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| ALLEN - Longview's football team was able to keep Allen's high-powered offense in check on Friday
- for a half. Unfortunately for the Lobos, Allen came alive in the second half, scoring two third-quarter touchdowns to pull away for a 21-7 victory at Eagle Stadium. After Allen had 69 yards of offense in the first half, the Eagles had 74 on its first second-half drive, capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Brown to Nathan Behne with 9:51 left in the third quarter, putting Allen up for good at 14-7. An interception and 28-yard return by Allen linebacker Mitch Hartshorne set up a four-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Dakarai Pecikonis with 2:24 left in the third quarter. Brown also connected with Pecikonis for a 32-yard pass play to set up the touchdown, with Pecikonis making a leaping catch. "They were able to sustain drives better in the second half," Longview defensive end Chris Knighton said. "They pulled their guards to block us in the second half." The loss spoiled the first game as a Class 4A school for Longview (0-1) since 1979. Longview, ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press' Class 4A state poll, lost its third straight season opener. Allen (1-0), ranked No. 8 in the AP Class 5A state poll, won its 20th consecutive regular-season game. Longview had a rough start to its season. After Longview's first drive stalled, Allen's Jeremiah Reeves used three sharp moves to break free for a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown, giving Allen a 7-0 lead with 10:34 left in the first quarter. After that player however, the Lobos appeared to lose first-game jitters. The Lobos rebounded to march 80 yards for a touchdown, capped by a four-yard run by Aaaron Johnson with 6:16 left in the first quarter. The Lobos generally controlled the first half, out gaining Allen in yards, 196-69. This included holding Allen's running game to 18 yards on nine carries. Unfortunately for the Lobos, their best chance to break the 7-7 tie in the first half ended with 1:18 left in the second quarter, when Allen forced Longview fullback Jonathan Oliver to fumble and defensive back Marcus George recovered. |