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| TEXARKANA - The Texarkana Tigers clinched at least a tie for first place in the District 8-AAAA race and earned a berth in the stat playoffs by punching across a touchdown in each of the last two quarters to defeat the battling Longview Lobos here Friday night, 12 to 0.
It was a bitter struggle all the way as the underdog Longview eleven fought highly favored Texarkana to a scoreless tie in the first half and went down only in the face of repeated scoring thrusts by the versatile offense of the Tigers. The victory was the third straight in conference play without a loss for Texarkana and left the Tigers needing only a win over Marshall in the regular season finale for a clear-cut claim to the championship. Longview's most serious scoring threat came in the first quarter when the Lobos marched to Texarkana's 2-yard line before losing the ball on downs. Had they scored then it might have been a different story but the Tigers were equal to the task, and after holding at the 2 they quickly moved the ball out of danger and from then on they were in the driver's seat. Halfback Joe Roper, who was Texarkana's leading ground gainer, swept over from the 5 for the Tigers' first touchdown in the third quarter and fullback Larry Bower drove over from the 1 in the fourth period. Both of Johnny Butler's placement kicks on the extra point tries were wide. Statistically the Tigers held a comfortable edge in the game as they netted 16 first downs to 11 for Longview and gained 275 yards, 232 of which came on the ground, to 196 for the Lobos. Longview hit on 8 of 19 pass attempts, but gained only 86 yard through the air and had one interception. The Lobos mustered a mild scoring threat in the opening minutes of play. After failing to make any progress when they took the opening kickoff, they got a break when hillock's punt was fumbled and Malone recovered for Longview on Texarkana's 48-yard line. Bolerg and Coley picked up 6 yards in two tries and Moore swept end for 11 https://lobohistory.com. But when the Lobos reached the Texarkana 28 the drive bogged down and Bolger kicked out of bounds on the Tigers 5-yard stripe. Six plays later Longview got another break when Malone recovered Maisel's fumble on the Lobos' 48-yard line. Bolger and Moore picked up a first down on Texarkana' 39 before Bolger was forced to kick, but Texarkana drew a 15 yard penalty for roughing the kicker and the Lobos had a first down on the Texarkana 20. Two plays later Bolger connected with Gillock for a pass for 15 yards and a first down on the Tiger 4. Coley was thrown for a yard loss at right end by Roper but Cooper regained it on the next play. However, Bolger and Moore in two smashes at the line could get only two additional yards and the Tigers took over on their own 2. Texarkana made two unsuccessful scoring bids in the second quarter, the first of which went 58 yards to Longview's 11, on the running of Roper, Maisel and Bower with the aid of a 9 yard pass to reach deep into the Lobos' territory; but at the 11 Longview stiffened and with the tigers needing 1 yard on fourth down, Roper was thrown for an 8 yard loss at right end as the Lobos took over on their own 19. Three plays later Ferrell intercepted a Longview pass at midfield and the Tigers immediately started moving again Maisel picked up 12 yards in two running plays and Rochelle hit Roper for 14 more yards on a pass. Maisel was thrown for a 2 yard loss at right end by Hogan and Bowers slammed over tackle for five, but two more plays failed to get the first down and the Lobos gained possession at their own 17. The Tigers marched 73 yards in 14 plays for their first touchdown after taking the kickoff to open the second half. Bower and Rochelle picked up 29 yards in two smashes over tackle and Maisel passed to Roper for 11 yards more to highlight the drive. At the 5 Roper took a pitchout from Maisel and skirts right end for a touchdown. Butler's placement kick on the try for extra point was wide and low, leaving Texarkana with a 6-0 lead with 6 minutes and 24 seconds left in the third period. Steve Harland intercepted a pass and returned it 23 yards to Longview's 28 late in the third quarter to give the Tigers another scoring opportunity in the opening minutes of the final period, but the threat fizzled out in the face of the Lobos' stubborn defense. Four running plays gave Texarkana a first down on the Longview 17 but the next four plays lacked inches of making another first down and the Lobos gained possession on their own 7. A 5 yard penalty for backfield in motion set the Lobos back to their own 2 and then Jerry Lineberger recovered a fumble for Texarkana on Longview's 4 to set the stage for the Tigers' second touchdown. After the recovery Bowers slammed over right tackle for three yards. On the next play Rochelle was stopped for no gain but Bowers slammed across from the one to give Texarkana a 12-0 margin with nine minutes and 17 seconds left. Once again, Butler's try for extra point was wide. Four plays later Roper turned in the most spectacular run of the game when he took Gillock's punt on his own 40 and raced 60 yards into the end zone, only to have the touchdown nullified by a clipping penalty against the Tigers. Roper took the punt and headed for the sidelines where he was almost knocked out of bounds twice and was nearly nailed on two other occasions during his jaunt, but he always regained his balance and finally broke free at the 30 to race unmolested. In the waning minutes of play Texarkana launched still another scoring threat when Jerry Lindsey recovered a Longview fumble on the Lobos' 13-yard line. When Bower gained only two yards at tackle the Tigers turned to the air but Lee Gresham intercepted Ferrell's pass on the Longview six to break up the scoring bid. As time was running out the Lobos used a passing attack and running of Bolger to move down to Texarkana's 25-yard stripe but the threat floundered when Longview drew a five yard penalty for excessive timeouts and Texarkana took over to run out the clock. |