R.J. Carr scored five touchdowns and carried the ball 16 times and the Malakoff Tigers doubled up the Teague Lions 60-30 at Tiger Stadium Friday night.
The Lions rolled up over 400 yards of total offense, but Malakoff had nearly 500 in the first half and held the Lions off for the remainder of the second half.
Following a punt on the first possession of the game, Malakoff took over on their own 16-yard line. Quarterback Darion Peace tossed a pass up the far sideline to Kaderrius Thomas and he took care of the rest. He outran the Lion defense for the 84-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. Hector Romero added the point after for the 7-0 with 10:38 remaining in the opening quarter.
Teague got their offense going after that first possession when Zack Satterwhite connected with Luke Stacks for a 57-yard pass and run to the Malakoff 23. A few plays later Gelico Green bulled his way through the defense and scored the touchdown and Roberto Escobedo added the tying extra point.
It took forty seconds for the Tigers to get that score back on the board. Carr took the handoff and raced 74 yards for the touchdown midway through the quarter. Romero gave the Tigers a seven-point lead with the point after and Malakoff led 14-7.
Disaster struck the Lions on the kickoff. Dayveon Dixon took the kickoff on a bounce and took a knee at the one-yard line. It was a mistake in the interpretation of a new rule making a fair catch anywhere inside the 25-yard line and it would move to the 25. He took a knee and was ruled down at the one-yard line. The Lions worked out to a first down at the 16 and Dixon took the ball on reverse. With Satterwhite blocking in front, Dixon raced to the touchdown and avenged the special teams’ error. Escobedo added the point after and the game was tied at 14-14.
Malakoff answered less than a minute later on a second long run from Carr. He sprinted up the middle for the 50-yard run and the 20-14 lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter. The point after was good and Malakoff led 21-14.
Teague drove down the field on their next opportunity and the Malakoff defense made a play at the beginning of the second quarter. Satterwhite had his pass intercepted by Thomas at the six-yard line and the Tiger offense headed back to the field.
The Tiger offense put together a good drive and it was capped by Carr’s third touchdown of the half on a five-yard run. The drive consumed 94 yards and over four minutes on the clock. The try for two was no good and the lead swelled to 27-14.
Dixon took advantage of his speed for the second time in the first half on the next kickoff. Breaking tackles at midfield, he returned the kickoff 71 yards to the Malakoff 24. The drive stalled, and the Lions called on Escobedo and his 21-yard field goal cut the lead to 27-14 with 3:47 remaining in the half.
Malakoff scored again in the first half and it was again the big play. Darion Peace kept the ball on the read option and ran up the right side of the Teague defense for a 52-yard touchdown. The try for two was no good and the Tigers led 33-14.
Teague had their drive stall and were forced to punt, and the Tiger had one more possession in the first half. The one play drive ended with a pass from Peace to Thomas for a 65-yard score and the lead was the largest of the game at 40-17 with just under a minute to go.
The Lions could have run out the clock and go to the locker room. A couple of incomplete passes and that looked exactly like what they were going to do. On third down, Satterwhite handed off to Green up the middle. He did not stop until he scored on a 71-yard rumble for the score to cut the lead to 40-23 at the half.
Malakoff took the second half kickoff and wasted little time to add to their lead. Carr hit the endzone for the fourth time with a 38-yard run and the lead grew to 47-23.
Teague matched the score with an Azaya Patrick two-yard run. He ran into a pileup at the goal line and scored walking into the endzone through the line with a powerful run and cut the lead to 47-23.
The Tigers would add two more touchdowns to set the final score at 60-30. Carr added his fifth touchdown for a 42-yard run and Nathan Jones caught a 42-yard pass for the final score of the night.
Carr went over 300 yards on the night with his five touchdowns. Green ended the night with 128 yards on 27 carries. Satterwhite completed six of 16 for 190 yards on the night.
The Teague Lions will have their home opener on Friday night when the host the Mexia Blackcats.
Scott Batts reporting.
