|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
||
|
|
| LUFKIN - Wily Watty has done it again, and the Lufkin Panthers are right back at the head of the District 8-AAAA class following their 28-6 victory over Longview here Friday night.
Texarkana upset undefeated Tyler Lee, 14-7, to give the Panthers one-third of the loop title. They reign with the Rebels and the Tigers. Since Lufkin beat Texarkana, Texarkana downed Lee and Lee stopped Lufkin, and each team owns a 4-1 district record, a point toss will decide who advances to bi-district competition against District 7-AAAA winner Garland. Officials from the three schools were scheduled to meet today in Longview to determine a playoff representative. The victory which gave the Panthers part of the championship featured everything from power football to a fight on the field to pandemonium in the stands. Lufkin was supposed to be "down" for the game with Longview, and they couldn't have been blamed too much after their heartbreaking loss to Tyler Lee last week. If they were down, they played from memory, and their memory turned out to be more sufficient. The Panthers simply overpowered Longview. Lufkin rushed for 396 yards and made 26 first downs in the process. At the same time, their defense was limiting the Lobos to 153 yards on the ground. Longview ran 51 plays from scrimmage and used 20 of those for passes. The fight occurred in the fourth period, with Lufkin possession of the ball, driving towards Longview's goal line. With the ball on the Lobo 26, Lufkin's Hugh Woolf got the call and ran somewhere between the tackles. He was stopped after short yardage, and somebody hit somebody else, and the players' benches emptied, with lots of somebodies hitting other somebodies. It was nothing personal. Minute later, the press box received unofficial word that Texarkana had upset Tyler Lee. The score was announced to the crowd, and the noise which resulted startled some of the patrons who didn't catch the announcement. Play on the field wasn't particularly exciting at the time, yet people were screaming and throwing cushions into the air. Then the story spread, and the whole stadium started to swing. If Lufkin had allowed Longview to slip up on them, Texarkana would have tied Lee fo the district crown, and won the bi-district berth. But the steady, dull Panthers were also effective. With quarterback Tony Murphy racking up most of the yardage, Lufkin scored in each quarter. Murphy, who can go when he gets the blocking, finished with 160 yards rushing on 17 carries - seven more than the entire Longview team. Halfback David Paulette got in his share of offensive licks. Paulette totaled 85 yards on six carries, including one touchdown run of 55 yards. He returned a punt from the Panthers 15 to the Longview 46, nearly going all the way. The firs touchdown resulted from fullback Rocky Thompson's four-yard dive over left tackle with 3:01 left in the first period. Thompson booted the PAT to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead. The series went 54 yards in 19 plays, the longest of which was a 19-yard pass from Murphy to end Jesse Bradford. Murphy fired a 32-yard aerial to end Robin Welch 5:35 before the halftime intermission to make it 13-0. Thompson's kick ran the score to 14-0. Safety Reagan McKewen had recovered a Lobo fumble on Lufkin's 27 to start the 73-yard drive. Murphy then sept left end to score from four yards out, following a 70-yard series which saw the Panthers sticky entirely to the ground on 10 consecutive plays. Murphy's 18-yard run and halfback David Brevell's 10-yarder were ether big ones. Thompson's extra point extended the margin to 21-0 with 5:40 to go in the third. Paulette's 55 yards of glory rounded out the Panther six-pointers 5:39 before the game's end. He broke over right tackle and outraced Lobo defenders. Thompson again kicked to make it 28-0. Longview came back to do nothing no other Panther opponent has managed this year - score in the fourth quarter. Halfback Rusty Musser did the damage from 47 yards out with 4:23 to play in the final quarter. A pass try for the extra points failed. Linebacker John Rowe, one of the most alert players to even don the purple and gold, intercepted a Longview pass. If that's not so spectacular, the streak Rowe has going is. He has chalked up at least one interception in each of Lufkin's also seven games, several of them coming at trying times. The offensive Panther line often operated at almost picture perfection against the Lobos, and tackle Jim Wall, end Larry Crawford and linebacker Bobby Faulkner stood out defensively along with Rowe. Lufkin is 8-2 for the season and Longview is 3-7. |