Kilgore Rolls To 40-7 Defeat Of Pine Tree + Notching First Win Of Season

KILGORE -- Both Kilgore and Pine Tree came into this battle of former district rivals with 0-2 records, but Pine Tree's was a lot worse.

The Pirates had given up 130 points in two games, while Kilgore had lost twice -- to two Class 5A teams -- by a combined three points.

Kilgore got its first win of the season at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium Friday night, a 40-7 homecoming victory. Xavier Gaona completed 10-of-16 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns -- two to tight end Jarod Wood and one to Trey Tinney. Running back Kevrin Justice got back into the lineup after missing last week's game. Justice, a Houston commit, had 109 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Kilgore (1-2) plays at Texas High next Friday night, thens hosts Gladewater on Sept. 26 to round out its out-of-district schedule.

The Bulldogs got a 6-yard touchdown run by Quavion Mumphrey on their first series of the game, but a blocked extra point resulted in a 6-0 first-quarter lead.

Pine Tree had a difficult time moving the ball on a still-inexperienced Kilgore defense. But the Kilgore defense played much better than in last week's 51-50 loss to Corpus Christi Flour Bluff in Galena Park. Kilgore held the Pirates to just 16 yards in the first half. In the game, Kilgore forced four turnovers, three of them interceptions. William Colbert had two, and Chris Toombs had one.

The defense allowed the Bulldogs to recover from coughing the ball up on a fumble on the next drive, and then Kilgore added a second touchdown in the second quarter, a 3-yard run by Justice. Kilgore scored once more before halftime -- a touchdown catch by Wood off a batted ball. Wood finished with two catches for 44 yards, and both were touchdowns. Kilgore led 20-0 at the half.

The Bulldogs extended the lead to 27-0 when Gaona hooked up with Tinney on a 41-yard scoring pass with less than 20 seconds off the third-quarter clock.

Pine Tree's lone score of the game was a third-quarter run of 7 yards by quarterback Mason Hays, who had 97 yards rushing on the night, Pine Tree's most productive offensive player. The passing game yielded only 19 yards.

Kilgore completed the scoring with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Gaona to Wood three minutes into the fourth quarter, and then on a 4-yard run by Jaquorius Smith before time expired.