The Lions won their game against the Pflugerville Panthers 40-3 on Friday, September 20.

“Our defense played as good as I’ve seen them play since the first week,” head coach Lee Bridges said. “They shut down some big plays, top opportunities that Pflugerville had.”

The game began with the Panthers kicking off to the Lions. In the first minute of the game, the Panthers intercepted a pass, but were stopped on their 31-yard line. They attempted a field goal, but it was no good. The rest of the quarter continued with four flags and no score.

In the second quarter, the Lions had the ball on their own 41-yard line. There were a couple of flags called, but that didn’t keep quarterback Brandon Hopp from making a 15 yard touchdown run. The extra point was no good, and the score was 6-0 to the Lions.

From the kickoff return, the Panthers attempted a field goal, and it was good, score 6-3 to the Lions. In the last two minutes of the half, Hopp was sacked twice, leaving the Lions on the 3rd down with 16 to go. After a timeout, senior Reece Richey scored a touchdown.

“We had ran [the play] four or five times on that same drive and they weren’t adjusting to it,” Richey said, “so we knew that finally they’re going to try and adjust to it, so we ran a trick play off of it and that’s what I ended up scoring on.”

The extra point was good, score 13-3 to the Lions. Then, with 34 seconds left in the half, senior Tyler Poe intercepted a Panther pass, and the half ended with the Lions in possession of the ball.

To start off the second half, the Lions kicked off to the Panthers. In the next minute, junior Jacob Hanawalt recovered a fumble with the ball on the 43-yard line. The Lions made a 33-yard touchdown run, and the extra point was good, score 20-3 to the Lions. With 6:33 left in the quarter, the Lions intercepted the ball. From there, Hopp made an 18-yard touchdown pass to Mikael Dawkins, junior, but the extra point was unsuccessful, and it was a score of 26-3 to the Lions.

“It felt good,” Dawkins said. “I was kind of nervous because it was raining and my hands were wet, but it made it happen, and it felt great.”

Another recovery was made, but this time it was by junior Andrew Alaniz.

“When I saw the ball on the ground, of course I jumped on it,” Alaniz said. “It was just instinct.”

Hopp made a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior Michael Lecaros and the extra point was good,  which would be the last score of the 3rd quarter.

In the final quarter, Raymond Gibson, sophomore, made a 10-yard touchdown run, which would be the score to end the game. Later in the quarter, Pflugerville Panther Cameron Barrs was injured, ending the game with 3:47 left on the clock. Barrs was sent to the hospital with a mild concussion, but went home the same night.

The next game is the first district game against defending state champions, the Cedar Park Timberwolves; it’s known as the “Crosstown Showdown.” The Lions will play at home at 7:30 p.m.