High School Sports

By HAROLD WILSON
Staff Writer

The Red Raiders still run the city of Tyler on the football field.

Robert E. Lee seized the momentum early, eased to three quick scores and squeezed out a 28-17 win over previously-unbeaten No. 8 John Tyler in the Rose City Rivalry on Friday night at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

Four different players scored touchdowns as Lee handed JT a stunning defeat, running their streak to four consecutive wins over the heavily favored Lions.

Freshman sensation LaQuintas Wallace returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, Chris Dinkins delivered a scintillating 63-yard scoring run moments later and Da Da Brown found the end zone on a pass from Luke Wagner -- all in the first six minutes -- as the Red Raiders (3-5, 3-1 in 11-5A) remained in the district-championship hunt with the upset victory.

Lee held JT to a season-low in points and yards (293) to jump ahead and hold off the Lions.

"The defense was as good as I've ever seen," said Robert E. Lee head coach Mike Owens, who improved to 12-4 all-time versus JT. "They really had it down. I believe in these guys. I knew they were good. They just had to get it worked out."

The Lions (8-1, 3-1) lost their first game, but also stayed in contention for a gold ball heading into next week's season finale against state-ranked DeSoto.

"We made too many mistakes to come out of the hole," said JT head coach Dereck Rush, whose team entered the game as the state's top-ranked team in two power polls, and the No. 27 squad by one national service. "We got in a hole and couldn't overcome it in the second half."

The Red Raiders controlled the tempo and the clock with their well-distributed rushing attack, which accounted for 197 yards.

Myers rushed 12 times for 108 yards and a touchdown, and Dinkins added 76 yards rushing on six attempts.

Wagner enjoyed an efficient night offensively, completing 6 of 8 passes for 112 yards and a TD.

The Lee defense doled out punishment, holding JT's high-powered offense to 103 yards rushing after the Lions entered the game averaging 330 on the ground.

Lee forced two turnovers and recorded two sacks -- one each from Austin Wilson and Patrick Howard. Marvin Gray produced both takeaways on what turned out to be two crucial drives, recovering Johnson's fumble early in the fourth quarter and picking off the same JT quarterback on the Lions' final drive of the night near midfield.

Johnson, who entered the game with more than 2,200 yards of total offense and 29 TDs, rushed for eight yards.

The Lions won the second-half battle (10-0), closing the gap on a Jesse Diaz field goal and Ky'Ordric Black TD run, but hurt their cause with two turnovers and a failed fourth-and-1 attempt from the Lee 19 on the opening drive of the third quarter.

"We pretty much beat ourselves as far as tackling," Rush said. "We didn't execute right."

Lee struck right away, scoring the first two times it touched the ball, and after forcing a second straight three-and-out, added a four-play drive to take a shocking 21-0 lead.

Wallace trekked 95 yards as the 54th meeting between the teams kicked off, slicing to the left side and outrunning all pursuers to give the Red Raiders an early advantage.

After holding JT to four yards on three plays, Lee doubled its lead courtesy of Dinkins. On a running play to the right side, several Lions penetrated the backfield on what appeared headed for a loss. Dinkins squirted free from the pack, however, and ran back to the left and left the entire JT defense in his wake en route to an electrifying 63-yard TD scamper.

JT's next series netted minus-nine yards and a 35-yard punt set up Lee in Lion territory at the 48.

Moments later, facing third-and-2, Wagner worked his way out of pressure and four nearby JT defenders, stepped in the pocket and spotted Brown downfield near the end zone. Brown hauled in the pass and avoided oncoming traffic to complete the 29-yard score with not even six minutes elapsed yet.

"We had to practice hard, come out and play hard," said Brown, a four-year varsity performer who improved to 4-0 against his rivals while playing his last home game. "It's all about the emotion. We knew we hadn't lost in four years - we had a lot on our shoulders. We knew we had to get out on them early. We knew they could score points. We knew we had to score every time we touched the ball. that's what we tried to do. This gives us a lot of momentum into the next game and into the playoffs."

-- -- --

Robert E. Lee 28, No. 8 John Tyler 17

At Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium

Robert E. Lee 21 7 0 0 -- 28

John Tyler 0 7 3 7 -- 17

First Quarter

REL -- LaQuintas Wallace 95 kickoff return (Austin Sperry kick), 11:46

REL -- Chris Dinkins 63 run (Sperry kick), 10:04

REL -- Da Da Brown 29 pass from Luke Wagner (Sperry kick), 6:10

Second Quarter

JT -- David Bush 20 pass from Jeremy Johnson (Jesse Diaz kick), 6:57

REL -- Aaron Myers 33 run (Sperry kick), 2:28

Third Quarter

JT -- FG Diaz 32, 0:02

Fourth Quarter

JT -- Ky'Ordric Black 16 run (Diaz kick), 4;09

EST.ATT. -- 13,000.



REL JT

First Downs 12 19

Rushes-Yards 36-197 30-103

Passing Yards 112 190

Com.-Att.-Int. 6-9-0 22-31-1

Punts-Avg. 2-33.0 4-34.3

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1

Penalties-Yards 7-60 5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Robert E. Lee,

Aaron Myers 12-108, Chris Dinkins 6-76, Da Da Brown 10-8, LaQuintas Wallace 3-7, Luke Wagner 5-(-2).

John Tyler,

Ky'Ordric Black 7-61, David Bush 4-27, Jeremy Johnson 14-8, Kedrick Chancellor 5-8.

PASSING -- Robert E. Lee,

Wagner 6-8-0 -- 112, Wallace 0-1-0 -- 0.

John Tyler,

Johnson 22-31-1 -- 190.

RECEIVING -- Robert E. Lee,

Brown 3-68, Henry McCuin 1-25, Dinkins 1-12, Myers 1-7.

John Tyler,

Bush 5-52, Ricky Collins 5-50, Courtland Nickelberry 5-39, Black 5-32, Demetree Curtis 2-17.

MAJOR UPSET: Robert E. Lee running back Chris Dinkins avoids a tackle by John Tyler linebacker Joe Bayonne on Friday.
(Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero)