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| MARSHALL - Overcoming a stubborn Marshall defense, the Longview Lobos moved another step toward the District 14-AAAA title as they defeated the Marshall Mavericks here Friday night, 29-14.
Led by junior tailback Leo McCoy, who rushed for 142 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns, the No. 3 ranked Lobos "Green Machine" faltered in the first half and then came alive in the last half of play. The final score could easily been more decisive, but Lobo head coach Doug Cox elected to play reserves in the last quarter of play. Longview took the opening kickoff and right away Marshall jumped offside. McCoy carried twice for five yards and the first down. Then Ricky Watts took a handoff from quarterback Steve Gaddis and swept around left end for 14 yards but he lost the ball at the end of his run and Marshall's Byron Ford fell on the loose pigskin. The Mavericks drew an illegal procedure penalty on their offensive play and wingback David Hawkins blasted up the middle for 17 yards and a first down at the Lobo 47. Gaining seven yards on the next two running plays, the Mavericks were then slapped with a holding penalty that moved the ball back to their 45. A reserve gained only there yards and Ricky Godwin had to punt for the Mavericks. He received the snap from center and went into his kicking motion but an unidentified Lobo player rushed to block the punt and Jeff Stone fell on the ball at the Marshall 40. McCoy swept right end for 20 yards on the first play and six plays later, fullback Llewellyn Fambles crashed in from the one for the touchdown. Tommy Thomas added the extra point to give the visiting Lobos a 7-0 lead with 5:04 left in the first quarter. After kicking off to Marshall, the "Mean Green" held the home team on downs as defensive end Henry Williams crashed into throw Maverick quarterback Gene Willis for a nine-yard loss on first down. Losing two yards in two more running plays, the Mavericks had to punt again. This time the punt got off and it was downed at the Lobo 40. Carrying for 36 yards in the drive, McCoy scored from five yards out nine plays later. McCoy carried for seven, then Watts carried for two, and then McCoy again for seven more and the first down. Gaddis threw incomplete and then Watts reversed around right end for eight yards and the referees tacked on 15 yards after they detected a Marshall player hitting late. That moved the ball to the Maverick 25 and McCoy carried it for 12 yards to the 13 the next play. Fables carried for three yards and then McCoy carried for consecutive five yard gains with the last one being good for the touchdown. Thomas added the PAT to make the score 14-0 with 1:18 left in the first quarter. But the Mavericks finally got going after they received the kickoff. Starting on their own 20, halfback Willie Booker dashed around right end, cut back across the grain and galloped for 40 yards to the Lobo 40 before he was brought down. Determined to stop the Mavericks here, the Lobos put up a fierce defensive struggle and held the home team to nine yards in the next four plays but only to be called for a personal foul on the fourth down that gave Marshall a first down at the Lobo 17. Scott Baldwin swept around left end for 12 yards to the five and then he went back and threw to Booker for the touchdown on the next play. Godwin ran in the conversion points to make the score 14-8 with 10:59 left in the first half. That ended the scoring for the first half and the second half opened with a bang as Thomas kicked off for the Lobos and got a low twisting kick off to the Marshall five. Books gathered in the kick and scooted 65 yards to the Lobo 30 before he could be dragged down from behind. Godwin carried four straight times and could gain only eight yard as the "Mean Green" put the stop on any scoring ideas the Mavericks had been entertaining and give the ball over to the Lobo offense at the Longview 21. After Gaddis had hit Watts with a 27 yard pass on second down that carried to the Lobo 44, the Maverick defense stiffened and forced the visitors to punt. But then the Lobo defense returned the favor as they forced the Mavericks to punt right back to them as Godwin passed to Booker and Watts came roaring in from his middle linebacker position to nail Booker with a bone-jarring tackle that shook the ball loose and Kelvin Thurmond fell on the ball at the Maverick 40. McCoy carried for 35 of the 40 yards and lunged in front one yard out with 1:58 left in the third quarter to give the Lobos a 22-8 lead after Thomas had added the PAT. Wasting no time, the Lobos kicked off and forced the Mavericks to punt after three running plays. John Fuller returned the kick 12 yards to the Marshall 38. Four play alters, Thomas Cook swept around right end for 16 yards and the touchdown. The big play in the drive was an 18 yard run by McCoy that moved the ball to the Maverick 17 to set up Cook's scoring run one play later. Thomas added the PAT to give the Lobos a 29-8 lead with 10:56 left in the game. Taking turns punting to each other, Coach Cox had removed his regulars from the game, and Sophomore quarterback David Gibson went back to throw on a second and 15 situation on the Marshall 48, and he overthrew his intended receiver, Watts, and Willis intercepted from his safety position and fell out of bounds. After allowing the Mavericks a first down, the Lobo reserves on defense held the hosts to two yards in the next three downs and appeared to have forced the Mavericks to punt. But Godwin, who dropped back to punt formation, took a low snap from center and calmly dropped a pass to Roger Smart who had to take the ball away from Lobo cornerback Thomas Cook. The gain was good for 25 yards to the Lobo 34. Godwin hit Hawkins with a 24 yard pass to the 10 on the next play. Then Godwin threw an incomplete pass on the following pay and then found Hawkins open in the end zone for a 10-yard scoring pass. The run failed for the conversion points and left the score at 29-14 with 31 seconds left in the game. Longview recovered the attempted Marshall onside kick and ran the clock out at their own 45. When Marshall its 14 points, it marked the first time Longview had given up more than one touchdown in a game this year, but the second touchdown was scored on the Lobo reserves. |