Posted 12:20 am Sunday, July 12, 2009
Lee Posts Dramatic Win Over Whitehouse
COLLEGE STATION -- It was the most dramatic comeback Robert E. Lee's 7-on-7 team has ever produced.
The Red Raiders trailed Whitehouse 33-12 in the second half of their consolation second-round game, but outscored the Wildcats 22-0 after that to pull out a 34-33 victory Saturday in the Fox Sports Net 7-on-7 State Tournament at Texas A&M's Penberthy Fields.
Lee couldn't keep the momentum going in the quarterfinals, falling to eventual consolation champion Houston Stratford (46-33). Round Rock Stony Point finished as overall champion by defeating Cypress-Fair 33-31 in the championship bracket final.
"We've never had a team come back on a team as good as Whitehouse like we did today," said Lee 7-on-7 head coach Randy Womble. "They had to play their britches off. I've never seen anything like that in 7-on-7 football; especially as good as Whitehouse is.
"It was an emotional game ... it's too bad that we had to play each other that early."
The Wildcats were unfortunate to be in the consolation bracket to begin with as Whitehouse went 2-1 in pool play, but were the odd team out in a three-team tiebreaker. Cy-Fair, which Whitehouse dominated 41-28 in pool play, went on to reach the championship bracket final.
Lee's lone victory in pool play was over Pearland, which reached the consolation final against Stratford.
Whitehouse looked primed to move into the quarterfinals after rushing out to a 26-12 halftime lead against Lee. Whitehouse scored on its first possession of the second half to build a seemingly insurmountable 33-12 advantage.
"We jumped out on them early and they made some adjustments and they were able to contain us," said Whitehouse 7-on-7 head coach Chris Conder. "They knew they could come back."
Lee quarterback Luke Wagner led the offense on successive scoring drives while defensive backs Chad Reese and Marvin Gray stopped Whitehouse with interceptions. Gray's pick occurred near the end zone.
With time running out, Wagner connected with Brandon Ross for the tying touchdown. Needing a conversion to win the game, Wagner rifled a pass to Marquise Mosley.
"It was a good lesson for our kids," Conder said of the loss. "We saw that we have the talent to play with everyone who is there, but it takes a lot of focus too.
"You just can't let up. You can't have any mental lapses. It shows how hard it is to win a big-time critical game and hopefully it will translate well into this season."
Womble said his team used up so much energy to come back against Whitehouse, it didn't have enough left for Stratford.
"We lost one of our starting cornerbacks, Gilbert Sutton, in the Whitehouse game and we just couldn't keep up with the pace of scoring," Womble said. "It was a real good tournament. The kids really competed. We were in a tough pool (Friday) and they fought really hard today. I think they come out of this tournament with a lot to build on for this fall."
