Lions fall in final non-district game

By Wesley Gardner

LPR Editor

The Lockhart Lions varsity football team fell to the Rudder Rangers in a close battle Friday night that wrapped up no-district play.
The 47-37 loss brings the Lions to 0-4 on the season, though because all of the games have been out of the district, they have no bearing on Lockhart’s chances of making the playoffs.
Rudder overcame more than 200 yards of penalties and a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to pull off a 47-37 win at Lockhart in non-district play Friday.
Lockhart took control of the game early with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, including an 8-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jackie Edwards Jr. to Dylan Evans with 9:20 left in the first quarter. A Lockhart interception set up the Lions for another score, with Edwards hitting Tay Andrews for a 37-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead.
The Rangers finally got on the scoreboard with a 14-yard TD pass. Rudder then recovered the ensuing onside kick and tied the game just one play later on a 40-yard with just over 11 minutes left in the second quarter.
Lockhart sophmore Diante Jackson helped the Lions retake the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run that came after a long trick play from the Lion offense that put the team in scoring position.
Rudder would answer on the following drive, however, tying the score at 21 a piece with 6:38 left before halftime.
Lockhart again took the lead on 32-yard touchdown run from Jackson, his second of the game, but Rudder returned the following kickoff for 73 yards, setting up an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 28 with 4:49 left in the half.
The Rangers took their first lead of the game with just over a few minutes later on a 10-yard touchdown pass to go into halftime leading 35-28.
The second half featured a few more scores for each team, but Lockhart never regained the momentum that put them up early.
Overall, the Lion offense put up five scores and 445 total yards. Edwards Jr. led the passing game with 150 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 59 yards. Sophmore running back Sean McKinney led the Lions on the ground with 65 rushing yards. Junior wide receiver Tay Andrews led all the passing game with 95 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Head coach Todd Moebes said his team needed to continue building on the things they’ve done well throughout the season.
“We have to keep getting better as a football team,” said Moebes.” Everybody’s record is 0-0. It doesn’t matter if you went 4-0, or you’re in our situation at 0-4.
“Hopefully we played some good non-district opponents and they prepared us well for district play.”
The Lions kick off district play with road game in Kerville on Friday against the Tivy Antlers, who are also entering the game with a 0-4 record. Moebes said his defense needs to be prepared for a potentially explosive output from the Antler offense.
“Their schemes offensively are really, really good,” said Moebes. “They can put us in a position to where, if we’re not being disciplined defensively, it can cause of a lot of issues.
“They’ve always been a very well coached team.”
The Lions will face at the Antlers at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Kerville Tivy Antler Stadium.