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| KILLEEN - The Longview Lobos defeated the Killeen Kangaroos, 29-18, Saturday night, on the strength of two pass plays.
We are not making this up. It helped that the Lobos (2-0) had a resilient defense that gave up 316 passing yards but took the ball away four times. It helped that the Lobos had a running game that ground out a modest 146 yards but controlled almost the entire third quarter. Still, the plays that turned a 6-6 tie into a 20-6 Lobos lead going into the final period were classic aerial strikes. Killeen (1-1) never recovered from the first one. From the Longview 49, quarterback Jay Hurst pitched back to Juan Ingram, who threw a perfect halfback pass into the hands of receiver Denjuan Richardson behind the Roos secondary on the right sideline. Richardson legged out a 51-yard scoring play to put the Lobos ahead to stay. "We threw that all week in practice," Bero said. "I don't know if we ever completed it. But Juan has done some backup quarterback for us and he put a perfect touch on the ball." In the third quarter, in which Killeen was able to run only seven offensive plays, Hurst finished off a 16-play, 60-yard drive on the third and eight from the Roos' 9. After faking a handoff, he lofted the ball to the far corner of the end zone to his only receiver, Eric Davis, who made a diving catch for the third Longview touchdown. The Lobos had scored first, capitalizing on Randell King's recovery of a Killeen punt returner's fumble at the Roos' 21. Six plays later, Isiah Stoker slanted the final yard for the score. Jeff Works' conversion try was blocked. Killeeen answered with a seven-play, 94-yard drive built mainly on a 45-yard pass-and-run play to the Longview 14. William Wooten scored on a 14-yard sweep, but the Roos missed the extra point wide right. After taking the 20-6 lead, Longview expanded it on a 33-yard field goal by Works, who is 2-for-2 this season. It was set up by Juan Ingram's pass interception which he returned all the way, only to have the score nulled by a penalty. Killeen wasn't able to move again until the final 11 minutes, when they mounted an 88-yard march and scored on quarterback Quenten Patterson's 10-yard pass to Cedric Bennett. Longview countered when linebacker Dante Roberts hounded Patterson into an off-balance screen pass which defensive end Tony Cox intercepted and returned 33 yards for a touchdown with 4:50 to play. Killeeen's final touchdown came with 11 seconds remaining and each team playing its reserves. "We had a blitz on that play and we got good pressure," Bero said. "The defensive end sets for screens and flares, and that's just what Tony did, and that's what they threw." Also taking the ball away for Longview was safety Shawn Byrdsong, who recovered a first-quarter fumble after defensive tackle Desmond Moore blasted the ball loose from pass receiver Richard Daniels. Stoker ran for 75 yards on 26 carries, and the offense made a major contribution by committing zero turnovers. It was at least the fourth consecutive Longview-Killeen game in which the visiting team has won, a fact which Lobo fans hope doesn't inspire a major trend in scheduling. |