Longview Rallies, Overcomes First-Half Turnovers in 27-6 Win Against Rowlett

DALLAS -- When Longview doesn't turn the ball over, the Lobos are hard to stop.

After losing three first-half fumbles and being fortunate to have a one-point halftime lead, Longview dominated the second half, shutting down Rowlett and scoring 20 third-quarter points to win 27-6 in a Class 5A Division II Region II bi-district playoff at John Kincaide Stadium.

Longview (8-3) plays Dallas Jesuit (9-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Wildcat-Ram Stadium in Richardson. Jesuit beat McKinney Boyd 31-10 on Friday.

Longview scored the game's final 27 points after a sluggish first 22 minutes of the game. Senior tailback Tory White fought back after losing two first-half fumbles to finish with 128 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, while sophomore quarterback Dezmond Chumley completed 13 of 17 passes for 160 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown to Chris Pellum on the first half's final play that sparked the Lobos' rally.

"You try to survive at this stage at the game, but we're going to have to clean it up," said Longview coach John King. "Turnovers will bite you in the butt, and we had three of them in the first half. I thought our defense played well to hold them to two field goals in the first half."

Longview shut down Rowlett's quick-hitting spread passing game. Eagle quarterback Carson Hyles finished 23 of 40 for 219 yards and three interceptions. Longview outgained Rowlett 389-261, including a 212-42 rushing advantage.

Rowlett's Aspen Hulme hit two first-half field goals (38, 28) to take advantage of Longview's three turnovers, but the Lobos got a six-play, 74-yard drive capped by Chumley's 35-yard touchdown pass to Pellum as the first-half clock expired for a 7-6 halftime lead.

Longview forced a punt on Rowlett's first second-half possession and senior Nakia Brown took it 81 yards to the house for his fourth punt return touchdown of the year and a 14-6 lead less than two minutes into the third quarter.

From that point, Longview dominated.

"The (35-yard touchdown) play to end the half and the punt return to start the second half just got things going for us," King said. "We were needing a shot in the arm and we got it. The kids were excited coming off the field (at halftime after Pellum's touchdown). I knew if we could just come out and secure the football and play good defense like we had, I thought we could move the ball and have an opportunity to win the game."

"It was huge being able to run the football effectively. It does a lot to set up our throwing game, and we were able to do that. I thought our offensive line played well all night long."

Longview senior Jaylan Lawson got his second interception of the game four minutes after Brown's punt return TD. The Lobos then ran four times for 65 yards to score on sophomore J'Mycal Hasty's bruising 22-yard run for a 20-6 advantage.

Another Rowlett three-and-out set up Longview's final touchdown drive. Brown returned the punt 19 yards to the Eagle 39-yard line before a 19-yard pass from Chumley to Justinn Spady set up Tory White's two-yard touchdown run with 1:05 left for the 21-point victory margin.

Brown had 114 yards and a touchdown on three second-half punt returns and added an interception from his cornerback spot. Spady led Longview with four catches for 70 yards, and Hasty had three carries for 45 yards. Senior defensive end Tre Allen was involved in three tackles for loss.

Longview senior fullback Antonius Sanders had six carries for 36 yards and three catches for 17 yards before leaving the game in the fourth with an apparent foot injury.

Rowlett's Chris Heath had a game-high eight catches for 70 yards.

Longview drove almost 60 yards on the game's first possession, but White fumbled at the Rowlett 2-yard line. The Eagles' second possession ended in Lawson's first interception, which came in his own end zone to thwart Rowlett's best opportunity for a touchdown.

Hulme hit his 38-yard field goal with 5:13 left in the first half. White's second fumble near midfield led to Hulme's 28-yarder for a six-point edge with 1:36 to play until halftime.

Rowlett's best second-half scoring opportunity ended in a missed 49-yard field goal. Longview senior defensive end Jalen Porter dragged down a receiver for an eight-yard loss on a reverse two plays earlier to ultimately force a longer kick.

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Class 5A Division II Region II
Bi-District Playoff

Longview 27, Rowlett 6
John Kincaide Stadium, Dallas
Rowlett -- 0 6 0 0 -- 6
Longview -- 0 7 20 0 -- 27

Second quarter
ROW -- Aspen Hulme 38 field goal -- 5:13
ROW -- Hulme 28 field goal -- 1:36
LON -- Chris Pellum 35 pass from Dezmond Chumley (Andres Perez kick) -- 0:00
Third quarter
LON -- Nakia Brown 81 punt return (Perez kick) -- 10:15
LON -- J'Mycal Hasty 22 run (kick failed) -- 4:59
LON -- Tory White 2 run (Perez kick) -- 1:05

ROW               LON
First Downs                       14                  14
Rushes-Yards                16-42             36-212
Pass Yards                       219                177
Comp.-Att.-Int.              23-40-3         14-18-0
Penalties-Yards               4-25               7-60
Fumbles-Lost                   1-0                 3-3
Punts-Avg.                      4-31.8            4-37.0

INDIVIDUAL
Rushing -- Rowlett: Carson Hyles 8-21, Derrick Imade 5-16, Nigel Hasty 3-5. Longview: Tory White 17-128, J'Mycal Hasty 3-45, Antonius Sanders 6-36, Damion Russell 3-20, Jeremy Powell 2-6, TEAM 2-(-5), Dezmond Chumley 6-(-13).
Passing -- Rowlett: Carson Hyles 23-40-3 219. Longview: Dezmond Chumley 13-17-0 160, Stephon Dunn 1-1-0 17.
Receiving -- Rowlett: Chris Heath 8-70, Jonathan Williams 7-58, Aaron Booker 4-52, Darrell Rodgers 4-39. Longview: Justinn Spady 4-70, Dorian Leonard 3-29, Antonius Sanders 3-17, J'Mycal Hasty 2-9, Chris Pellum 1-35, Jeremy Powell 1-17.