High School Sports

By CHRIS PARRY
Staff Writer

A week after going 1-3 in four Trinity Mother Frances SportsCare 7-on-7 league-play games, Robert E. Lee posted consecutive victories on Monday in round three at Lindsey Park.

The Red Raiders (3-3), who were recently buoyed by clinching a place at the FSN Southwest 7-on-7 State Tournament, defeated Lindale 35-20 and hung on to edge John Tyler, 27-26.

It was the first loss for the Lions (5-1), who beat Jacksonville 27-20 in their first game and still own a commanding two-game lead over REL for first place in the TMF SportsCare Division I standings.

Lindale (2-4) bounced back from its loss against Lee to outlast Jacksonville (2-4) in shootout, 45-44.

Play continues Thursday with round four at Lindsey Park.

John Tyler had a decision to make in its clash against cross-town rival Lee — go for two points and the win or one point and tie. Lightning forced the referees to eliminate any overtime, so with JT having just scored to make it 27-26, they were asked if they wanted to go for the tie or win.

The Lions decided to go for the victory.

Playing one untimed down, JT quarterback Jeremy Johnson rolled out and rifled a pass into the end zone, but it was intercepted by Lee cornerback Jordan Aubrey to end the game.

Prior to this play, REL and JT engaged in a back-and-forth struggle. Johnson finished with four touchdowns, two went to Demetree Curtis, and Lee quarterback Luke Wagner also had four scoring passes, two to Da Da Brown.

The deciding factor of the contest was point-after conversions. Lee was 3-for-4 on extra points while JT was 2-for-4, twice falling short on two-point tries.

The defenses stuffed the offenses in the first half to make the score 7-7 at halftime.

Wagner connected with Brown for a touchdown to begin the second half, and JT answered with a scoring drive that culminated in a touchdown catch by Detrich Morgan.

On the two-point try, Lee’s Trey Smith dove to knock the ball down and keep REL in front, 14-13.

This proved to be important.

The teams traded touchdowns and PATs before REL used Brown’s second TD and PAT to lead 27-20 with 1:56 remaining.

JT drove down, and on the final play of regulation, Johnson found Curtis for a touchdown. Aubrey’s interception on the next play secured a one-point win for Lee.

— Chris Parry

Lee built a commanding first-half lead and maintained control in the second half to defeat the Eagles by two touchdowns. Wagner tossed scoring passes to three different receivers — Derell Tate, Joe Turner and Steven Ragin — while REL’s C.J. Johnson and Josh Aubrey had interceptions to give Lee a 21-6 advantage at halftime.

Wagner continued to hook up with Turner for touchdowns in the second half, pushing the lead to 35-12.

Lindale quarterback Nathan Simmons attempted a comeback, throwing two touchdown passes to Logan Lawrence and another to Traevon Ray, but couldn’t get any closer.

— Chris Parry

John Tyler A team brought their “A” game against the Jacksonville A team by holding the Indians to only one score in the first half. The defense made three consecutive stops, highlighted by an interception from JT’s Detrich Morgan.

Meanwhile, John Tyler quarterback Jeremy Johnson tossed scoring passes to receivers Ky’orick Black and Tarrington Joiner. Jacksonville quarterback Kyle Stacy hooked up with Terrence Canady with his only touchdown pass of the first half.

In the second half, JT defense came out tough once again by stopping the Indians offense, but the Indians answered back with an interception by Corey Hamlett. This would give Stacy a chance to connect to Antwan Johnson for a touchdown reception. With a little more help from the JT defense, Johnson would answer back with touchdown passes of his own to Demtree Curtis and Black.

But Stacy would show off his arm by completing a 45-yard pass to Lavante Franklin in the final minutes of the game to give the Indians a chance to go into overtime, but John Tyler held off the Indians 27-20 to move to 5-0.

— Michael George

In a good old-fashioned Class 4A score-fest, Lindale quarterback Nathan Simmons had the final say.

He connected with five different receivers for six scores, including Logan Lawrence and D.J. Foster twice. Simmons turned in a near flawless performance committing no turnovers and was held scoreless on only one drive. Trailing by five with time running out, he hooked up with D.J. Foster for the eventual game winner.

Jacksonville struck first with a pass from Kyle Stacy to Chris Hall, but Lindale answered back quickly with Simmons’ pass to Traevon Ray to even it up. Lindale recorded the first defensive stop which led to a first half lead of 26-24 for the Eagles.

In the second half Lindale drew first blood with five consecutive passes that led to a D.J. Foster punch-in. On Lindale’s next possession Jacksonville mustered a defensive stop and a quick score to gain the first Indian lead of the game.

The teams continued to trade points, until Lindale’s defense made a final stand.

— Matt Loving

SUMMER FOOTBALL: John Tyler’s Ky’orick Black cuts back across the field during a 7-On-7 football game against Jacksonville Monday at Lindsey Park. JT won 27-20.
(Staff Photo By Mark Roberts)