The Teague Lions quick start Thursday night aided a bi-district win over the Coldspring-Oakhurst Trojans at Madisonville High School.
The Lions move on to take on District 12 champion Hitchcock Bulldogs Saturday afternoon at New Caney’s Randall Reed Stadium.
Teague took the ball first and immediately turned the possession into points. Senior quarterback Zak Leija passed across the middle and hit Bryce Bates in stride and he raced the rest of the way to finish off a 73-yard touchdown. Leija ran in the conversion and the Lions led 8-0 only 12 seconds into the contest.
Coldspring ran three plays and fumbled, and the Lion defense recovered. The Lions drive started at the 49-yard line and used nine plays. The running of Ny’Land Coaster and Jaden Cole moved the ball downfield. The only pass play on the drive put points on the board on a pass from Leija to K’Kybryan Harris. Leija passed to Korey Silar for the conversion and the Lions stretched the lead to 16-0 midway through the first quarter.
After a Coldspring punt, the Lions moved downfield and looked to make the game a blowout. Leija ran for 40 yards to near the 25 and eventually to the three before turning the ball over on downs. Coldspring took over at the three and ran 14 plays to inside the Teague five and they turned the ball over on downs. Cole batted away the fourth down pass and stopped the only threat by the Trojans in the first half.
Teague stopped the Trojans on fourth down near midfield and moved the chains in a 14-yard pass to Braden Gauntt. Leija called his own number on the next play, and he raced upfield for the 32-yard touchdown. The run for two was short and the Lions led 22-0 with 8:01 remaining in the third quarter.
Coldspring put their first points on the board. Gray converted a fourth down on a nine-yard run and on third and long inside the Teague 45, quarterback David Rowe passed to Jamarian McGowan for the 44-yard touchdown. The run for two was no good and the Trojans cut the lead to 22-6.
Harris returned a punt 50 yards for an apparent touchdown and a flag for holding took the points off the board. Coaster had two runs and scored on a nine-yard run with 10:58 remaining in the game. Alex Lopez kicked the extra point and led 29-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, Landon Ellisor broke a couple of tackles and got bottled up and broke loose behind the defense for a 70-yard kickoff return. The touchdown cut the lead back to two scores on the conversion run. The Lions led 29-14 with 10:42 left in the fourth quarter.
Leija added a 19-yard touchdown run with less than four minutes left to complete the scoring and the bi-district win.
The Lions will face off against the Hitchcock Bulldogs on Saturday, November 23rd at the Randal Reed Stadium in New Caney beginning at 3:00 p.m.
(Photos by Jessica Risken)
