Lions tame Cougars in 35-19 victory
By Alonzo Garza
POST-REGISTER
With a another win under their belt and an away game behind them, the Lions now have the same number of wins they finished last year’s season with.
The Austin Crockett Cougars were defeated 35-19 in the second game of the 2012 season at Burger Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 6.
“Crockett is a pretty go
od football team,” Head Lion Coach Paul Kilby said. “They have tremendous speed and their defense played super tough all night long. It took us a while to get going, but our kids played hard tonight. It was a good physical football game.”
The game began with the Cougars kicking off to the Lions. Brandon Clinger returned the ball to the 22-yard line, but an off sides penalty against Crockett forced them to kick off again placing the ball at the 46-yard line after a fair catch by Oscar Diaz.
The Lions could not do anything with the ball for the first couple of minutes. The Cougar defense kept them back until they got possession of the ball.
Crockett scored the first touchdown of the night with 5:31 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point kick was good for a score of 7-0.
Lockhart answered back with a touchdown at 3:19. Lion Junior C. J. McKinney scored the 58-yard run touchdown ending the first quarter tied at 7.
The second quarter started with the Lions making good gains at the top of the quarter only to fumble the ball back to the Cougars at 10:05.
The Lions regained their composure and McKinney scored again with a 40-yard run touchdown at 8:20 to go in the first half. The kick was good for a score of 14-7.
Lockhart got a false start penalty at 2:36 and then fumbled the ball over to Crocket at 1:34 remaining. The Cougars passed the ball until the clock ran out ending the first half at 14-7.
“We got a lot of things to clean up,” Kilby said. “Securing the football, center exchanges, jumping off sides, holding penalties, we got a lot of things…a lot of things to clean up. The kids played well in spurts. We just weren’t consistent.”
The third quarter began with the Lions kicking to the Cougars who took the ball at the 18-yard line. After three attempts to move the ball the Cougars punted to the Lions.
The Lions took the ball at the their 36-yard line and pushed forward until they reached the 14-yard line. Curtis Hawkins scored the third touchdown ending the quarter at 21-7 after a successful extra point kick.
The Lions opened the fourth quarter with another Hawkins touchdown and a good extra point kick for a score of 28-7 at 11:26 remaining in the game.
Crockett answered with a Cougar touchdown at 10:25. The extra point kick failed for a score of 28-13.
Lockhart scored the last Lion touchdown of the night at 5:15 to go in the game. The kick was good for a score of 35-13.
The Cougars finished the game with a flash of brilliance and a last minute touchdown pass. A two-point conversion attempt was shut down by the Lion defense ending the game at 35-19.
“We’re fired up. We were 2-8 last year and we are not complaining about being 2-0 right now. “ Kilby said. “Back at home against Bastrop Cedar Creek, it’s going to be nice to get back on a Friday schedule. That was a real short week with Labor Day. We weren’t at our best tonight but we pulled out a 35-19 win and overall we’re happy with that. We’re never going to complain about going away with a win, but we do need to shore up a lot of thing on offense and defense.”
The Lions will host Cedar Creek for an Old Timer’s Game at Lion Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14.
See you at the game.
agarza@post-register.com
