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| LONGVIEW - District 10-6A Division II one-seed Longview hosted District 9-6A Division II two-seed Naaman Forest during Friday night's Class 6A Division II football bi-district playoff game at Lobo Stadium, and eventually overcame seven turnovers in a 23-13 opening round postseason win.
The Lobos earned their seventh consecutive win, improved their 2024 season record to 9-2 and advanced to play District 11-6A Division II two-seed Lancaster in next week's Class 6A Division II area round. The Rangers, meanwhile, finished the year with a 5-6 mark. "Good defense," said Longview athletic director and head football coach John King. "That's how we escaped. And we found the run game with seven minutes to go to ice it. That's how we got to advance. But, it was sloppy on offense with fumbles and interceptions. And kickoff returns, we lost two balls on those." Longview opened the game with a kickoff to Naaman Forest, but the Rangers' DeAngelo Perales immediately fumbled to the Lobos' Jamayis Morrow on the first offensive play of the game. Morrow returned the ball 27 yards to the Naaman Forest two-yard line and Longview running back Kelvin Washington punched in the early go-ahead score on the following play's two-yard touchdown run to make it a 7-0 home team lead at the 11:43 mark of the first quarter. Washington guided Longview with his 25 carries for 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Lobos then put together a six-play, 71-yard drive on their next possession, and grew their advantage to 14-0 during Maverick Rowe's nine-yard touchdown pass to Bryant Williams at the 7:09 mark of the period. Naaman Forest finally made a play because Troy Williams intercepted Rowe's red zone pass at the 1:28 mark of the quarter. The Rangers eventually scored off the turnover when Perales called his own number on a one-yard touchdown run to cut Longview's lead to 14-7 at the 9:49 mark of the second quarter. Rowe eventually completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 123 yards and one touchdown, but he also threw three interceptions. He also carried the ball four times for 56 rushing yards. The Rangers continued to follow the same play book because they forced and recovered a fumble during Washington's 15-yard run at the 7:38 mark of the period. DeAngelo Perales eventually connected with Brody Perales on a 56-yard touchdown pass, but Longview held on to 14-13 lead after Edgar Andrade's unsuccessful extra point attempt at the 4:41 mark. Longview's defense finally responded when it forced Perales' intentional grounding in the end zone for a Naaman Forest safety. That grew the Lobos lead to 16-14 with 1:19 remaining in the first half. Washington returned to form in the early minutes of the fourth quarter, and eventually expanded Longview's lead to 23-13 during a one-yard touchdown run with 7:13 remaining in the game. Perales completed 20 of his 34 pass attempts for 208 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Naaman Forest's loss, but he was also sacked by the Longview defense eight times for negative 72 yards. |