The Teague Lions have not shown their best all season. Friday night they did and then some.
The Lions dominated fifth ranked Malakoff 35-14 in the final home game of the season. The win forced a three way tie for the district lead with one game remaining. Malakoff, West and Teague are all at 5-1 in the district standings with Eustace and Groesbeck two games back with big games coming up in the season’s final week.
Teague dominated the Tigers the entire night and with some subtle position changes made the most of the night in the spotlight.
Teague got on the scoreboard first early in the first quarter. Quarterback Zach Satterwhite scored on a six-yard keeper with 8:35 remaining in the quarter. Roberto Escobedo added the point after for the 7-0 lead.
The Lions owned practically the entire first quarter and the defense gave the Lions back the ball and the offense made the most of it. Senior running back Tayvis Coleman scored on a one yard run in the final two minutes of the first and the lead grew to 13-0 after the missed extra point.
Malakoff picked up their initial first down in the second quarter and finally cut into the Teague lead. Zee Bailey scored on a 29-yard run with just over two minutes left in the first half. The extra point was good, and the lead was cut to 13-7.
The Tigers had a good kickoff return to start the second half and took a brief lead on the night. With 10:20 remaining in the third quarter, Judd Miller scored on a two-yard run and the extra point gave the Tigers a 14-13 lead.
The score was all the Tigers defense would allow the rest of the night. They stuffed the Tiger running game and the short passes and plays that made the Tigers get down the field were stopped, and the Tiger dominance showed the rest of the game.
The Tiger lead lasted only two and a half minutes. Jelico Green bulldozed through the Tiger defense for a 22-yard touchdown run with 7:47 remaining. The two-point conversion was good, and the lead was 21-14.
Teague would add two more touchdowns before the game ended. Coleman added a one yard run with nine minutes and Green added his second touchdown on a highlight reel run for 74 yards to close the scoring at 35-14.
The tiebreaking system would come into play in the teams remain tied. Currently, West would enter the playoffs as the top seed in the district followed by Teague and Malakoff.
Teague plays winless Palestine Westwood on Friday and will be highly favored to complete the district season at 6-1. West plays at Eustace and the Bulldogs need to win in order to stay in the race for the final playoff spot. Whitney plays at Groesbeck and both teams are still alive in the playoff hunt. Malakoff hosts Elkhart in the regular season finale.
(Photos by Monte Calame)
