Lovelady Wins Houston County Showdown Against Grapeland

By Lawanna Monk

Special to The Messenger

LOVELADY –   The Lovelady Lions – Grapeland Sandies county shoot-out ended in a 38-28 Victory for the Lions.

The Sandies won the toss and deferred to the second half. Jayleon Tillis teed up the ball for the Sandies. Jayden Shelton fielded the ball for the Lions on the lion 35.  

Lion QB Lance Pierce took the snap from center Tyler Gilchrist. The offensive line finished out by Terrelle Easterling, Silas Strength, Ben Monk and Eric Castillo performed very well against the Sandie defense giving protection for the back field. Pierce handed off to Davian Skinner on three consecutive plays advancing the Lions to the Grapeland 48. Sandies making the tackles on these downs were Jax Vickers, Will Smith and Isaiah Chimal. The Lions changed it up a bit on the next set of downs with Jordan Blackmon carrying the ball for three consecutive downs advancing the Lions to the Grapeland 22. In three downs, Skinner had put the Lions on the board with 7:02 on the clock. Blackmon took over as QB and handed off to Skylar Pipkin for the 2 point conversion putting the Lions up 8 to 0.

Keevy Bruins called for a fair catch on the Sandies 29. Smith gained six yards before being brought down by Lion Travis Cook. On second down, Smith made it out to the Sandies 41 where he was tackled by Ben Monk for the Lions. Trey Gilmore gained five yards before being taken down by Lane Wilson for Lovelady. Gilmore put the Sandies just over into Lion territory as Kye Terry made the stop. Vickers advanced the Sandies to the Lion 25 with Alvaro Gonzales in on the tackle. Smith handled the ball on two downs for a gain of five with Terry making the stop on the 20. Sean Walker carried the ball to the 12 for the Sandies before being tackled by Lion Wilson. Gilmore was in for the Sandie TD with 3:56 on the clock. A point-after attempt failed, making the score Lions 8 – Sandies 6.

Grapeland’s kick was downed by Shelton on the Lion’s 32. Skinner showed great ability to cut back and forth advancing the ball to the Lion 47. Blackmon was stopped for a short gain by Bryson Johnson. Pierce went to the air connecting with Skylar Pipkin to the Sandies 33. Lions went back to the running game with Sinner charging to the Sandies 17 in two downs. Sandies Semaj Wagner and Johnson were credited for the tackles. Blackmon had put the Lions on the 12 yard line as time expired in the first quarter. Pipkin made his way to the nine yard line. Skinner was stopped on the three. Then, with 11:41 on the second quarter clock, Skinner was in the end zone for the TD. Skinner was in for the two-point conversion putting the Lions up 16 – 6.

The next scoring drive for the Lions started on a pass interception by Pipkin on the Lion 26.  Cortavies Whitaker busted out of the back field and with a nice lead block by Castillo, was out to the Lion 41 before Diego Fajardo was able to stop him. Whitaker put the Lions over into Sandie territory with Walker making the tackle. Skinner went back to work following Strength’s block and in two carries had the Lions on the 34. Blackmon took over and in two downs had the Lions on the 24. Whitaker narrowed the distance to the goal line in half and put the Lions on the 12. Skinner was stopped by Gilmore on his first attempt to score but on the next down he would not be denied and was in for the TD with 5:32 on the clock. The point-after attempt failed, making the score Lions 22 – Grapeland 6.

Grapeland started their scoring drive on the opening kickoff of the second half. The kick was fielded and downed at the Sandies 40. Walker gained six yards before Terry made the stop for the Lions. It was Walker again with the carry, this time Alan Baskin making the stop for the Lions on the Lion 45. Gilmore was only able to gain three yards before being hit by Blackmon and Wilson. Sandies were denied any yardage on the next down due to Lions Monk and Aiden McIntyre. Walker was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Strength and Trey Smith. A Lion penalty advanced the Sandies five yards. Gilmore carried the ball for the Sandies in two downs and made it to the 30 with Cook making the stop.  Only able to gain short yardage due to the Lion defense by Pipkin, Wilson, Cook and Castillo, the Sandies were facing fourth and long. A personal foul by the Lions put the Sandies on the lion 14. In three downs, Gilmore put the Sandies on the board again with 6:44 on the clock. The point-after-touchdown failed, making the score Lions 22 – Sandies 12.

Tillis kicked for the Sandies and Shelton had a short return to the Lion 39. Blackmon moved the Lions to the Sandies 38 in three downs with Braelon McDaniels and Vickers making tackles for the Sandies. Skinner gained 11 yards before Fajardo was able to bring him down. On the next play, numerous Sandies tried to get Skinner to the ground but he kept going to the two yard line, then stepped in for the two-yard TD with 4:13 on the clock. Whitaker score the PAT putting the Lions up 30 – 12.

The Lions next scoring drive started due to being held by the Lion defenders Baskin, Gilchrist, Smith and  Cook. Lions take over on the Sandies 33 on downs when a fourth down pass fell incomplete. Skinner put the Lions on the 13 in two downs. It only took Whitaker two downs to put the Lions in the end zone with :15 on the third quarter clock. The two-point conversion was good by Skinner putting the Lions up 38 to 12.

Sandies scoring drive started at their 20 after the kickoff. Johnson brought the ball out to the 31.  A pass to Bruins put the Sandies on the Lion 42. A big sack by Lions Baskin and Monk set the Sandies back to the 48. The Sandies struck back with a TD pass with 10:12 on the clock.   And the pass was good for the extra two, making the score Lions 38 – Sandies 20.

C. J. Wiley fielded the onside kick for the Lions.at the lion 45. The Lions turned over the ball on downs. The Sandies waisted no time and on second down the QB threw a long pass to Bruins and he was in for the TD with 4:26 on the clock. Gilmore carried the ball in for the extra two, making the final score Lions 38 – Sandies 28.  

Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]