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| ORANGE - A beautiful 60-yard punt return by a slick end who grabbed a loose ball and lit out while a lot of other people were snoozing enabled a fighting Orange Tiger club to overcome a 6-point deficit here Friday night and tie the Longview Lobos, 6-6. It was the second tie in six games for the Wolves and it left both clubs unbeaten for the season. Orange previously had won five.
The Lobos were given a touchdown edge at game-time largely on the basis of the Tigers' outsized binnacle list. Five of Coach Wilson Waites' starters and a sixth who wear a top replacement were nursing injuries or illnesses and did not play, but the boys who crawled off the bench to replace the big guns did the job so well he couldn't have missed them much. It was another mud fight although the light rain stopped before the end of the half. The slick field hampered both clubs, however, and they stayed on the ground pretty much all night. The rain started falling on schedule just a few minutes before the Wolves kicked off to the Tigers and the two clubs battled on fairly even terms through a scoreless first quarter. In the fading mites of the period, the Lobos were set back on their dew class by a beautiful kick which Wayne McClelland booted dead on the Longview 5. On a couple of quick openers Doug Bruner went up the middle, for 7 and 11 to give the Greenies some working room just as the quarter ended. As the second period started Bruner, Bob Abney, Mack Thomas and Bill Coley, with the Lobo quarterback mixing his plays well, took turns in carrying the ball across the 50. From the Orange 42, Bruner burst through the middle to the 31 and an Orange penalty of 15 yards was tacked on the play to put the ball on the Tigers 15. Coley picked up 3 and Thomas charged through right tackle to about the 5, where another Orange roughing penalty moved the ball to the 1. From there Thomas swept through the middle for the touchdown. Abney on an option sweep around left and failed to make his cut in time and was chased out of bounds on the attempted 2-point conversion. The Wolves went into the halftime intermission with a 6-0 lead. Halfway through the third period the Tigers got back into the game with a sparkling and beautiful sprint. Abney kicked out of bounds not he Orange 5 but an illegal procedure penalty was called against the Wolves on the play. The ball was brought back and after the penalty Abney got off a short pass that took a high bounce on the Orange 40, where Dan Pearson emerged from a mass of players and grabbed it. He picked up a few blockers but his move took the Lobos so much by surprise that he needed only a couple as he steamed all the way to the goal line 60 yards away. Mike Conn's attempted kick was no good and the score was knotted. That's where it saved, but there was still plenty of head knocking and leather popping yet to come. As had been the case after Grand Prairie tied them, the Lobos came storming back and drove to the Orange 33 but there the march bogged down and Abney kicked out on the Tiger 5. Then the Bengals fired up a drive that moved to their 40 but were forced again to kick. There was not another threat of a score thereafter but with less than 3 minutes left the Wolves were backed up to their own one by a roughing penalty. From that point they ran three plays into the middle, moving out to the 7. As the clock ran out its final seconds they gambled most on a fourth running play. They managed to keep the ball in motion until time ran out. It was a rugged, hard fought game and was about as nearly a tie on paper as it was on the scoreboard. Orange shaded the Lobos in first downs, 15 to 13, and the Wolves were on top in total yardage, 227 to 183. Longview next week has an open date and after tonight's scrap they can use the rest. It was that rugged a battle. |