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| LONGVIEW - William Wooten made the most of his very first varsity start for Killeen, helping accomplish a rare feat.
Replacing school rushing leader Vaugn Carpenter, Wooten carried the ball 33 times for 145 yards and a touchdown to pace the Kangaroos to a 12-0 Class 5A non-district triumph over No. 7-ranked Longview Friday night at Lobo Stadium. Both teams are 1-1 on the season. While Wooten was clearly the star of the game, the Lobos didn't do anything to help its cause by suffering six turnovers - five fumbles and an interception. They actually put the ball on the ground eight times, including the firs two times they had it int he third quarter when a pair of Jeremy Mulcahy field snapped a scoreless first half. Mulcahy converted three-point boots of 37 and 27 five minutes apart and Wooten's workhorse effort finally broke the Lobos' back down the stretch when he sprinted in from 12 yards with 1:10 to play. Wooten carried 10 times in the 11-play scoring march and lugged the pigskin 24 times in the second half. Carpenter, who rushed for almost 1,500 yards last season for a single-season mark, injured an ankle in practice this week and stood on the sideline in street clothes. Following Mulchy's second field goal, Longview's Daydrion Taylor returned a kickoff 83 yards for an apparent game-tying score, but a clipping penalty called the ball back and Longview did not recover. The Lobos had just two first downs and 40 total yards in the last two quarters. Chris Butcher, Longview's leading rusher with 111 yards last week, had only 56 on 12 carries and picked up just two in the last half. Longview had 89 total yards on the ground. Mulcahy's first three-pointer came with 7:27 left in the third quarter and at the end of a eight-play, 53-yard march that was set up by Justin Love's second fumble recovery of the game. The second field goal was set up by a Zach Watts fumble recovery and came with 2:55 showing in the third. Longview had the ball just barely over three minutes in the third quarter and had only two possessions in the final period. Both teams spent the first half turning the ball over to each other. In the first quarter along, each team had five offensive possessions and each had three turnovers - Longview three fumbles, Killeen a fumble and two interceptions. Combined yardage in the first stanza was 72 yards. The Lobos actually had a handful of big plays, getting into Killeen territory on three occasions. Butcher had a 42-yard run midway through the opening period, but it was called back by a holding penalty and Longview, then two minutes later Taylor returned a punt 41 yards to set up a possession at the Kangaroos' 35. Two plays later, however, Butcher had the ball knocked loose after a 10-yard gain. But, three plays later, Cory Hutchings intercepted his second pass of the quarter. Although the second period began like the first - Longview fumbled six plays into the quarter - the team finally settled down and held onto the ball but made little movement offensively. Each team had four first downs the first 24 minutes, Longview had 110 total yards and Killeen had 87 total yards. Longview will be home again next week, playing host to Texas High. |