Longview Outlasts No. 8 Mansfield Summit, 21-20 + Advances to Third Round

DeSOTO -- Longview football coach John King summed everything up rather succinctly after his team's area-round playoff win Friday night.

"Good football teams practice on Turkey Day," he said.

The Lobos made sure their Thanksgiving plans will include football with a hard-fought 21-20 win over eighth-ranked Mansfield Summit at Eagle Stadium.

Longview (10-2) advanced to the Class 5A Division I, Region II semifinals where it will meet the winner of Saturday's matchup between Wylie and Rockwall-Heath, at 2 p.m. next Saturday from AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

"I've never even been inside of Jerry World before, so it's going to be just an out-of-this-world experience for me, and I know for everybody else, too," said Longview senior defensive end Bryan Gilliland, who had two of the Lobos' three sacks on the night. "We're super excited about it."

Longview's win Friday night featured a pair of crucial misses by Summit (10-2) kicker Josue Molina. He was wide right on a potential game-tying PAT with 9:23 remaining in the fourth, and later missed a go-ahead, 34-yard field goal try with 2:42 to play.

"We knew it was going to be a tough, physical ballgame," King said. "We made one more big play at the end of the game than they did. It was a good football team we just beat, and I think we're pretty good, too. It's playoff time in Texas, and we're going to see good ones every week."

Longview's rushing attack, which produced 232 yards on the night, wasn't explosive, but varied in the amount of effective runners. Four different ball carriers registered at least 45 yards, and three different players scored rushing touchdowns.

D'Crayvan Polk led Longview with 82 yards on 13 carries, gaining 30 yards on his first two carries, which helped the Lobos tie the game at 7-7 just before halftime. Up until that point, Longview had mustered only one first down and 36 yards of total offense.

"We blocked a little bit better on that drive, too," King said. "We kinda settled in on what they were doing (defensively), and our kids adjusted to the speed of their defenders, and did a better job of covering people up. We found something we liked, and stuck with it."

Braylynn Anthony and Tylan Miller each rushed for 47 yards, while fullback Austin Moore ran for 45 yards and a touchdown. Kendrevian White and quarterback Michael Ross had the Lobos' other two scoring runs.

"You can't thank that offensive line enough, but our backs, they're grinders," Ross said. "They're tough, hard, downhill runners, and they just can't get enough football."

Longview took the lead, for good as it turned out, with a 10-play, 78-yard drive that began with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter and ended with Moore's 1-yard touchdown plunge on the first play of the fourth.

Summit had a quick answer.

Jaguars quarterback Braden Nolen completed a 39-yard pass to Grant Easton on third-and-11 to the Longview 12, and running back Derek Johnson scored on the next play. However, Munoz's extra point attempt was wide to the right, leaving Longview up 21-20.

On the ensuing drive, Polk rushed for six yards to the Lobos' 45, but Longview was hit with a dead-ball personal foul penalty that created a third-and-18 from the 30. And Ross was sacked for a 13-yard loss to bring up fourth down.

Summit took over at its own 47 with 6:53 to play, and converted a fourth-and-1 with a Johnson 5-yard run to the Longview 25. The Jaguars called their second timeout of the half just before fourth-and-2, before bringing out Munoz for the potential go-ahead, 34-yard field goal.

The kick sailed just to the right, and Longview gained possession, picked up a couple of first downs, and ended in victory formation.

"You've got to give the credit to these guys for the fight they had in the third and fourth quarter," Ross said. "The fight we had in the first half wasn't really us. We got a little nervous, and we got knocked off the ball a few times. We played Lobo football in the second half."

Longview scored on its opening drive of the third quarter to break the 7-7 tie. Ross completed a 23-yard sideline pass to Anthony on third-and-17, which set the Lobos up in Summit territory.

"I think that had to be the play of the game, then going down and scoring," King said. "A big play to move the sticks, and he made the play. He scrambled around -- you take the good with the bad on that -- but he found it on that one."

Six plays after the clutch completion, Ross kept the ball on an option to the left for a 12-yard touchdown, which gave the Lobos their first lead at 14-7 with 8:10 remaining in the third.

Summit responded on the ensuing possession with an equally clutch third-and-17 conversion, coming on a 38-yard completion from Nolen to Lane Schwab down to the Longview 39.

Johnson, who finished the night with a game-high 131 yards on 21 carries, rushed the ball on the next two snaps, scoring untouched from 24 yards to tie the game 14-14 with 4:18 to play in the third.

Summit drew first blood on its second possession of the night, driving 80 yards in 12 plays, and scoring on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Nolen to Schaub, which gave the Jaguars a 7-0 lead with 2:29 showing on the first-quarter clock.

Longview's offense sputtered on its next two series, losing a fumble on one, and getting off just a 12-yard punt to end the other.

The Lobos' defense, and in particular its pass rush, made sure Summit couldn't capitalize.

"We've been upping our intensity and upping our fire, and just getting after it," Gilliland said. "We're not the biggest D-line Longview's ever had, we're not the biggest D-line anyone's ever had. But we've got the intensity and we're firing off the ball."

Longview's offense finally found its footing, but not before the Lobos dodged a bullet when punt returner Travian Clayborn recovered his muff at the Longview 15.

The Lobos then drove in 85 yards in 16 plays, and consumed seven minutes of the clock. The series included a third-down, and two fourth-down conversions, and concluded with White's 1-yard run that tied the game, 7-7, with 16 seconds to play until halftime.

Now, the focus shifts to the third round, where Longview hasn't won since 2010.

"Our kids will be excited about it, it's always a fun time," King said of practicing during the Thanksgiving holiday. "I know the staff and players look forward to it. We want to make it fun, but there's work to be done. It's not going to get any easier."

Longview 21, No. 8 Mansfield Summit 20

Class 5A Division I Region II Area Playoff

At Eagle Stadium, DeSoto

Longview                       0      7      7      7    --    21
Mansfield Summit          7      0      7      6    --    20

First Quarter
MS--Lane Schwab 27 pass from Braden Nolen (Josue Molina kick), 2:29.
Second Quarter
LON--Kendrevian White 1 run (Cody Jenkins kick), :16.
Third Quarter
LON--Michael Ross 12 run (Jenkins kick), 8:10.
MS--Derek Johnson 24 run (Molina kick), 4:18.
Fourth Quarter
LON--Austin Moore 1 run (Jenkins kick), 11:56.
MS--Johnson 12 run (kick failed), 9:23.

                                          LON                  MS
First Downs                            18                   18
Total Yards                           284                 330
Rushes-Yards                  49-232           29-147
Passing Yards                         52                183
Comp.-Att.-Int.                   3-6-0          14-22-1
Punts-Avg.                        3-32.3            3-38.7
Fumbles-Lost                          2-1                1-0
Penalties-Yards                     3-30               5-45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Longview, D'Crayvan Polk 13-82, Braylynn Anthony 9-47, Tylan Miller 7-47, Austin Moore `12-45, Kendrevian White 3-6, Michael Ross 5-5. Summit, Derek Johnson 21-131, Braden Nolen 7-13, Fred Adams 1-3.
PASSING--Longview, Ross 3-6-0--52. Summit, Nolen 14-22-1--183.
RECEIVING--Longview, Anthony 2-41, Chris Braggs 1-11. Summit, Lane Schwab 5-89, Medric Roberson 4-26, Grant Easton 4-21, Adams 1-(-3).