Longview Looks To Build On Last Week’s Comeback Win Saturday Afternoon

CLASS 5A DIVISION I
Region II Area Playoff

Longview Lobos (9-2)

vs.

Mansfield Lake Ridge Eagles (7-4)

3 p.m. Saturday
TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

Coaches

• Longview: John King
• Lake Ridge: Kirk Thor

Last week

• Longview: def. Lufkin, 43-42
• Lake Ridge: def. Dallas Kimball, 42-17

Next week

• Winner faces either McKinney North or West Mesquite, 5A Division I Region II semifinal

Playmakers

Longview

• RB JaMycal Hasty, Sr., 5-9, 181 (10 carries, 92 yards; 3 catches, 49 yards, TD in two games; committed to Baylor)
• OL Broderick Washington, Sr., 6-3, 290 (committed to Texas Tech)
• RB Tylan Miller, Jr., 5-9, 205 (180 carries, 1,291 yards, 16 TDs; 11 catches, 166 yards, 2 TDs)
• QB Dezmond Chumley, Sr., 6-1, 190 (80 of 138, 1,477 yards, 12 TDs, 7 INTs; 56 carries, 231 yards, 9 TDs)
• TE Jordan Wyatt, Jr. (6 catches, 91 yards, TD)
• LB Jaylon Jackson, Sr., 6-0, 210 (89 tackles, 9 for loss, 2 sacks, blocked kick)
• WR Antonio Carter, Sr., 6-2, 180 (29 catches, 447 yards, 5 TDs; 1 carry, 34 yards, TD)
• S Khalil Williams, Sr., 5-11, 170 (92 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 INTs, 3 PBUs, blocked kick, defensive TD)

Lake Ridge

• QB Jett Duffey, Jr., 6-0, 165 (123 of 230, 1,674 yards, 18 TDs, 7 INTs; 136 carries, 934 yards, 13 TDs)
• RB Duke Carter, Jr., 5-8, 180 (246 carries, 1,731 yards, 21 TDs; 17 catches, 176 yards)
• WR Semaj Mitchell, Sr., 5-10, 165 (39 catches, 545 yards, 5 TDs)
• DB Arnold Azunna, Jr., 6-0, 180 (2 INTs)
• WR Tra McCoy, Jr., 6-2, 188 (16 catches, 217 yards, 4 TDs)
• RB Gerard McClain, Jr. (34 carries, 243 yards, 2 TDs)

Just the facts

• This is the first-ever meeting between Longview and Mansfield Lake Ridge, which is just in its third season of varsity football.
• Longview is 27-10 in the playoffs under head coach John King, including 8-1 in second-round games.
• The Lobos are averaging 42.8 points and 423.6 yards per game -- 273.1 rushing and 150.5 passing.
• Longview is allowing 21.2 points and 285.7 yards per game -- 114.5 rushing and 171.2 passing.
• The cumulative record of Longview's opponents is 54-51.
• Lake Ridge is averaging 41.4 points and 450.4 yards per game -- 297.9 rushing and 152.5 passing.
• The Eagles are allowing 30.7 points and 361.1 yards per game -- 182.2 rushing and 178.9 passing.
• The cumulative record of Lake Ridge's opponents is 56-60.

Key matchup: Longview rushing attack vs. Lake Ridge defensive front. Both offenses are near-mirror images of one another, so whichever team's running game is the most effective Saturday stands an excellent chance of moving on in the playoffs. With the addition of JaMycal Hasty, who missed the first nine games of the season because of a back injury, Longview's rushing offense is almost at full strength. Fullback Marquies Hunter, the Lobos' second-leading rusher, sat out last week's game while recovering from an injury. It is unclear whether Hunter will return for Saturday's game. Even without Hunter, Longview's offense was in fine form a week ago, putting up 542 total yards of offense on Lufkin, including 237 on the ground. Junior tailback Tylan Miller, who leads the team with more than 1,200 yards on the year, had another big night with 119 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He also added three catches for 21 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining. Hasty, who didn't play much in his season debut two weeks ago against Hallsville, found his footing against Lufkin with 123 total yards of offense -- 92 rushing and 31 receiving, including a 24-yard scoring reception. If Longview can get similar production from Miller and Hasty this week, the Lobos should have no issues with moving the ball.

For the most part, Lake Ridge's rush defense has done great work this season. With the exception of a couple of shaky performances against Mansfield Timberview and Mansfield Summit, the Eagles' defense has been solid against the run. On the season, Lake Ridge is limiting opponents to a little more than 180 rushing yards per game. If the Eagles can match that kind of success against Longview this week, Lake Ridge stands an excellent chance of keeping the game close throughout. Longview senior quarterback Dezmond Chumley has had his ups and downs this season, but when called upon in last week's dramatic come-from-behind win over Lufkin, the Lobos' signal-caller came through. In perhaps his best game as Longview's starting QB, Chumley passed for a season-high 305 yards and four touchdowns to help lead the comeback. The tight ends were a big part of the Longview passing game as seven of Chumley's 17 completions went to the TE combo of Jordan Wyatt and Emmanuel Gordon. So if pressed into action, Longview's passing game appears more than capable of delivering. But with guys like Miller and Hasty occupying the backfield, expect the Lobos to stick to their run-first mentality.

Don't be surprised if: Each team tries to stay away from the passing game. Weather forecasts for Saturday afternoon in Tyler call for a 70 percent of precipitation, which could make throwing the football a treacherous proposition. The weather shouldn't stop either Longview or Lake Ridge from executing their run-first approaches. The Eagles actually average more rushing yards per game as a team than Longview with nearly 300 yards per game. Junior quarterback Jett Duffey is an explosive dual-threat athlete, who can just easily burn opposing defenses with his legs. When Duffey doesn't take off and run, he has a viable weapon at running back in Duke Carter, who is approaching a 2,000-yard rushing season. With rain expected throughout the game, turnovers could also become a factor. Whichever team has the most success at running the football in the wet conditions figures to be in great position to come out on top. Because of each team's commitment to running the football and the projected rainy conditions, Longview and Lake Ridge would like not to have to attempt more than 20 passes for the game.