Staff Writer
MESQUITE — Robert E. Lee will face Dallas Skyline in the Class 5A Division I Playoffs. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at Corsicana’s Tiger Stadium.
It gives the Red Raiders seven days to forget their worst loss this season.
Lee allowed two punt returns (73, 83) for touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns (13, 3) and two long passing touchdowns (74, 58) in a 44-10 loss against Mesquite Friday in both teams’ district finale at E.H. Hanby Stadium.
The Red Raiders (5-5, 3-2) and Skeeters (6-4, 4-1) entered the game having already qualified for the playoffs. Both teams, because of enrollment, would compete in 5A Division I, which meant Friday’s game determined seeding and who would finish second and third in the final district 12-5A standings.
|
The Skeeters held Lee to 55 yards of offense in the first half to take a 21-0 lead at the break. After REL got on the board in the third quarter, courtesy of a 46-yard field goal by Taylor Matlock, Mesquite responded with 23 unanswered points.
Lee sophomore Luke Wagner helped the Red Raiders notch a consolation touchdown with a 14-yard pass to Joe Turner for the final score.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Lee and put the Red Raiders in a match-up with Skyline (9-1), which beat Bryan Adams 52-6 in its regular-season finale.
Lee head coach Mike Owens said his team must play much better to have a chance next week.
“We are playing a great Skyline team and I told them tonight, if we play like this, it will be 60,” Owens said. “We are going to try and forget this. I don’t know if we can, but it will be up to them — if they want to practice, and how hard they want to practice; and get ready to play and go give it our best shot.”
Mesquite senior quarterbacks Luke Halpin and Kelly Page combined to rush for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Each also threw a touchdown pass. Senior receiver Cadarren Scroggins led all players with five catches for 104 yards, highlighted by a 74-yard touchdown strike from Halpin.
Lee senior Jamal Mitchell carried 10 times for 124 yards with sophomore Da Da Brown tallying 55 yards in 11 attempts.
Lee senior quarterback Brandon Rogers completed five of 16 passes for 15 yards with an interception.
Mesquite, which entered the game as predominantly a passing team, took control in the first half with its running game. Halpin and Page helped Mesquite outgain Lee 193-55 in the first half.
Halpin got Mesquite on the board with a 13-yard scoring run on an option read.
A stalled Lee drive led to a 52-yard punt from senior Sean Raney that pinned the Skeeters back on their own 12. Mesquite didn’t blink, driving 88 yards in 18 plays, assisted by a pass interference penalty and late-hit penalty from Lee. Page capped the drive with a three-yard run to make it 14-0.
The Red Raiders again were held to three and out, bringing out Raney. The senior let loose with his best punt of the season, a 59-yard bomb that dropped Mesquite returner Darien McNealy back to his own 27. The Skeeter return man sidestepped one Lee defender and picked up blocks to return it 73 yards for a touchdown. The third PAT from Bradlee Baladez made it 21-0 at the half.
Lee got on the board with its first drive of the third quarter, thanks to Matlock’s long field goal. Mesquite never let Lee get any closer, using another long punt return and two long touchdown passes for a 44-3 lead at the end of the third quarter.
