Sandies Stumble in Season Finale
Grapeland Falls to Leon, 36-14
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
JEWETT – The Grapeland Sandies hit the road for their regular season finale as they traveled to Jewett to take on the Leon Cougars.
The Sandies knew going into the game if they won, they would secure a playoff berth. The Cougars were also playing for a shot at the postseason but their road was a little more difficult. They had to hope for a Groveton loss and to win by more than 10 points.
As it turned out, the Cougars were the ones who came out victorious as they pulled away from the Sandies in the second half to pick up the 36-14 victory.
The game started with a bang as the Sandies executed an onside kickoff to perfection. Peyton Prater teed up the ball like a watermelon and when he kicked it, the ball dribbled off of a Leon player and was pounced on by Grapeland at the Leon 47.
On the first play from scrimmage, Grapeland QB Johnny Lamb turned and handed the ball to Cadarian Wiley. The senior running back found a crease in the Cougar defense and 47 yards later, he crossed the goal line to give the Sandies an early 6-0 lead.
The Grapeland lead didn’t last long, however. On the ensuing kickoff, Leon’s Tito Gonzalez fielded the ball at the 36 and returned it to the Grapeland nine. The next play saw the Cougars fumble the ball into the end zone where Keston Johnson fell on it for Leon to tie the score at six.
The Sandies next possession began at their own 36 and Grapeland began a lengthy drive. After a one-yard loss by Wiley, Lamb connected with Riley Murchison for 20 yards. Lamb followed up with a 15-yard completion to Omarian Wiley and then completed a 10 yarder to Kionte Willis to bring the ball inside the Leon red zone.
The Grapeland drive stalled however, and when Lamb’s fourth down pass fell incomplete, the Cougars took over at their own 19.
From there, Leon began a methodical march down the field. Luis Guillen picked up eight for the Cougars on first down and then added one more on second down. Gonzalez gained eight on third-and-one to move the ball out to the 36.
Guillen was stuffed at the line of scrimmage on back-to-back plays but on third down, Gonzalez connected with Nathaniel Pedigo for 27 yards and a first down at the Grapeland 35.
A three-yard gain from Gonzalez was aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty to move the ball inside the Grapeland 20. Three plays later, Gonzalez burst up the middle for a 13-yard TD at the 11:50 mark of the second quarter. The try for two was good and gave the Cougars a 14-6 lead.
The Sandies came storming back on their next possession. Starting at their own 48, C. Wiley picked up six while O. Wiley added eight. Following an incompletion, O. Wiley added eight more to move the ball to the Leon 32.
C. Wiley did the rest as he took a handoff from Lamb, made the first would-be tackler miss and then outraced everyone to the end zone for six. Lamb found Murchison on the two-point conversion and with 9:48 left in the first half, the score was tied at 14.
The remainder of the second quarter saw the two teams exchange possessions with neither one getting close to sniffing the end zone. As a result, the two teams went to the locker room with the score all knotted up.
The Sandies opened the second half with the ball at their own 42 but a fumble gave it back to Leon at the Grapeland 38. It didn’t take the Cougars long to find the end zone as Guillen picked up 32 yards on first down and followed up with a six-yard blast across the goal line. The try for two was no good but with 10:25 left in the third quarter, Leon led by a score of 20-14.
Grapeland’s next possession also ended in a turnover and gave the Cougars the ball at their own 48. Gonzalez and Guillen took over from there as the duo ran the ball nine times between the two of them, before Gonzalez scored from four yards out. He also added the two-point attempt and with 26 seconds left in the third quarter, the Cougars now led 28-14.
As the fourth quarter began, the Sandies were on their own 40. C. Wiley gained 16 yards to move across the midfield stripe. Lamb then connected with Jax Vickers for 15 and had an extra 15 yards tacked on for roughing the passer.
The Sandies managed to get down to the four-yard line but that was as far as they would get. Three straight incompletions gave the ball back to Leon and the Cougars began a time- consuming drive that ended with a Gonzalez TD and two-point conversion to make the final score 36-14.
The loss ends the Grapeland Sandies season with a record of 4-6
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
