Lions cling to playoff berth, shut out Kennedy 45-0
Daetron Ellison runs for his second touchdown of the night in the Lockhart Lions’ 45-0 win over the Kennedy Rockets. Miles Smith/For the LPR
Daetron Ellison briefly celebrates in the end zone after giving the Lockhart Lions a three-touchdown lead. Miles Smith/For the LPR
Stoney McGuire prepares to throw as the Kennedy pass rush closes in around him. Miles Smith/For the LPR
Robert Branch hauls in Lockhart’s first touchdown, a 25-yard throw from junior quarterback Stoney McGuire. The TD pass gave the Lions the lead for a good that had remained scoreless for more than 10 minutes. Miles Smith/For the LPR
Jayden Garza looks for running room after hauling in a 20-yard pass from Jackie Edwards Jr. on the Lockhart Lions’ first possession. The drive ended in a turnover on downs. Miles Smith/For the LPR
Jackie Edwards Jr. is swarmed at the line of scrimmage on the Lions’ first possession, which ended in a turnover on downs deep in Kennedy Rockets territory. Miles Smith/LPR editor
By Miles Smith/Special to the LPR
Just two games remain in the regular season for the Lockhart Lions, who climbed back above .500 on Friday night at Lions Stadium and remain in the postseason hunt after pitching a 45-0 shutout against the winless San Antonio Kennedy Rockets.
The Lions (3-2) are in fourth place in District 14-5A-2, sharing an identical record with the Alamo Heights Mules and the Medina Valley Knights. The third-place Mules hold the tiebreaker over the Lions after beating them 56-49 in overtime in Alamo Heights last Friday, and the Knights trail the Lions in the standings thanks to Lockhart’s 17-7 district opening road victory in September.
But up next for the Lions is a road contest against 5-0 Kerrville Tivy, which blew out Alamo Heights 56-14 last night and narrowly defeated second place Boerne Champion earlier in the season.
The Lions close their season at home against 1-4 Uvalde, which got its lone win earlier in the season when it upset Alamo Heights.
“All we can do is control what we can control, and I’m proud of our kids the way we’ve performed tonight,” said Lions head coach Todd Moebes. “We’ve obviously got a big test in front of us next week and so we’ve got to prepare well to come play our best game of the year.”
The Lions struggled out of the gate against the Rockets after they initially appeared to be firing on all cylinders. Junior quarterback Jackie Edwards Jr. got the start and his first completion of the game to senior wideout Jayden Garza went for over 20 yards, setting the Lions up deep in Kennedy territory. But the drive fizzled and Lockhart turned the ball over on downs.
After Edwards lost a fumble on the Lions’ second offensive series of the game, Moebes handed the reins to junior quarterback Stoney McGuire, who transferred from Westlake prior to the start of the season. McGuire led five touchdown drives, including putting the Lions on the board with a 25-yard scoring pass to wideout Robert Branch, giving Lockhart a 7-0 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
McGuire was 8-of-16 passing for 139 yards with three touchdowns and added 53 yards on 12 carries.
“I thought (McGuire) did well, we’ve got all the faith in Stoney to go in and perform well for our football team,” Moebes said. “I thought he did a great job for our offense.”
Kennedy wouldn’t threaten again. The Lions led 35-0 after coming alive in a second-quarter scoring barrage largely fueled by senior iron man Daetron Ellison, who caught a 12-yard pass for a touchdown, ran for another and scored a third touchdown on an interception.
Tay Andrews and Resean Houston also scored for the Lions. Houston’s score came on a second yard run, and Andrews caught a touchdown pass from McGuire in the second half.
Jordan Garcia led the Lions in rushing with 96 yards on 14 carries.
Read more sports coverage in Thursday’s Lockhart Post-Register.
