The Teague Lions held the lead for most of the night but needed a late touchdown to win over the Whitney Wildcats on the road 47-42.
The win puts the Teague Lions in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Grandview, West, Whitney and Teague all have one loss in the district race and would be the four playoff teams if the season ended after this week.
It was thought that Tate Pankey would be the Wildcat quarterback when starter Devin Wilson was injured last week. Pankey did start but Wilson had been cleared to play so he came in and the junior quarterback was electrifying.
Teague got on the board first when the teams exchanged punts on their first possessions. Senior quarterback Zack Satterwhite had a couple of runs and running back Gelico Green converted a fourth down with a run down to the three-yard line. Satterwhite scored the one-yard touchdown and Roberto Escobedo added the extra point for the early 7-0 lead.
The Wildcat began their next drive, and this was Wilson’s first possession. He scrambled around for the first couple of plays and he threw a pass that was intercepted by Dayveon Dixon. He returned the ball all the way to the end zone for the 39-yard pick six. The extra point extended the lead to 14-7.
The Lions added a field goal by Roberto Escobedo from 28 yards to swell the lead to 17-0 before the Wildcats got going. Wilson took the snap and ran through the Lion defense for 27 yards and the touchdown. The extra point was true, and Whitney cut into the lead at 17-6.
Dixon took off on the kickoff return and almost broke it for the touchdown, but he was finally brought down near midfield and a face mask penalty added 15 yards to the return. On the second play of the drive, Nemier Herod took the handoff on the jet sweep. He reached the sideline and cut upfield and tight roped the sideline and dove into the end zone for the 34-yard touchdown and extra point and the Lion lead grew back to 24-6.
The Wildcats answered back, and Wilson added his second touchdown of the night. His four-yard run cut the lead to 24-12.
Dixon had another fine kickoff return to the Whitney 31-yard line. The first three downs did not produce a first down and on fourth down, Satterwhite connected with Rodney Kuykendall to the eight-yard line. Satterwhite ran keepers on the next three plays and he scored on a one-yard run to restore the lead to 31-12.
Whitney had one more score before the half. Wilson had been using his legs for offensive production, but this drive he began to get the rhythm in the passing game. He hit Kolby Tanner for a 31-yard touchdown and then caught the two-point conversion and sliced into the lead with :46 seconds remaining in the half and trailed 31-20.
Teague took the ball on the second half kickoff and ripped through the Wildcat defense. Satterwhite scored his third touchdown of the night on a 30-yard run and the point after was no good but the Lions led 37-20.
The Teague defense put their first points on the board since the first quarter. The Whitney drive could not produce a first down and they faced a third and long. The snap went over Wilson’s head and a couple of players knocked the ball into the end zone. Herod recovered the ball as it was connecting with the back of the end zone and scored the safety and led 39-20.
Whitney caught fire in the last minute of the third quarter and through the fourth. Wilson scored on a five-yard run that cut the lead to 12 at 39-27. Whitney forced a fumble on the defensive side of the ball at the Lion 44 and Wilson added another touchdown run from nine yards to get as close as 37-37.
Teague had an opportunity to put the game away. Satterwhite stepped out of the game with an injury and the drive stalled. Connor Smith dropped in punt formation but bobbled the snap and had to run. He picked up a couple of good blocks and ran for nine yards and a first down. The Lions would turn the ball over on downs at midfield with 2:42 remaining.
It did not take long for the Wildcats to take over with the good field position. Tanner caught a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:38 left in regulation. The Wilson to Tanner connection worked on the two-point conversion and the Wildcats had their first lead of the game at 42-39 with 1:38 left.
The Lions put their weary offense back on the field needing only a field goal to send the game to overtime. On second down from the Teague 29, Satterwhite lofted a pass to the right just over the outstretched hand of the defender and into the hands of Gelico Green. He raced down the far sideline for the 66-yard connection to the Whitney five-yard line at the minute mark. Two plays later, Satterwhite tossed to a wide-open Smith for the five-yard touchdown and the Lions retook the lead at 47-42.
Whitney still had 54 seconds to score but the Lion defense sacked Wilson on fourth down to preserve the win.
Teague will take on Maypearl at home before a pivotal matchup in West against the Trojans on the final week of the season.
