of play and clear the path for Burks to romp on across. Abney's kick on the try for extra point was low and wide leaving Longview with a 26-20 lead with eight minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the third period. Cooper intercepted a pass from Ballou on Denison's 43-yard line to set the stage for Longview's next touchdown with four and a half minutes in the quarter. Cooper kept the drive alive on a fourth down gamble when, instead of punting, he broke away around right end for 25 yards to reach the Denison eight and two plays later he plowed over from the four. Abney again converted to put Longview ahead, 33-20. The Jackets smashed their way 62 yards with the succeeding kickoff for their fourth touchdown before the third quarter was over. Taking a cue from Longview's fourth down gamble that paid off, the Jackets also tried one of their own successfully when Hunt barged around right end for 16 yards to keep the march under way. Burden chalked up the marker when he slammed his way over tackle, bounced off two Longview tacklers and drove on into the end zone. Pitcock again kicked the extra point to reduce Longview's margin to 33-27 at the end of the quarter. A recovery of another Longview fumble on the Lobos' 38-yard line as the third period ended gave the Jackets the opportunity for their fifth touchdown, which they scored on the second play of the fourth quarter when Ballou whipped a 28 yard pass to Heath. Pitcock's attempt at conversion was wide, laving the score knotted at 33-33. The Jackets kicked off to the Lobos and it took Longview just one play from scrimmage to untie the deadlock. Once again, it was Burks, who broke loose over left tackle, turned on the steam and raced 63 yards into the end zone. Burks received a tremendous ovation as he jogged off the field after the touchdown. Abney booted the extra point to put the Lobos in front, 40-33. With time beginning to run out the Jackets, who had encountered remarkable success with their passing, tried to take to the air again but this time it backfired. Hunt's pass to Wilson fell incomplete and when Ballou then tried to pass, end Aaron Dykes broke through to smear him for a 12 yard loss. Then Hunt tried to pass again but he couldn't get it off either, as tackle Ed Buckner dropped him for a five yard loss. There wasn't anything left for the Jackets to do but punt and Ballou banged one down to Bolger on Longview's 45-yard stripe. Bolger started laterally across the field, faked a handoff on an apparently criss-cross, hid the ball on his hip and took off for 55 yards and Longview's final touchdown. Bolger got some good blocking on his fine run when he cut back toward the center of the field after first starting down the sidelines but the touchdown was largely the result of his heads up maneuvering. Goodman caught up with Bolger on the Denison 10 and made a dive for him. He hit Bolger's leg and managed to stagger him but Bolger never did lose his balance until he reached the goal line and tumbled into the end zone. Abney booted the extra appoint to wind up the wild-scoring evening. In the final two minutes, the Jackets went to the air again, but Bolger broke up the drive when he intercepted Ballou's pass and returned it to his own 39-yard line. After that the Lobos quickly slashed their way to Denison's 28 to run out the clock. |