Tyler Lee’s Second-Half Woes Continue in 54-20 Loss to Rowlett

TYLER -- For the fourth time in five games, Tyler Lee's offense pulled a disappearing act in the second half. And Thursday night's woes sent the Red Raiders to an 0-2 start in District 11-6A.

Rowlett scored 28 unanswered points after halftime, helping the Eagles roll past Tyler Lee, 54-20, at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

The Red Raiders (1-4) have now been outscored 136-21 in the second half of their four losses. Lee held halftime leads in two of the four games, and trailed by a combined 13 points at intermission in the other two.

Rowlett quarterback Logan Bonner, an Arkansas State commit, led the Eagles (5-0, 2-0) by completing 28 of 43 passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Both scoring strikes were to LaDarius Dickens, who finished the night with a team-best nine receptions for 176 yards.

Eagles running back Kobe Morrow was also a factor, rushing for 178 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries, helping Rowlett amass 615 yards of total offense.

Lee's offense, which came into Thursday averaging almost 630 yards per game, was limited to a season-low 307 yards -- just 48 in the second half.

Red Raiders sophomore quarterback Chance Amie, making his second start in place of the injured Zach Hall, completed 8 of 18 attempts for 182 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Lee, which averaged 369 rushing yards through its first four games, was stymied on the ground by an overpowering Rowlett defensive front. The Red Raiders picked up just 117 rushing yards on the night, the majority of which came from Amie, who had 68 yards on 13 carries.

While the Red Raiders' defense has been much-maligned all season, the Lee offense didn't help matters by failing to sustain drives. Lee's only two offensive touchdowns came courtesy of long passes from Amie -- 67 yards to Isjuwan Barker on Lee's second play of the game, and 77 yards to Tyrec Grayson in the second quarter.

Aside from both touchdowns, Lee's offense mustered just 163 yards.

The Red Raiders received a gift late in the first half when senior defensive lineman John Samples III picked up a Rowlett fumble and returned it 8 yards for a touchdown, which cut Lee's deficit to 26-20 at halftime.

The surge in momentum, however, ended with the first play of the third quarter when Bonner hit Dickens on a slant for a 65-yard touchdown.

Dickens sparked Rowlett again later in the quarter when he returned a Lee punt 42 yards to the Red Raiders' 7-yard line. And on third-and-goal from the 6, Bonner connected with Dickens for a touchdown and 40-20 Rowlett lead.

The Eagles put the game away on touchdown runs of 32 and 52 yards from Morrow on their next two series.

Lee, meanwhile, collected just three first downs in the third and fourth quarters. The Red Raiders had just five second-half possessions; four of them ended with punts, and the other on Dylan Bauer's third-quarter interception of Amie.

Rowlett answered Lee's big-play touchdown on its first series of the game by marching its second drive 70 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Shabyrius Carter's 3-yard touchdown run. The PAT was unsuccessful, leaving Lee ahead 7-6 with 4:27 to play in the opening quarter.

The Red Raiders got a 34-yard run from Amie on the second play of the ensuing drive, but the quarterback lost the ball, and the fumble was recovered by Rowlett at the Eagles' 31. A 34-yard completion from Bonner to Dickens gave Rowlett a first-and-goal, and on third down, Dickens scored on a 1-yard run to give the Eagles the lead for good -- 13-7 with 1:04 remaining in the first.

Rowlett proceeded to score the game's next 10 points on a 33-yard field goal by Alvin Kenworthy and Morrow's 2-yard touchdown run for a 23-7 lead with 5:18 to play until halftime.

Lee responded on the first play of the ensuing drive when Amie lofted a deep ball in stride to Grayson, who burned the Rowlett secondary for a 77-yard touchdown, which cut the Red Raiders' deficit to 23-14.

Rowlett's next drive stalled in Red Raiders territory, and the Eagles had to settle for Chris Luplow's 22-yard field goal, which stretched Rowlett's lead to 26-14 with 1:50 showing on the second-quarter clock.

After stopping Lee on the next series, Rowlett appeared content to run out the remainder of the first-half clock, but Morrow lost a fumble, and Samples was there for the scoop-and-score. The extra point was not converted, and Lee trailed just 26-20 going into the break.

Each team's season resumes next week. Rowlett hosts Garland on Oct. 2 in a battle of district unbeatens, while Lee entertains Garland Lakeview Centennial next Thursday night.

Rowlett 54, Tyler Lee 20

At Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium, Tyler

Rowlett             13    13    21      7    --    54
Tyler Lee             7    13      0      0    --    20

First Quarter
LEE--Isjuwan Barker 67 pass from Chance Amie (Chris Blas kick), 11:23.
ROW--Shabyrius Carter 3 run (kick failed), 4:27.
ROW--LaDarius Dickens 1 run (Chris Luplow kick), 1:04.
Second Quarter
ROW--FG Alvin Kenworthy 33, 10:13.
ROW--Kobe Morrow 2 run (Kenworthy kick), 5:18.
LEE--Tyrec Grayson 77 pass from Amie (Blas kick), 5:01.
ROW--FG Luplow 22, 1:50.
LEE--John Samples 8 fumble return (kick failed), :29.
Third Quarter
ROW--Dickens 65 pass from Logan Bonner (Luplow kick), 11:44.
ROW--Dickens 6 pass from Bonner (Kenworthy kick), 5:09.
ROW--Morrow 32 run (Luplow kick), 2:57.
Fourth Quarter
ROW--Morrow 52 run (Kenworthy kick), 9:19.

                                               ROW               LEE
First Downs                                  33                 10
Total Yards                                 615               307
Rushes-Yards                        41-245         27-117
Passing Yards                             370              190
Comp.-Att.-Int.                     28-43-0          9-19-1
Punts-Avg.                              2-34.0          7-33.1
Fumbles-Lost                               2-1               1-1
Penalties-Yards                          4-30             6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Rowlett, Kobe Morrow 24-178, Noah Jones 3-22, Kenny Frechette 5-21, Logan Bonner 1-15, Shabyrius Carter 3-5, LaDarius Dickens 2-2, Garret Hermes 3-2. Tyler Lee, Chance Amie 13-68, Mason Parker 5-21, Tyrec Grayson 5-16, Tavon Wesley 4-12.
PASSING--Rowlett, Bonner 28-43-0--370. Tyler Lee, Amie 8-18-1--182, Rhett Parker 1-1-0--8.
RECEIVING--Rowlett, Dickens 9-176, Josh Lewis 5-62, Cameron Vitosh 4-44, Quinton Stinson 3-34, Jaylon Bolden 3-9, Dylan Watts 2-25, Jacob George 1-18, Morrow 1-2. Tyler Lee, Grayson 4-94, Isjuwan Barker 2-74, Campbell Miller 1-8, Dante Johnson 1-7, Parker 1-7.