Mansfield Lake Ridge Ends Longview’s Season In Area Round With 37-35 Win
TYLER -- Longview got itself in an early jam and clawed back into the lead before falling just short in Saturday evening's Class 5A Division I Region II area-round playoff game.
Andres Perez's 49-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left as time expired, sending Mansfield Lake Ridge to a 37-35 victory at a rain-soaked Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.
The Eagles (8-4), in just their third season of varsity football, advanced to the regional semifinals where they will meet McKinney North. Longview finished its season at 9-3.
The Lobos began the game's final drive at their own 37 with 1:11 remaining and no timeouts. An intentional grounding penalty on first down put Longview in a bind, but a defensive holding call on Lake Ridge helped extend the series.
With 22 seconds to play, Longview quarterback Dezmond Chumley fired a strike across the middle of the field to Antonio Carter, who drug a pile of defenders several yards, which bled the clock down to just three seconds. The 24-yard completion set Longview up at the Lake Ridge 33, and the Eagles called two timeouts before Perez attempted the kick.
Perez's boot, a line drive, had plenty of distance but sailed left of the uprights, which set off a wild celebration on the Lake Ridge sideline.
Eagles junior quarterback Jett Duffey piloted a Lake Ridge offense that gashed Longview for 572 yards for the game. Duffey completed 23 of 35 passes for 414 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also added 30 yards and two scores on the ground.
"We knew coming in we'd have a hard time with (Duffey)," said Longview coach John King. "He's hard to hem up and get on the ground. He's done that all year long; he's very elusive and has good receivers, a good running back and a good scheme with what they do."
Lake Ridge junior running back Duke Carter ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. Semaj Mitchell had five catches for 109 yards, while Jimmy Enobabar finished with six receptions for 93 yards in the Eagles' win.
"He's hard to get to when he throws the quick stuff, and of course when he drops back you always have to spy him with somebody," King said of Duffey. "And tonight, he was just a lot better than who we had spying him."
Longview fell behind 16-0 early in the second quarter, but scored three touchdowns in a little less than six minutes to vault in front, 21-16. Lake Ridge got a score before the half to take a two-point lead into halftime. Longview and Lake Ridge traded a pair of touchdowns in the second half.
The Lobos were led by junior running back Tylan Miller, who finished with 152 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
"He runs the ball hard and breaks a lot of tackles," King said of Miller. "Of course, he had a good supporting cast around him. But the yards after contact, that's just the kind of back he is. And he gave us that time and time again. The good thing about him is he's coming back."
Sophomore fullback Traveion Webster added 66 yards and a touchdown on six attempts, while senior Baylor commit JaMycal Hasty's last high school game consisted of 67 yards on four carries and two catches for 30 yards.
Longview went 63 yards in six plays on its opening possession of the third quarter, taking a 28-23 lead on a 10-yard touchdown by Miller with 9:06 remaining in the period. But Lake Ridge had the answer, traveling 75 yards in 12 plays. Carter's 9-yard touchdown run capped the drive, and gave the Eagles a 30-28 lead at the 5:38 mark in the third.
The Lobos stalled on their ensuing drive, and Lake Ridge extended the lead with an eight-play drive that covered 72 yards. Duffey's 9-yard touchdown pushed Lake Ridge's lead to 37-28 with 11:54 remaining in the game.
Longview faltered on its next two possessions, but late in the fourth, Chumley heaved a deep pass along the near sideline to Antonio Carter for a 55-yard touchdown, which cut the Eagles' lead to 37-35 with 3:11 to play.
Lake Ridge then failed to pick up a first down, which gave Longview one more chance.
The game could not have begun much worse for Longview, which allowed Lake Ridge to go 75 yards on its opening drive of the game and score on a Duffey 1-yard touchdown that gave the Eagles a quick 7-0 lead.
Longview went three-and-out on its initial series, and Lake Ridge proceeded to go on a 13-play drive that ended with a Julio Olvera 22-yard field goal that extended Lake Ridge's lead to 10-0 with 3:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Chumley was intercepted at the Lake RIdge 1-yard line on the ensuing possession, and the Eagles marched 97 yards in 11 plays, increasing the lead to 16-0 on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Duffey to Isaiah Jones with 10:40 to go in the half.
Longview used a 36-yard run by Miller on its next drive to get into Lake Ridge territory, and Chumley's 1-yard keeper got the Lobos on the board.
Shaun Lloyd then intercepted Duffey on the first play of Lake Ridge's next series, and on the very next play, Miller broke free for a 20-yard touchdown that cut the Eagles' lead to 16-14 with 7:54 remaining in the half.
"We put together an offensive drive and got a score, then turned around and got a turnover and get another score," King said. "We started doing what we do, and that's run the ball effectively. The kids starting coming off the ball and picking up all the twists and stuff they do, and the backs ran well."
Ameron Dean picked off Duffey in the end zone to stop Lake Ridge's next drive, and Longview once again turned the turnover into points. Webster's 20-yard touchdown run capped a six-play, 80-yard drive and gave Longview its first lead -- 21-16 with 2:36 to play in the half.
But Duffey and Lake Ridge had a crucial response. The Eagles went 85 yards in 10 plays, and re-gained the lead at 23-21 on Carter's 1-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds remaining until halftime.
Mansfield Lake Ridge 37, Longview 35
Class 5A Division I
Region II Area Playoff
At TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler
Lake Ridge 10 13 7 7 -- 37
Longview 0 21 7 7 -- 35
First Quarter
LR--Jett Duffey 1 run (Julio Olvera kick), 9:57.
LR--FG Olvera 22, 3:45.
Second Quarter
LR--Isaiah Jones 17 pass from Duffey (Olvera kick), 10:40.
LON--Dezmond Chumley 1 run (Andres Perez kick), 8:17.
LON--Tylan Miller 20 run (Perez kick), 7:54.
LON--Traveion Webster 20 run (Perez kick), 2:36.
LR--Duke Carter 1 run (Olvera kick), :16.
Third Quarter
LON--Miller 10 run (Perez kick), 9:06.
LR--Carter 9 run (Olvera kick), 5:38.
Fourth Quarter
LR--Duffey 9 run (Olvera kick), 11:54.
LON--Antonio Carter 55 pass from Chumley (Perez kick), 3:11.
LR LON
First Downs 29 19
Total Yards 572 398
Rushes-Yards 49-158 37-289
Passing Yards 414 109
Comp.-Att.-Int. 23-35-2 4-12-1
Punts-Avg. 3-21.0 3-40.7
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 13-105 10-89
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Lake Ridge, Duke Carter 30-128, Jett Duffey 19-30. Longview, Tylan Miller 19-152, JaMycal Hasty 4-67, Traveion Webster 6-66, Dezmond Chumley 7-9, Cameron Castleberry 1-(-5).
PASSING--Lake Ridge, Duffey 23-35-2--414. Longview, Chumley 4-12-1--109.
RECEIVING--Lake Ridge, Jimmy Enobabar 6-93, Semaj Mitchell 5-109, Isaiah Jones 4-47, Tra McCoy 2-47, Jabari Ford 2-42, Carter 2-32, Tyler Robinson 1-30, Austin Dunn 1-9. Longview, Antonio Carter 2-79, Hasty 2-30.