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Playoff clincher: Lobos defeat The Colony to earn postseason bid
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
Adversity was the key theme for Little Elm throughout the regular season.
The Lobos were plagued with injuries before their season-opening game against Sherman and also had to overcome the untimely passing of assistant coach Eric Jackson.
However, that adversity allowed Little Elm (5-5, 4-3) to clinch a postseason berth on Friday after finishing the season with three wins in the final four games.
The final two games of Little Elm’s district slate featured must-win games in order to earn one of the four playoff spots from District 9-4A. After earning a 41-17 victory over Frisco Wakeland two weeks ago, the Lobos were presented with a district finale against The Colony that meant a postseason bid if victorious or a fifth-place finish with a loss.
A 44-29 victory was the end result, as seniors Keaun Kinner and Devante’ Pullum led the Lobos with a combined five touchdowns.
“They found a way to slow [Kinner] down a little so we went to a shotgun formation set that Pullum has always done well in,” Stowers said.
The change allowed the senior signal caller to complete all six of his pass attempts for 48 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions while also running for 58 yards and two scores on 18 carries.
“It was good to see him get going a little bit,” Stowers said. “He’s not quite 100 percent yet but he’s definitely getting there.”
Pullum suffered a strained hip flexor during a preseason scrimmage and has missed significant action throughout the season because of the injury. It didn’t seem to slow the senior during Friday’s game against The Colony though, as Pullum also opened up space for his feature running back.
Kinner tallied 225 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries to give the senior nearly 2,700 yards this season. The Lobos needed every yard from Kinner with The Colony’s Bryan Hammond racking up 256 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries for the Cougars.
Life was made easier for the Little Elm offense after The Colony coughed up five fumbles and also had one pass intercepted by the Lobos.
“We stripped the ball a few times and made some plays to force some turnovers,” Stowers said.
The victory puts Little Elm into a first-round matchup against Mesquite Poteet (8-2, 5-2 in District 10-4A) at 7:30 p.m. tonight from Standridge Stadium in Carrollton.
“They’re very similar to Wakeland,” Stowers said. “They run a four-wide set with a similar quarterback and a few playmakers at receiver. The only difference is they don’t run inside as much.”
With Poteet running a similar attack as Wakeland, the Lobos should have added confidence after dismantling the Wolverines by 24 points just two weeks ago.
“We know we’re able to beat that caliber of team,” Stowers said. “It should give us all the confidence we need.”
Tonight’s winner will take on either Dallas Lincoln or South Oak Cliff next week from a site yet to be determined. Stowers said his team is more than capable of reaching that second-round matchup.
“We feel good about our chances,” he said. “Our record doesn’t really indicate how good we are. Hopefully going in as the four seed, they will under estimate us.”
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