Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Control of destiny: Victory keeps Lobos in prime playoff position
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
It might not have been a must-win situation, but Friday night’s contest against Heritage came close to an elimination game for Little Elm.
The Lobos entered the matchup with a 1-2 mark against District 9-4A opponents and played host to the now 0-4 Coyotes.
Little Elm took care of business and earned a 35-28 victory for a .500 district mark with three games remaining in the regular season.
With the game being closer than the Lobos might have expected, it was a kickoff return from senior Jaylen Price that provided the early-game spark for Little Elm. Price took a short kickoff at the 25-yard line and returned it 75 yards to the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
“That was big,” Stowers said. “It kind of got us going and ended up being the difference in the game.”
Heritage responded with back-to-back touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead. The first score came courtesy of a 4-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Twayne Blackwell to senior receiver J.K. Babers before senior running back Collin Charles scored the game’s first touchdown of the second quarter on a 1-yard run.
“It wasn’t one of our best games as far as execution,” Stowers said. “The effort was there though.”
That’s when Little Elm senior running back Keaun Kinner took over, exploding for a pair of long touchdown runs to give the Lobos a 21-14 halftime lead.
Kinner broke free for runs of 61 and 72 yards in the second frame to give the senior 339 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries in the game.
“[Kinner] is one of the best running backs in the state,” Stowers said. “He’s an incredible running back.”
Blackwell and Kinner traded 3-yard scoring runs in the third quarter to make it a 28-21 affair heading into the fourth. Blackwell ended his night with 164 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries while completing 12-of-24 pass attempts for 101 yards, two scores and one interception.
“[Blackwell] is another version of our Devante’ Pullum,” Stowers said. “He’s very elusive.”
Kinner’s fourth touchdown of the night put the Coyotes in too big of a hole and allowed the Lobos to prevail with a 35-28 victory.
“Heritage came out and did some things to us,” Stowers said. “We tried to figure out what would work to get our offense back on track and finally figured out what to do to get Kinner going.”
The win pushed the Lobos into a three-way tie for fourth place in the district standings. Wakeland and The Colony also boast 2-2 marks through four 9-4A games.
A key matchup at second-place Prosper tonight could now provide Little Elm with an inside track to the postseason.
“If we are fortunate enough to win this one, it would alleviate a lot of the pressure,” Stowers said.
Heritage was slated to meet another winless team in district action Thursday night at FC Dallas Stadium in Frisco. However, the results of the game with Liberty were not known as of press time.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Little Elm «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
