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| WACO - Pat Collins came into Friday's final non-district ballgame looking for his first win on the road as Longview's head coach. He challenged his football team during the week to build on the position heading into next week's 12-5A district opener.
The Lobos got a pair of touchdowns from LaRandall McKind, a fumble recovery in the end zone by James Stephens and Alex Cammack's line drive field goal to be a the Waco Lions 24-6 at Waco ISD Stadium. The Lobos closed out the first half of the season at 2-3, as does Waco, which began the year ranked in the top 10 in Class 5A. Longview travels to Rose Stadium in Tyler on Friday (Oct. 13) to face John Tyler. "I told them before the ballgame that if we can have the intensity we had in the second half of last week's ballgame against Ruston we had a chance, and we got it tonight," collins said. "If we got the intensity I thought we'd beat this bunch, because I didn't think Waco was as good a football team as Ruston. I don't think they're as versatile as Ruston - they're a good football team though." Longview was able to play ball control against the Lions by spreading out the field on offense, negative a defense that had given up just 189 yards per game coming in. Sophomore quarterback Joel Armstrong directed the offense with 177 through the air, completing 15 of 29 attempts. McKind scored from 1 and 11 yards as he gained a season-high 71 yards on 17 carries. He also caught three passes for 18 yards. Armstrong's top targets in the passing lanes continued to be Willie Andrews (5-55) and Walter Sharp (4-42). But it was Andrews who played biggest on defense, interception a pair of passes, one of which led to McKind's second touchdown after a 36-yard return; he also had a 48-yard return for a touchdown wiped out by a penalty. Defensively, the Lobos continually harassed quarterback Robert Johnson, who was pressed into action after started Josh Akers was suspended this week for violating team policy. He was one of three Lion players suspended prior to Friday's game. A Waco turnover set up the Lobos' first touchdown as Melvin Robertson fell on a Mark Gaines fumbled pitch at the Lion 7. The Lions had taken over at their own 4-yard line after Longview had driven 42 yards in nine plays, only to have the drive come up empty as Carl Walker picked off Armstrong. The Lions faced second-and-three when Gaines lost the handle on Johnson's toss. The Lobos, however, needed four downs to go the distance with McKind finding a hole in the right side of the line for a 1-yard touchdown run with 6:46 showing in the first quarter. Cammack followed with the point-after. Waco, which punted and turned the ball over on downs in its next two possessions, put together a 59-yard, 13-play drive after Dustin Wilson's second punt of the half traveled just 15 yards into a stiff northerly wind. Starting at their 41, the Lions kept to the ground before White broke a tackle and scored from 9 yards out. However, the snap was high on the extra point and Laird's attempt was wide to the left as the Lobos held onto a 7-6 advantage with 6:06 remaining before halftime. Longview took its subsequent possession into Lion territory, but Cammack's field goal from 42 yards was wide to the left. The freshman got a second opportunity as the Lobos used a couple of timeouts and got the ball back with 29.9 seconds let on the clock. Starting at their own 44, Armstrong hit Andrews over the middle for 11 yards into Lion territory. Armstrong then connected with Andrews for back-to-back sideline routes, with the junior split end stepping out of bounds each time to stop the clock. Cammack then came in and drilled a 41-yard line drive over the cross bar with 3.3 seconds remaining. |