Lions fall short in season opener
Ellison defeats Lions in first game
September 4, 2017
The Lions came out of the game last night against the Ellison Eagles with a 14-32 loss. After failing to score in the first half, the Lions could not catch up with the Eagles in time.
“After the first half we didn’t give up and we worked well as a team so that was good to see that we are capable of working it out,” senior Alex Hensley said. “[The second half] just wasn’t going our way. We let up some big plays which killed us.”
The Lions started out on defense and held back their offense in their first drive. But later after a turnover were unable to stop the Eagles. They then scored another touchdown but missed the resulting PAT. After a brief back and forth between the two teams, the Lions conceded another touchdown but stopped the following 2-point attempt. Ellison would score one more touchdown, after another turnover, before the half finished at 0-25.
“We looked a little tentative,” head coach Tim Smith said. “That first half it didn’t look the way we had practiced and they were probably a little overwhelmed. Some of those guys are 15 years old so that’s the first varsity game. The second half we did better, we controlled the clock, ran the football and our [offensive] line has much improved over the past couple years and we kind of got in a rhythm or a roll.”
After the first half we didn’t give up and we worked well as a team so that was good to see that we are capable of working it out.
— Alex Hensley
The Lion offense came out fighting in the second half and scored almost immediately after play resumed with junior Rashad Carter rushing in the first touchdown of the year. The score stayed at 7-25 for the rest of the quarter. However, with just over six minutes left in the game, Ellison rushed for another touchdown making the score 7-32. The Lion offense pressed on and after a long reception by senior Dalton Flowers, Carter and Flowers connected on the following play for a touchdown. However, it was too little too late and the game finished 14-32 Ellison.
“We just need to come out quicker at the start of the game,” sophomore Eli Gehman said. “This week in practice we’re just going to learn from last game and get ready for Pflugerville.”
The next game will be on Thursday, September 7 starting at 7:00 pm at Bible Stadium against the 0-1 Pflugerville Panthers.
