Coltin Clack + Texas High Get First Win of the Season Over Rival Liberty-Eylau

[By JOSH RICHERT, Special to ETSN.fm]

TEXARKANA — Texas High finished with 403 yards of total offense in its best game of the season, upending cross-town rival Liberty-Eylau, 37-23, in a battle of teams searching for an initial win.

Quarterback Coltin Clack led the Tigers (1-2) with 205 yards passing and 109 yards rushing, accounting for five touchdowns—four through the air. Clack hit four different receivers for scores and was 17-of-23 passing.

The Leopards (0-3) committed three turnovers, two that cost them scores. Clack ran five yards to pay dirt after Elias Thurman’s first of two interceptions, which he returned to the L-E 5.

Tevailance Hunt (3 yards), Jaqualin Brown (14 yards), Chris Lyles (11 yards) and Vonderick Stanley (30 yards) each snagged a Clack touchdown pass, Hunt and Stanley scoring in the second half.

Decorian Phillips threw for 277 yards on 23-of-36 passing, was intercepted twice and rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown.

On the third play from scrimmage for the Leopards, Mahleik Darty caught a pass from Phillips and turned it into a 63-yard score. Dirty finished with six catches for 109 yards, and El-Amin Greer had seven for 90 yards.

Tremaine Brown had  fumble recovery just after Thurman’s second pick to get the ball back for the Leopards.

The Tigers defense turned Liberty-Eylau away on its final two drives, which ended at the Texas High 28 and 25.

Cedric Dickerson added a 1-yard touchdown run for Liberty-Eylau after being held to a runs of 1 and 2 yards, scoring on the third carry inside the 5 on the final offensive snap of the third quarter.

Lyles’ 11-yard score capped an 11-play drive and gave the Tigers their first lead of the game. They never relinquished it, scoring 17 points in the second quarter to take a 24-10 lead into the locker rooms at intermission.

The Leopards drove to the red zone on the drive after Clack’s TD run, but a fumble at the 1 preserved the 14-point lead for THS.

Phillips scored his rushing touchdown on the first L-E drive after halftime, but Hunt’s score built the lead back to double digits.

Stanley’s 30-yard strike came 2:52 into the fourth quarter for the final tally.

Texas High 37, Liberty-Eylau 23

Liberty-Eylau    7       7    13     0 — 23
Texas High       7     17      6     7 — 37

First Quarter
LE--Mahleik Darty 63 pass from Decorian Phillips (Steven Goben kick), 11:01.
THS--Jaquelen Brown 14 pass from Coltin Clack (Logan Snell kick), 3:32.
Second Quarter
THS--Chris Lyles 11 pass from Clack (Snell kick), 10:58.
LE--Goben 25 FG, 7:41,
THS--Snell 20 FG, 2:09.
THS--Clack 5 run (Snell kick), 1:46.
Third Quarter
LE--Phillips 3 run (Goben kick), 8:27.
THS--Tevailance Hunt 3 pass from Clack (kick failed), 6:04.
LE--Cedric Dickerson 1 run (kick failed), 0:07.
Fourth Quarter
THS--Vonderick Stanley 30 pass from Clack (Snell kick), 9:08.

                                      L-E            THS
First Downs                    18               21
Rushing Yards                27-86         43-198
Passing Yards                277             205
Comp.-Att.-Int.              23-36-2       17-23-0
Fumbles-Lost                 3-1             3-1
Penalties-Yards              8-59           7-50
Punts-Avg.                     2-32.5        3-32.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Liberty-Eylau, Phillips 14-58, Ralph Crabtree 8-19, Dickerson 4-5, Shannon Roy 1-4. Texas High, Clack 20-109, Chris Sutton 17-78, Hunt 5-14, Lyles 1-(minus 3).
PASSING—Liberty-Eylau, Phillips 23-36-2-277. Texas High, Clack 17-23-0-205.
RECEIVING—Liberty-Eylau, Darty 6-106, El-Amin Greer 7-90, Dazawion Cooper 6-51, Crabtree 3-17, Isaiah Cross 1-10. Texas High, Hunt 6-77, Brown 44-74, Stanley 2-29, Lyles 4-24, Kameron Burns 1-1.