Longview Convincingly Beats John Tyler After Bizarre One-Hour Delay

TYLER --  The two teams that played Friday night scored so much they apparently broke the scoreboard at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. It simply would not respond to the control panel's commands.

That turned out to be the least of problems as personal devices counted down the final minutes ahead of Saturday's scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff between Longview and John Tyler in the third and final game of the 12th annual Trinity Mother Frances Football Classic.

The assigned officiating crew never showed up for the game -- what ultimately was a 31-14 Lobos win after the two schools pieced together replacements from various crews around the area.

"Hey, look, make the most of it and play ball," Longview head coach John King said. "I knew there were some things that were going to be issues. I found out on the ride over here. We didn't make them a big deal. Hey, we got it in."

The meeting, arguably the most high-profile game on the local Week 2 slate, started an hour behind schedule.

That gave the staff at Rose Stadium enough time to come up with an unconventional solution for a working clock.

After experimenting with a built-in iPhone timer, pointing a camera on it and displaying it on the stadium's video board during the delay, the staff found a computer program that could display a fully functional scoring system on the same board.

The only thing that gave away it wasn't the real deal was a digital arrow controlled by a mouse that hovered over the clock's start and stop button.

The play clocks also were affected by the technical issue. The replacement referees used a stopwatch on the field instead, a UIL standard at stadiums without play clocks. They also could have kept a game clock on the field in a worst-case scenario.

It's remarkable the game took place at all. Organizers found unscheduled officials willing to work on Saturday night of Labor Day weekend.

More than that, the makeshift crew called a great game that wasn't without its own problem. They broke up a post whistle skirmish midway through the third quarter that was seconds away from becoming a major issue.

And that's exactly where Longview (2-0) gained the upper hand for good.

John Tyler (0-2) came out the big loser of the melee. Down 17-14, it was assessed 35 penalty yards even after offsetting personal fouls. That set the Lobos up with a 1st-and-goal at the Lions' 10-yard line with about 6:00 left on the clock.

Lobos senior running back Tylan Miller was heating up after only gaining 56 yards in the first half -- although a 15-yard carry opened scoring in the game. He had already gained 86 yards in the first six minutes of the third quarter.

Miller took Longview the final 10 yards on two plays to up the lead, 24-14. He finished the game with 171 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries.

"He's a tremendous back and a perfect fit for our offense and what we do with our power stuff," King said. "He's a guy that runs between the tackles and is also good on the perimeter. He's hard to get on the ground. When he sees a crease, he sticks his foot in the ground and gets vertical. That's what good backs do."

John Tyler had nothing to counter Miller's onslaught in the second half. It only reached midfield once on four possessions, and it fumbled the one time it got across the 50-yard line.

The Lions' most successful drive of the night was 60 yards on eight plays in the first quarter after Longview threw its first of three interceptions in the half. They converted a 4th-and-one on the way before Tre Allison got in the end zone on a 4-yard carry.

That tied the game, 7-7.

Longview botched a punt return in the second quarter to set up the other score against it.

John Tyler drove 12 yards on two plays. Quarterback Bryson Smith ran it in from eight yards for a 14-7 lead with 7:23 left in the half.

Cody Jenkins kicked a 21-yard field goal to close the Lobos' next trip up the field.

The Lions could not do anything with the next two interceptions and took a 14-10 lead to the locker room before kicking to Longview to start the second half.

Miller gained 41 yards of a 73-yard drive and scored on a 6-yard run to give the Lobos their 17-14 advantage.

Running back D'Crayvan Polk scored from 12 yards with 11:46 remaining in the game. Longview was able to run the clock out following John Tyler's fumble in Lobos territory.

"To be 2-0 and not play well at times is nice," King said. "It lets you know that if you get things together and limit your mistakes that you can be a really good football team. But it's a heck of a lot better start than last year."

The Lions will square off against Tyler Lee at 7:30 p.m. Friday back at Rose Stadium. Both teams are winless.

Longview will meet Shreveport C.E. Byrd at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Shreveport's Independence Stadium.

"Byrd creates a different problem with what they do scheme wise," King said. "It's a Georgia Tech, triple option style of attack. They're going to make you be disciplined. If you don't get in a gap or don't leverage a play, they can take it the distance. They scored 56 points last night and could have scored 156 if they wanted to." 

Longview 31, John Tyler 14

At TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

Longview            7     3    14      7    --    31
John Tyler          7     7     0       0    --    14
First Quarter
LON--Tylan Miller 15 run (Cody Jenkins kick), 8:23
JT--Matrevious Allison 4 run (Devan Salazar), 3:36
Second Quarter
LON--Jenkins 21 field goal, 10:04
JT--Bryson Smith 8 run (Salazar kick), 7:23
Third Quarter
LON--Miller 6 run (Jenkins kick), 9:39
LON--Miller 2 run (Jenkins kick), 5:02
Fourth Quarter
LON--D'Crayvan Polk 12 run (Jenkins kick), 11:46

                                         LON             JT
First Downs                         21                10
Total Yards                        381               216
Rushes-Yards               47-275          30-109
Passing Yards                   106               107
Comp.-Att.-Int.              6-13-3         11-25-0
Punts-Avg.                     2-40.0          7-32.3
Fumbles-Lost                  3-1               2-1
Penalties-Yards              9-64            7-52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Longview, Tylan Miller 23-171, Austin Moore 7-58, Michael Ross 5-13, D'Crayvan Polk 10-27, Tyler Buchanan-Anderson 2-8, Gaylin Wiley 1-(-2). John Tyler, Bryson Smith 10-67, Dejuan Beal 13-22, Martrevious Allison 7-20.
PASSING--Longview, Ross 5-12-3--82, Wiley 1-1-0--24. John Tyler, Smith 11-25-0--107.
RECEIVING--Longview, Andrew Washington 1-46, Trajan Bush 1-24, Miller 2-18, Jon Sorey 1-12, Moore 1-6. John Tyler, Duntayviun Gross 1-55, James Allen 2-15, Beal 1-12, Tabias Marshall 1-12, Joshua Parker 1-4.