L’Ravien Elia + Beaumont West Brook Take Down Lufkin in Epic 70-63 Shootout

LUFKIN -- With a pair of electrifying quarterbacks exchanging play after play, Beaumont West Brook's sophomore L'Ravien Elia made the last one.

Elia accounted for 557 total yards of offense and seven touchdowns, including the game-winning one in the last minute as the Bruins took a 70-63 win over the Lufkin Panthers in a 12-6A shootout at John Outlaw Memorial Field at Abe Martin Stadium on Friday night.

Elia ran for 252 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. None were bigger than his last one when he eluded a Lufkin defender and ran 35 yards for the game-winning score with 29 seconds remaining, giving the Bruins the pivotal win.

"It's not what we're looking for," Lufkin head coach Todd Quick said. "The kids played to the end but that's not what we wanted. We have to make plays and we're not making them when we need to."

James Denley was nearly as electrifying for West Brook as he ran for 191 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and also caught six passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Elia also did plenty of damage through the air where he passed for 305 yards and five touchdowns on 15-of-22 passing.

Kandin Robertson led West Brook's receivers with eight catches for 195 yards and three touchdowns.

In the end, West Brook needed all of that offense against a Lufkin offense that found itself on the wrong end of a shootout for the third time this season.

Kordell Rodgers was outstanding once again for the Panthers, throwing for 385 yards and three touchdowns on 24-of-42 passing. He also was the team's leading rusher with 132 yards and two scores on 13 carries.

Dhailon Phillips caught 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown but just had a potential game-tying Hail Mary slip through his fingers on the last play of the game.

Malik Jackson added four catches for 125 yards and a score.

It was a shootout from the opening minutes of the game in a first half that featured 774 yards, 63 points and four punts.

The Bruins opened the game with a rare stop before taking just two plays to score their first touchdown. After Lufkin stopped West Brook for a loss on the opening play, the Bruins went to their bag of tricks with Marcus Johnson throwing a lateral to Damon Ward, who found a wide open Kandin Robertson for a 60-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

That lead lasted only 51 seconds with Rodgers hitting Jackson in stride for a 49-yard score and a 7-7 tie less than two minutes in the game.

West Brook then drove the length of the field before Lufkin made a goal line stand with two stops inside the 2-yard line.

That momentum didn't last long as Lufkin went three and out from deep inside its own territory to give the Bruins the ball at the Lufkin 39.

Robertson then hauled in a 43-yard pass from L'Ravien Elia and James Denley scored from one yard out on the next play to give West Brook the lead at 14-7.

Lufkin had the answer again with Kahlil Brown powering his way into the end zone for a six-yard run that made it 14-14 with 2:37 left in the opening 12 minutes.

West Brook answered with its longest drive of the game with Denley finishing an 11-play, 79-yard drive with a two-yard plunge for a 21-14 advantage.

Lufkin didn't take nearly as long for the answer as it took only two plays to score. Rodgers connected with a wide open Phillips, who raced toward the end zone and shook off a tackler at the 5-yard line for a 64-yard score and a 21-21 tie with 9:54 left in the second quarter.

West Brook kept the fireworks going with Elia hitting a wide-open Elia for a 26-yard score that gave the Bruins a 28-21 advantage.

As was the case the entire first half, the Panthers answered once again as Jackson took a short pass and sprinted to the end zone before being tackled just short. Brown scored on a one-yard run up the middle on the next play, making it 28-28 with 6:51 left in the half.

The Panthers then answered with their second stop of the game to give its offense a chance to take the lead. Lufkin took advantage of that opportunity by putting together its longest drive of the half.

Rodgers capped off the 11-play, 68-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run that gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at 35-28.

In the opening half, Lufkin put up 393 yards on 35 plays, an average of nearly 11 yards per snap. That was just better than West Brook, which had 381 yards on 43 plays.

Rodgers led the Panters with 243 yards and two touchdowns on 10-of-16 passing while also running for 70 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

Jackson had three catches for 113 yards and Phillips added four receptions for 96 yards and a score before the break.

Elia, who had been primarily a running threat for West Brook, threw for 153 yards and a touchdown on 9-of-15 passing in the opening half.

Robertson had five catches for 144 yards and a touchdown in the first half.

After the teams exchanged punts to start the second half, the Bruins took advantage of a short field to tie the game.

After converting a third and long, Elia found a wide open Denley on a swing pass. He raced into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown that made it 35-35.

That tie didn't last long as Lufkin's high-paced offense went back to work with Rodgers hitting Jamel Richemond for a 23-yard touchdown and a 42-35 advantage with five minutes left in the third quarter.

Robertson continued his huge night on the following drive as he hauled in a 17-yard touchdown pass from Elia, tying it up again at 42-42 with 2:12 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers continued the offensive showcase with Tre Grant scoring his first touchdown of the season from two yards out on fourth down, making it 49-42 with 11:24 left in the game.

Two plays later, the Bruins' offense took advantage with Elia hitting Denley on a short pass. He made a pair of Lufkin defenders miss before running the last 80 yards for a touchdown that tied it up at 49.

Lufkin was then held to a punt and West Brook took advantage with Elia scoring on a 54-yard run that gave West Brook a 56-49 lead with 8:47 left.

A nice return by Phillips gave the Lufkin offense good field position and Rodgers took advantage with a five-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 56-56 with 5:57 remaining.

Robertson then came up with another big play, taking a screen pass from Elia and running in for a 23-yard score for a 62-56 lead with 3:32 remaining. However the extra point failed, leaving West Brook with a six-point advantage.

The Panthers took a single minute to answer with Tre Grant breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage and running for a 39-yard lead and a 63-62 lead.

However Elia had one final answer, eluding a Lufkin defender and sprinting 35 yards for a touchdown with 29 seconds remaining. He added the two-point conversion to make it 70-63.

Lufkin had one final gasp, but a Hail Mary just slipped out of Phillips' hands, leaving West Brook with a memorable win.