The Troy Trojans had a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter and took the lead and took the bi-district round of the playoffs over the Teague Lions at Mexia High School’s Blackcat Field on Friday night.
The Lions came into the game a bit injured but had some momentum and took the early in the fourth quarter. The Teague offense made a couple of crucial errors against a solid Trojan team that took advantage of those mistakes.
The Trojans took the ball first and the offense hit the big play early. Zach Hrbacek took the handoff and raced up the near sideline on the first play from scrimmage. His 47-yard run put the first points on the board and the Trojans took an early 7-0 lead.
The lead began to grow at the 4:16 mark of the first quarter. The longer drive using the running of Hrbacek and quarterback Riley Cosper, the Trojans scored on a Hrbacek short touchdown run and the lead swelled to 14-0.
Teague got the offense settled down and the second quarter belonged to them. A key play of the Teague drive near the end of the first quarter was a pass from Zack Satterwhite to Connor Smith that covered 40 yards inside the Trojan 20. Satterwhite pushed his way into the end zone and cut the lead in half to 14-7 in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
The Lion defense forced a punt and the Lion offense went back to work. The sliced through the Trojan defense with the passing game. A short pass to Nemier Herod and he took care of the rest to complete a yard pass and run touchdown. Roberto Escobedo added the extra point and the Lions tied the score with 7:22 remaining in the first half.
Troy was able to get into position to score before the end of the half, but they turned the ball over on downs at the Lion 13 with just over two minutes left and the score remained tied at the half.
Midway through the third quarter, the Trojans needed only one play to regain the lead. With the Lions pinned back into their own territory, the offense fumbled the ball and Troy recovered inside the Lion five-yard line. Cosper sent the motion to the right and handed off to Sam Jones going the left and walked into the end zone on the first play of the drive. The point after failed and Troy led 20-14 with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
The Lions used a solid drive to move down the field and take the lead in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. It started with a Herod punt return to the Trojan 30 in the final minute of the third quarter. As the teams exchanged ends of the field, Herod had the five-yard run to tie the score. Escobedo hit the extra point and the Lions led with 11:52 remaining in the game.
The lead was short lived as the Trojans ripped through the Teague defense to regain the lead. Cosper went over the top of the Lions with a 26-yard pass to Tyler Jarolik for the go-ahead touchdown. Hrbacek lined up as the quarterback and jump passed to Mason Cooke for the 28-21 lead.
The Trojans would salt the game away on a Hrbacek five-yard run to close out the scoring and the season for the Teague Lions.
Teague had a season that had its ups and downs. They dropped three of their first four before only losing to West and Grandview in district play. They will lose some key seniors this season: Rodney Kuykendall, Santos Estrada, Azaya Patrick, Jeremiah Redic, Zack Satterwhite, Brady Welch, Kaigen Pillette, Chandler Rogers, Travis Lemons, Isaiah Bell and Bryan Perez.
