The Teague Lions scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to earn their first district win with a 37-17 victory over the Eustace Bulldogs at Lion Stadium Friday night.
The Lions had the open week when all other district teams played last week and the week off helped the Lions heal but it made for an odd sequence of events in the game.
Teague Lion Kicker #13 Henry Cardona takes a break on the sidelines
Teague had the first possession but fumbled the opening kickoff and Kayleb Angel recovered and the Bulldogs took over at the Teague 36-yard line. Eustace would turn the ball over on their first opportunity when quarterback Brody Sutton was picked off by Jehmel Rice and he returned it to the Lion 25-yard line. The Lions were penalized back to the seven-yard line and then fumbled out of bounds at the one.
Ke’Mauri Evans took the direct snap and could not evade the surge of the defensive front and was tackled for a safety and the Bulldogs took the early 2-0 lead.
Teague Lions attempt to make way for #25 Ke’Mauri Evans (above) who was unable to evade a defensive surge that ended in a safety at the beginning of the game against the Eustace Bulldogs.
On the free kick, the Bulldogs had good field position and Cannon Kilcrease converted on a third and long with a run to their own 38-yard line and he was hit out of bounds and a 15-yard penalty was tacked on the end of the run into Teague territory. Tylin Randle intercepted a pass to end the scoring threat for the Bulldogs.
The Lions were able to get into rhythm on offense and sophomore quarterback Zak Leija connected with J’Kybryan Harris for a 54-yard play down to the Bulldog 25-yard line. Leija converted a fourth down with a scramble to the ten-yard line and after a penalty, Leija completed a pass to Randle for the 15-yard touchdown to give the Lions the lead. Leija tossed to Rice for the conversion and the Lions had an 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter.
Teague worked to take advantage of a short punt but Leija was intercepted deep in Bulldog territory and the defense made the field position turn into points. Sutton scrambled back into his own end zone and was wrapped up and his pass did not cross the line of scrimmage. He was called for intentional grounding and the safety extended the Teague lead to 10-2.
The free kick turned to a punting situation for the Lions and the punt went off the side of Leija’s foot and was scooped up by Joe Gomez and returned 17 yards, but the drive would end in a turnover on downs.
Following a Teague fumble, their third of the half, Eustace took over and on the first play, Sutton’s pass went over the head of the receiver and Rice ripped it out of the air and returned it 35 yards for the touchdown with 3:12 remaining in the half. Henry Cordona added the point after and the Lions had a 17-2 lead.
The odd half continued on the kickoff when Justin Abbe took the ball at his 21-yard line and raced up the near sideline on a 79-yard kickoff return. The point after cut the Lion lead to 17-9.
A snap over the punter’s head in the final minute of the first half did not lead to Bulldog points and the Lions held the 17-9 lead into the halftime break.
Eustace took the second half kickoff and took almost seven minutes off the clock and the drive ended with a Kilcrease two-yard plunge for the touchdown. Sutton passed to Abbe for the conversion and the game was tied at 17.
Eustace recovered the ensuing kick turned the ball over on downs and the Lions did not run their first play until the 2:49 mark of the third quarter. At the end of the third, Leija passed to Caden Gonzales for a 52-yard play into the Bulldog red zone and with 8:45 remaining in regulation, Evans broke loose on an 18-yard run and the Lions took a 23-17 lead on the missed conversion.
The Bulldogs faced a fourth down at their 22-yard line and a missed fake punt put Teague back on the field. Rice would catch the touchdown pass for the 29-17 lead.
Teague Lion teammates congratulate #75 Carl Shugart for the conversion which set the final score of 37-17.
Eustace had one more attempt to move down the field and turned the ball over on downs with just under three minutes remaining and the Lions added their final touchdown on a Shamar Davis 27-yard run. Offensive lineman Carl Shugart plowed his way through for the conversion and set the final score of 37-17.
Teague joins Malakoff and Groesbeck as the only unbeaten teams in District 8-3A Division I and they will travel to Malakoff to take on the Tigers on Friday night.
(Photos by Jessica Risken)
