The Teague Lions defense held in the final minutes to win their first district game with a 28-14 win over the Eustace Bulldogs at Bulldog Stadium in Eustace.
The Lion defense played outstanding all night. Trevor Cooper and the rest of the defensive line kept the Eustace offense off the board for three and a half quarters.
Tayvis Coleman rushed for 220 yards and had a pair of touchdowns in the win. The Lion offense rolled up 341 yards rushing with Coleman and two others and they delivered punishment to the Bulldog defense.
Teague took the opening kickoff and ripped through the Eustace defense and scored in less than three minutes. Coleman scored on a 13-yard run and Roberto Escobeda kicked the extra point and the Lions had a 7-0 lead.
The teams exchanged turnovers in the remainder of the first quarter. Tyrese Heard picked off an Alejandro Sanchez pass in the end zone and the Lions gave it back quickly on a pass tipped by Garrett Griffin and intercepted by Bryce Fiscus. Neither turnover led to points.
Teague had a good defensive stand and the offense wasted little time to score on a short field. On a third down inside the ten, Daveon Dixon took the handoff on a sweep to the right side of the offensive line. He was forced to reverse field and the Bulldog defense overran the play and he walked in on a seven-yard run. The point after was good and the Lions took a 14-0 halftime lead.
The score did not change until the first play of the final quarter. Subbing for Coleman, Gelico Green took the handoff and met purple jerseys at the line of scrimmage. He spun away from the pile and raced up the middle for a 63-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a commanding 21-0 lead.
Eustace got into a rhythm and put points on the board with 8:35 remaining in the game. Using the short passing game and crossing routes to running back Clifton Johnson, the Bulldogs moved into Teague territory. Sanchez hit Johnson across the middle for the touchdown to cut the lead to 21-7.
The Bulldogs got a defensive break when the ball popped out of a Teague running back’s hand and it was picked up and advanced to the Lion 16-yard line.
Sanchez threw his second touchdown pass of the night to Cory Strawn and the lead was reduced to 21-14 with 3:39 remaining.
The Teague offense took the failed onside kick and Coleman had a big run inside the Bulldog 30. Coleman finished the drive with the two-yard clinching touchdown with 1:34 to go in the game.
Teague improves to 1-1 in district play, one game back of West and Malakoff. Teague goes back on the road to Elkhart to take on the Elks.
