Ennis Holds Off Nacogdoches’ Rally to Take a 34-27 District Win

NACOGDOCHES -- Nacogdoches had a golden opportunity to force overtime, but fell short in a 34-27 loss to Ennis on Friday at Dragon Stadium.

After mounting a comeback from being down 20-6 at halftime, the Dragons found themselves down 34-27 with an Ennis fourth down.

The Lions attempted a punt, but had the snap sail over the punter’s head to set the Dragons up at the Ennis 12-yard line.

But a negative rush and three straight incompletions sealed the win for the Lions.

Ennis was carried to the win by a potent rushing attack.

Tycen Thompson led the Lions with 15 carries for 191 yards and three touchdowns. He was joined by backfield mate Trevon Smith, who went for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

Noah Hildebrand led the Dragons with 12-of-24 completions for 177 yards and three touchdowns.

Those came on a 8-yard fade pass to Brandon Jones with 7:09 in the third quarter; a 52-yard bomb to Alex Gregory with 0:57 in the third quarter; and a 23-yard strike to Jaylon Maxie with 10:00 left in the game.

Phillip Jones edged the Dragons out to a 6-0 lead to start the game when he rushed two yards for a touchdown with 6:04 left in the first quarter.

But the Lions scored 20-unanswered points in the second quarter to ensure a 20-6 halftime lead.

Those came on a 16-yard rushing touchdown by Smith, a 43-yard rush by Thompson, and a 21-yard rush by Thompson.

The Dragons came out of halftime and scored back-to-back touchdowns on passes from Hildebrand to Jones and Gregory to even the score at 20-20 with 0:57 in the third quarter.

Thompson regained the lead for the Lions with a 58-yard touchdown run with 0:38 left in the third quarter.

The Dragons answered for the last time on the pass from Hildebrand to Maxie and then Ennis scored the winning touchdown on an 11-yard rush by Smith with 6:06 to play.

With the win, the Lions improved to 3-2 (2-0 in District 16-5A). Nacogdoches fell to 1-4 (0-2 in district).