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| TEXARKANA - It was a game of big plays, and Texarkana had them all.
Texarkana broke three long gainers, one for a touchdown and two that set up two other Tiger six-pointers, to take a 21-0 District 14-AAAA victory over Longview here Friday night. Speedster Eference Murphy, who won the class AAAA 22-yard dash as a Sophomore and finished second in the vent last year as a junior, returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter to provide Texarkana with all the scoring it needed. Murphy had at first signaled for a fair catch, but then let the ball hit and roll as the Longview punting team relaxed, Murphy picked up the ball at the 15, gave ground to the 10 as he raced for the left sideline, evaded the last would-be tackler at mid-field and raced the rest of the way untouched with 5:37 left in the first half. Tiger quarterback Keith Paxton broke loose on a 45-yard gallop on the second play of the third quarter to put Texarkana at the Lobo 15. In addition to the long gain, Longview was hit with successive personal foul penalties which put the ball eat the Longview four. Two plays later Percy Bruce scored from the one and John Edwards added the second extra point of the night to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead with only 1:34 gone in the third stanza. Texarkana broke the game open early in the fourth quarter when Bruce broke loose with an 83-yard gallop down the middle of the field before being overtaken from behind and dropped at the Longview five yard line. Edwards scored from the two-yard line on a sweep around right end. Edwards then added the extra point and the Tigers took a 21-0 lead with 9:42 left in the game. It was almost a futile Longview effort offensively as penalties stymied nearly each Lobo drive. Longview started out like a house on fire, gaining 17 yards on the first play from scrimmage on a screen pass from quarterback Victor McGee to speedster Marcus Jackson that put the ball at the Texarkana 37. Fullback Dwight Powell then burst through the middle for 13 more steps to the Tiger 24. But an offsides penalty stifled the Lobos at the point and Texarkana took over on downs. Texarkana's only sustained drive in the first half began with 45 seconds remaining in the initial quarter. Bruce led all ball carriers with 130 yards on 14 carries and Paxton added 81 on six tries. Powell led Longview with 67 on nine carries. The loss drops Longview to 3-3-1 on the season and 1-3 in league play. The victory was Texarkana's first since the season opener and upped its slate to 2-4-1 and 1-2-1. |