The Teague Lions went to battle the Centerville Tigers and came up on the short end of a 7-6 against a top ten in Class 2A. The Lions return home to take on another Leon County school when the Buffalo Bison visit Teague.
The game was a defensive thriller from the first play from scrimmage. The Lions had come into the game off a shut out of the New Waverly Bulldogs and held Centerville to a single score on the night.
Centerville drove down to the Lion ten-yard line and were turned away when the Lions forced a fumble and put the offense back on the field.
Leija had a 17-yard run to get out of the shadow of their own endzone but had to punt it away.
The Tigers would put together an effective drive with the run game. Drennan Starnes would end the drive with a short touchdown run and the extra point was good, and the Tigers took a 7-0 lead. That extra point would prove to be important as the difference in the game.
Teague would draw near with a good drive of their own in the second quarter. Nyland Coaster had a long run to the Centerville side of the field. Jy’Kybryan Harris caught a pass inside the Centerville 40 for a first down and they would connect once more on the drive for the 27-yard touchdown. The point after could not be converted and the score held at 7-6.
The teams brought a supreme effort on the defensive side of the ball for the second half and neither team could put up a score. Aaron Newman had a couple of long runs and, in the fourth quarter, Leija hit Corey Silar down the sideline for 55 yards to the Centerville seven-yard line. Leija tossed a short pass to Harris and as he was making the effort to score, the ball was knocked loose and recovered by the Tigers in the endzone to preserve the 7-6 victory.
(Photos by Jessica Risken)
