The Teague Lions battled the Groesbeck Goats for four quarters and came up short of their first win of the season. The Goats won the shootout 51-41 at Goat Stadium on Wednesday night.
Two running backs topped 200 yards in the game. Teague senior Nemier Herod had 248 yards on 21 carries and he was matched by sophomore Ma’Quay Smith, who tallied 234 yards on 24 carries.
The Goats took the opening kickoff and put together a drive that took almost eight minutes off the game clock. The 16 play, 75-yard drive ended on a 17-yard pass from Allen Lewis to Brenden Morrow.
The conversion run was no good and the Goats led 6-0.
Teague drove down and were stopped on a fake field goal and Groesbeck was forced to punt and the game stayed at 6-0 well into the second quarter.
The Lions began their first possession of the second half and made their way downfield to take the lead. Herod converted a third down and the offense went deep into Goat territory. The Lions would convert a second third down and it would be a touchdown pass from Jake Callahan to Herod for 27 yards. Uriel Medina added the extra point and the Lions led 7-6 with 9:50 remaining in the first half.
The Goats needed one drive and would regain the lead. They took four more minutes off the clock on the ten-play drive covering 68 yards. Lewis pushed his way in from two yards out and the Goats took a 14-7 after Smith ran in the conversion run.
Teague could match the score on the next drive and Herod and the offense went back to work. Callahan completed all three passes and Herod finished the drive with a 44-yard run and Medina tied the game with the extra point.
The Lions would get their first lead of the game in the early moments of the second half. Henry Cardona had a 13-yard kickoff return to midfield and Callahan completed a pass to Jarrett Bodine for 12 yards and a first down. Two plays later the duo would connect for the 29-yard touchdown completion and the 21-14 lead less than two minutes into the second half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Anthony Lewis scooped up the kick and bolted his way into the open field. He completed the 92-yard kickoff return and the extra point tied the score at 21-21.
The Lions would waste no time getting the score back. On the first play of the drive, Herod took the handoff and ran through the Groesbeck defense for a 61-yard touchdown run. The extra point try was no good and the lead stood at 27-21.
The Groesbeck offense took to the air to get the lead they would not give up the remainder of the game. Lewis hit Tyson Pringle for a 29-yard pass into Teague territory and the Lions were penalized, moving the ball to the 27-yard line. Lewis found Morrow for the second time and he made a diving catch for the touchdown and the point after gave the Goats a 28-27 lead.
Teague had some disaster strike on the following drive. Facing a fourth down, the Lions had to punt from their 17-yard line. The punt sailed over Callahan’s head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety and the Groesbeck lead grew to 30-27.
The free kick gave the Goats good field position. Pringle caught a 19-yard pass for a first down. The next two plays featured Goat penalties and the offense faced a third and 32 from the Teague 38. Lewis found Morrow for the third touchdown of the game and the Groesbeck lead swelled to its largest at 37-27 with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The Lions had a drive stall and turned it over on downs, but the first play of the Groesbeck drive, Teague recovered a fumble and began their possession at the Groesbeck 41. It took two plays and Herod scored on a 32-yard touchdown run, cutting the Groesbeck lead to 37-34.
The scoring fest continued, and Groesbeck answered in two plays. After a penalty, Smith took the pitch and raced 69 yards for the touchdown and stretched the lead back to ten 44-34.
The Lions offense took the ball on the next possession and scored going deep into the fourth quarter. A roughing the passer penalty gave the Lions a first down from a fourth down play. The Lions faced another fourth down and a pass interference penalty moved the sticks. Teague would convert three times on fourth down, the third an 11-yard completion to Brylon Jackson. From the six-yard line, Callahan passed to Wayland Allison for the touchdown, again cutting the lead to three 44-41.
Smith added a 32-yard fourth quarter touchdown and sealed the victory for the Groesbeck Goats.
Malakoff leads the district with Kemp at 2-0, a half game back and Fairfield is 1-0. Groesbeck is in the thick of the race at 2-1, with Kemp and Fairfield still to play. The odd schedule continues with the Lions remaining games include Eustace and Fairfield.
