The Teague Lions scored two touchdowns in the last four minutes to escape with a road win in West in the District 9-3A Division I opener.
The defenses of both clubs dominated the night and West scored ten points on two short drives taking advantage of Teague special teams miscues.
Teague took the opening kickoff went three plays and were forced to punt following a personal foul that backed them up inside their own 15-yard line. Antonio Heard took the snap on fourth down and tucked the ball and tried to get the first down. He was stopped at the 25 and the Trojans took over on downs. West could not get a first down and Adolfo Rodriguez made a 29-yard field goal to give the Trojans a 3-0 lead with 8:02 remaining in the first quarter.
The teams exchanged turnovers in the latter moments of the first quarter. Dawson Sulak picked off a Heard pass and returned it 42 yards to the Teague 30-yard line. On the next play from scrimmage, West quarterback Nathan Gerik fumbled the snap and Hayden Roberts pounced on it. It was his first action returning from an injury.
Both offenses could not move the ball and the teams went into the locker room with West clinging to a 3-0 lead.
It was not until the last few minutes of the third quarter that either team threatened a score. Teague made their second special teams error of the night. Maverick Jewell dropped back to punt but a bad snap forced him to run and he was tackled at the Teague 15-yard line. It took six plays before Kayman Harold pushed in from one yard out to extend the lead to 10-0 with 10:15 remaining in the game.
A couple of possessions later the Lions were facing the Trojan defense and the clock. Antonio Heard dropped to pass and hit Jaylon Davis perfectly on the near sideline for a 63-yard completion to the West 10-yard line. On 4th down from the three, Heard faked a handoff to Tayvis Coleman and kept around the left side and hit the pylon for the touchdown. Ismael Diaz hit the extra point and cut the lead to 10-7 with 4:08 remaining in the game.
The Teague special teams kicked the ball deep and the Lion defense did its part and forced the Trojans to punt and the Lions had 67 yards to go in the final three minutes. Heard was forced to scramble for a first down across midfield.
The Lions faced third and two at the West 35 and they were penalized five yards when the play clock expired. After the delay of game, Heard hit Anthony Weathers for a pass to the Trojan 20. On fourth down from the West 13, Heard threw the fade to the back corner of the end zone and Tyrese Heard hauled it in for the go ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left. Diaz added the point after for the 14-10 lead.
West still had two timeouts remaining to try for the win. From their own 48-yard line, Gerik passed to Bobby Morgan to the Teague 27 with less than 20 seconds to go. With six seconds left, Gerik hit Morgan over the middle to the one-yard line and the Trojans called time out with one tick left. The clock management seemed to favor the home team so West had one play left.
On the play, Gerik bobble the snap and somehow got the handoff to Harold. He was tackled short of the goal line and the celebration started. But there was a flag on the play for a facemask and the Trojans had another shot with an untimed down at the one.
Gerik again fumbled the snap and Cooper Richey recovered the fumble and finished the night for the sparkling Teague defense and preserved the 14-10 win.
Teague will return home as the district games continue. They will host the Eustace Bulldogs coming off a loss to the Groesbeck Goats 18-15 on Friday.
Scott Batts reporting.
