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| LONGVIEW - Longview hosted North Forney in a critical late season clash at Lobo Stadium on Friday night, and earned the 2024 District 10-6A championship with a 21-0 home win.
The Lobos wrapped up both their third straight district title and 43rd overall since 1924. They started their active multi-year streak when they grabbed the 2022 and 2023 District 7-5A Division I crowns. The Lobos improved their 2024 season record to 7-2 and district record to 5-0 before they wrap up league play during next Friday's 7 p.m. road outing against Royse City at Royse City ISD Stadium. They will then enter the postseason the following week as District 10-6A's Division II top seed, and host District 9-6A's Division II second seed. The Falcons, meanwhile, dropped their respective marks to 6-3 and 4-1 before they play Rockwall in a 7:30 p.m. home game at Better Life Stadium next Friday. "These things are hard to win, and we've won our fair share of them," Longview athletic director and head football coach John King said of his program's latest district championship. "We cherish every one of them." "I challenged these guys, particularly when we had the two-game losing streak entering district play," he continued. "We had our backs against the wall. We're sitting here 5-0 in district with a district championship [and] we're going to get a first-round home game in the playoffs. Our regular season goals have been met in terms of that [and] we still got one [game] to play." Longview had a hard time moving the ball against North Forney's tough defense in the first half, and Lobo quarterback Maverick Rowe eventually threw an opening drive interception to the Falcons' Josiah Turner at the 4:49 mark of the first quarter. Rowe eventually completed three of his five pass attempts for 13 yards. The road team missed the opportunity to take advantage of the turnover because Jake Guardiola missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 56.5 seconds remaining in the opening period. Longview finally positioned itself for a score, and jumped ahead 7-0 during Buster Mumphrey's one-yard touchdown run at the 7:25 mark of the second quarter. The Lobos then turned to the reliable Kelvin Washington to double the score. He broke through for a 78-yard touchdown run to give his team a 14-0 lead with 3:10 remaining in the first half. Longview didn't stop there because Mumphrey scored for the second time during a five-yard touchdown run to make it a 21-0 lead at the 1:53 mark of the third quarter. Washington guided Longview with 21 carries for 204 rushing yards and one score, and Mumphrey added 17 carries for 71 rushing yards and two scores. The Lobos' defense then stepped up when Bryan Peoples picked off North Forney quarterback Legend Bey at the 1:05 mark of the period. Bey completed six of his 19 pass attempts for 55 yards, and carried the ball 13 times for 35 rushing yards in the Falcons' loss. Andikan Asuquo also ran the ball 18 times for 71 yards. |