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| LONGVIEW - Palestine High School's Wildcats scored with three minutes remaining in the first half here Friday night; then held on to that shaky lead fro 27 more minutes of playing time to outlast Longview's Lobos 6-0.
The win, Palestine's first in three starts this season, came on a 24-yard pass from quarterback Eddie Moore to halfback Gary Vaughan late in the second quarter after the 'Cats had missed an opening kick off chance to score because of a pair of incomplete passes. It left the 'Cats in the District 13-AAAA race, while virtually eliminating the favored Lobos, and was a tremendous victory for Palestine's "Tush Hogs," the team's self-named defensive unit. The 'Cats defense twice held Longview deep inside Palestine territory in the opening half, and blunted five serious Lobo threats in the final two quarters of play, the last of those thrusting as close as the Wildcats 6. Longview also penetrated as near as the Wildcat 8, the 11, the 10 and the 19, with the Lobos passing game providing the most critical offensive weapon Palestine had to contain. Aerial protection was a weak point for the Wildcats defense as Longview quarterback Ronald Cibulka launched a barrage of 31 passes, completing 16 of those for a net gain for 165 yards. Palestine intercepted only one of those throws, that one plucked off by linebacker Kent Henderson at the Wildcat 19 to halt a one-play, last ditch stand for the Lobos in the dying minutes of the contest. Palestine had only to run out the clock after that and Moore did it by twice falling on the ball after the center snap without gain. Fists flew between members of the two opposing teams as the final buzzer sounded, but coaches quickly put a stop to the extra-curricular battle. Longview statistically outclassed the 'Cats, in absorbing its second shutout in a row from league opposition, but Palestine's defense was so adept at crucial moments that the Lobos met only frustration. The only score of the ball game came after Palestine put a punt in play from its own 37 yard line after holding Longview inside its own 15 for three consecutive downs. Moore flipped a pass to end Pat Davis to give the 'Cats a first down at the Lobo 25 and halfback Alvin Jones gained one more yard before Moore, on second down, landed a bomb to Vaughan. An attempt to kick the extra point failed. Wildcat defensive coach Paul Woodard was jubilant over the team's showing following the important win. "We realize we had vacant places in the flats," he commented on some of the 'Cats pass defensive lapses," but we were real tickled with the way our boys were hitting and hooking up with them when the going really got tough." Palestine coaches had nothing to detract from the 'Cats offensive game, despite such obvious pride on their defensive effort. "Our offense did a good job and we feel they'll be breaking loose with more scoring and more often," was the word. Longview came back from its 6-0 halftime deficit o take the kickoff and keep possession of the ball for almost six full minutes on a 17-play drive that got to the Palestine 20 before the 'Cats jarred the Lobos loose from the ball and took possession. The Lobos had possession of the ball for 84 chances during the ball game, while Palestine had 61 offensive opportunities. The win left Palestine with a district showing of 1-1 to date and an overall record of 1-2. Longview is 0-2 against conference foes and has the same season record as the 'Cats following Friday night's contest. Palestine, playing its first road game of the season here, returns to its home field next Friday to meet Marshall Pemberton in a district match. |