Tyler Lee Thrashes John Tyler For First Win + Star QB Zach Hall Boards Bus On Crutches

TYLER -- Tyler Lee quarterback Zach Hall tweaked his knee early in the third quarter against arch rival John Tyler and never returned.

But there was no second half letdown in this one. The Red Raiders kept on keeping on with sophomore backup Chance Amie in a 69-38 win over their arch rival Friday at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

"I did a spin move with my leg," Hall said. "I kind of twisted my knee. I've got to get an MRI tomorrow. They think it's some of my meniscus."

If the MRI confirms Hall has torn cartilage, he'll likely need arthroscopic surgery. Fortunately, it's not supposed to be a season-ending injury. Recovery times from that type of surgery range from two to three weeks.

Unfortunately, Lee (1-2) has a game Thursday on the road at Sachse. Its District 11-6A opener.

Hall finished his night with two touchdown throws and 135 passing yards in addition to a score on the ground and 43 more yards.

Amie completed both of his passes in the game for 48 yards, including a late touchdown throw. He ran for a score and 83 more yards.

"We'll have to wait and see," Red Raiders head coach Darrell Piske said. "We don't know. That's up to the good lord. We can't worry about that. We've just got to come in tomorrow and start to get to work against Sachse."

Hall has 922 total yards through three games this season.

But Lee's offense wasn't just Hall and then Amie. Running back Tavon Wesley picked up 162 yards, receiver Tyrec Grayson had long touchdown runs of 88 and 58 yards off sweeps and receiver Datavion Thacker also got over the century mark on the ground with 105 yards.

In total, the Red Raiders' offense recorded 737 yards.

The Lions (0-3) picked up a season-best 401 yards -- 91 of those yards coming on a dump off pass from Bryson Smith to Duntayviun Gross. That was also a season-best for Lee's defense.

John Tyler was forced to punt five times and turned the ball over twice.

"I thought the defense did pretty good," Piske said. "Especially in the first half. We don't have to shut people out. We've just got to get stops. I thought we did a good job of that tonight."

Lee got the ball first and drove 76 yards in eight plays. Grayson punched it in from a yard on fourth-and-goal.

Grayson gave the Red Raiders a 14-0 lead with his 58-yard run. Thacker's 26-yard run upped it to 21-0, but a celebration penalty gave the Lions great field position to start their fourth drive.

Quarterback Bryson Smith scored from nine yards out to give John Tyler some life.

Hall connected with Isjuwan Barker for a 39-yard touchdown minutes later. Another personal foul on the score set the Lions up with a drive that started at Lee's 45-yard line.

Tre Allison got in on a short run to make the score 28-14 in favor of Lee.

John Tyler had a real chance after forcing Lee's second punt of the game with 3:43 left in the half and would get the ball to start the second half. Smith found Gross in the flats for the 91-yard score two plays later.

Yet Lee went 74 yards in less than two minutes. Thacker got jammed at the line of scrimmage, lateraled back to Hall and Hall got in from three yards.

Cornerback Makyle Sanders picked off Smith at the John Tyler 26-yard line 58 seconds before halftime. Hall found Barker again on a 4-yard pass with no time left for a 42-21 lead.

With Amie, Lee had a 32-point lead at the end of the third quarter.

"We just had to finish," Grayson said. "We hadn't been finishing lately. Now that we have, I feel we can do some good things. Some crazy things with our offense."

Both teams specifically pointed to Friday's game as a must-win before the season started. The meeting became way more than bragging rights though. It was the non-district finale from both the Red Raiders and Lions, and they were a combined 0-4.

While it competed against a strong schedule, John Tyler will begin District 16-5A play in two weeks as the only team in its league without a win. It entered the season as a split favorite with Ennis.

Everyone in the Lions' district will be idle this upcoming week.

Three teams in Lee's district began the weekend without wins. The Red Raiders are now one of six teams in the league with at least one victory. Rockwall and Garland Naaman Forest are still winless.

Amie is probably the guy that will try to lead Lee to an early share of first place in the 11-6A race.

"All I can do is support my team," Hall said. "The guys are playing for everyone. It's all part of the plan. All I can do is support my team."

Tyler Lee 69, John Tyler 38

At TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

Tyler Lee              14    28    14    13    --    69
John Tyler            0      21      3    14    --    38
First Quarter
LEE--Tyrec Grayson 1 run (Chris Blas kick), 9:05
LEE-- Grayson 58 run (Blas kick), 1:02
Second Quarter
LEE--Tavon Wesley 79 run (Blas kick), 11:00
JT--Bryson Smith 9 run (Devan Salazar kick), 9:55
LEE--Isjuwan Barker 39 pass from Zach Hall (Blas kick), 8:41
JT-Martrevious Allison 5 run (Salazar kick), 5:51
JT--Duntayviun Gross 91 pass from Bryson Smith (Salazar kick), 3:21
LEE--Hall 3 run (Blas kick), 1:10
LEE--Barker 4 pass from Hall (Blass kick), 0:00
Third Quarter
LEE--Grayson 88 run (Blas kick), 7:14
JT--Salazar 35 field goal, 4:18
LEE--Barker 33 pass from Chance Amie (Blas kick), 2:10
Fourth Quarter
JT--Demondre Bacon 65 fumble return (Salazar kick), 10:34
LEE--Datavion Thacker 70 run (kick failed), 9:19
JT--Smith 9 run (Salazar kick), 7:39
LEE--Wesley 19 run (Blas kick), 1:58

                                         LEE               JT
First Downs                        26                18
Total Yards                        737              401
Rushes-Yards               53-554          29-123
Passing Yards                  183               278
Comp.-Att.-Int.              10-15-0         17-24-1
Punts-Avg.                     3-39.3          5-33.8
Fumbles-Lost                    2-1              5-1
Penalties-Yards               7-79             6-41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Tyler Lee, Tavon Wesley 13-162, Tyrec Grayson 6-147, Datavion Thacker 9-105, Chance Amie 9-83, Zach Hall 12-43, Mason Parker 3-9, Gayle Nowel 2-5. John Tyler, Bryson Smith 13-78, Martrevious Allison 12-32, Dejuan Beal 3-8, James Allen 1-5.
PASSING--Tyler Lee, Hall 8-13-0--135, Amie 2-2-0--48. John Tyler, Smith 17-24-1--278
RECEIVING--Tyler Lee, Isjuwan Barker 5-90, Dante Johnson 2-45, Grayson 1-25, Parker 2-11. John Tyler, Duntayviun Gross 6-159, Damion Miller 4-58, Jerry Young II 3-28, Allison 1-20, Kadarius Henderson 2-11.