ROSE CITY ROUT: John Tyler Runs Over Tyler Lee in 65-21 Triumph

TYLER – There wasn’t much John Tyler head coach Ricklan Holmes needed to say after his team’s disappointing 50-point, season-opening loss to Cedar Hill last week.

The Lions simply needed to face the music. Or in JT’s case, it needed to make their own.

John Tyler ran wild on crosstown rival Tyler Lee, rolling up more than 700 yards of offense is a 65-21 blowout Saturday night at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

“Last week practice just intensified, we were going at it trying to kill each other,” said John Tyler senior running back Cam Grant, who ran for 196 yards and three touchdowns. “I mean we had to go hard because Coach Holmes took the music away (from practice), so we had to make the music somehow.

“So we just went after it and tried to make each other better. We knew we had to make a statement because everybody was counting us out after the loss last week.”

Grant carried the ball only 10 times, but galloped for scoring runs of 35, 5, and 86 yards. He led a Lions (1-1) rushing attack that amassed 495 yards, and averaged almost 15 yards per carry.

“The O-line knows they don’t have to block 15 yards down the field for me,” Grant said. “All I need is about a split-second, and it’s off to the races. I just wanna keep giving them all the praise and the glory, and that’s what really helped us tonight.”

Leading 24-7 at halftime, John Tyler erupted for 27 points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter for a 51-7 lead.

“Any time you come away with a victory you’re gonna have a better taste in your mouth,” Holmes said. “We understand why we got beat the way we got beat last week; we didn’t play very hard. And it started with how we practiced. So I challenged the boys going into this week of practice, ‘practice like you want to win. Don’t just go through the motions.’”

Rod Hawkins added 103 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, Ka’Darian Asbell had 72 rushing yards, while Dayton Sherfield and Joshua Hudson added long scoring runs in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Devlen Woods, who was injured in the first half last week, was 7-of-9 for 207 yards with three touchdown passes. Ke’Andre Street, a Houston commit, had four receptions for 110 yards and two TD’s.

“He’s coming around,” Holmes said Woods. “He was a little gimpy going into this game but he toughed it out, and that’s what we needed to see out of him. He’s the leader of this team right now, and the kids understand that.”

Lee (0-2) had its moments on offense, but turned its 427 yards into only three touchdowns.

Red Raiders freshman running back Jamarion Miller ran for 152 and a pair of touchdowns in the losing effort.

“They have their own good running backs back there, too, as you can see with (Miller),” Holmes said of Lee. “He did a good job running the ball. We knew our front seven was gonna be real good this season. Our secondary still has a long way to go, we’re still giving up big plays but that’s why you go to practice every day.”

Lee quarterback Mark Patton passed for 258 yards, but was intercepted twice, once by Grant. Zaylon Walker had five catches for 128 yards.

Grant’s 35-yard scoring run gave JT a 7-0 lead midway through the opening quarter, but Lee answered right back with Miller’s 44-yard touchdown run.

The Lions then scored the game’s next 44 points, beginning with Woods’ 41-yard shovel pass for a touchdown to K’Lon Warren late in the first quarter.

Street caught a 26-yard TD in the second, and Frankie Sanchez nailed a 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Both teams return to the field next Friday night. Lee travels to Nacogdoches (1-1), while the Lions visit No. 7 Longview (2-0).

“Our schedule is brutal, and I built it that way for a reason because we’ve got to figure out what kind of football team we want to be,” Holmes said. “And we’ve gotta figure it out now, we can’t wait until later.”

John Tyler 65, Tyler Lee 21

At CHRISTUS TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

John Tyler          14    10    27    14    --    65
Lee                      7      0      0    14    –    21

First Quarter
JT—Cam Grant 35 run (Frankie Sanchez kick), 5:51.
LEE—Jamarion Miller 44 run (Mason Magers kick), 4:14.
JT—K’Lon Warren 41 pass from Devlen Woods (Sanchez kick), 3:16.
Second Quarter
JT—Ke’Andre Street 26 pass from Woods (Sanchez kick), 8:11.
JT—FG Sanchez 46, :00.
Third Quarter
JT—Rod Hawkins 68 run (Sanchez kick), 11:41.
JT—Grant 5 run (Sanchez kick), 11:07.
JT—Street 13 pass from Woods (Sanchez kick), 8:33.
JT—Grant 86 run (kick failed), 5:08.
Fourth Quarter
LEE—Miller 4 run (Magers kick), 11:08.
JT—Dayton Sherfield 43 run (Sanchez kick), 4:45.
LEE—Bernard Williams 17 run (Magers kick), 2:52.
JT—Joshua Hudson 62 run (Sanchez kick), 1:59.

                                           JT                   LEE
First Downs                          18                      17
Total Yards                           708                   427
Rushes-Yards                  34-495             43-169
Passing Yards                       213                  258
Comp.-Att.-Int.                 9-11-0            11-24-2
Punts-Avg.                       4-41.0              5-40.6
Fumbles-Lost                         3-1                  4-1
Penalties-Yards                     7-60                8-73

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—John Tyler, Cam Grant 10-196, Rod Hawkins 10-103, Joshua Hudson 2-74, Ka’Darian Asbell 7-72, Dayton Sherfield 3-42, Devlen Woods 2-8, Anthony Miner 1-3, Xavier Allen 2-(-3). Lee, Jamarion Miller 16-152, Bernard Williams 6-32, Jamar Arceneaux 8-11, Jordan Printers 3-2, Jamichael Turman 4-2, Sebastian Grady 1-(-6), Team 1-(-7), Mark Patton 4-(-17).
PASSING—John Tyler, Woods 7-9-0—207, Allen 2-2-0—6. Lee, Patton 11-24-2—258.
RECEIVING—John Tyler, Ke’Andre Street 4-110, K’Lon Warren 2-61, Miner 2-29, Keandre Ray 1-3. Lee, Zaylon Walker 5-128, Ryan Williams 3-51, Jamal Ligon 2-26, Grady 1-53.