Lewisville team impressive in second-round state playoff game.
This has been a remarkable year for Lewisville. The Lions won the Region 3-A championship and coach Leon Boulware has been named Coach of the Year.
And, thanks to their effort Saturday afternoon, the Lions will get a shot at the next goal.
Lewisville was impressive on both sides of the ball at home as they turned away an athletic Denmark-Olar squad. Ian Grissom and De’Adrian Robinson connected for two passing touchdowns, Zach Rogers rushed for two more, and Lewisville claimed a 43-18 win in second-round action of the SCHSL football playoffs.
“Our guys did what we expected them to do. We made sure we contained the quarterback,” Boulware said. “We were told we couldn’t play with them. We did what we had to do on defense and executed when we needed to on offense. It was an all-around team game.”
Lewisville (11-1) scored on its first two possessions, with one coming on a drive that took nearly half of the first quarter and culminated with a two-yard Rogers run. The Lions jumped ahead 14-0 on their ensuing possession, getting a 47-yard strike from Grissom to Robinson.
Denmark-Olar (7-4) countered with a 54-yard interception return by William Conelly Jr. to cut the lead to 14-6 as the first period drained away. The result was not to Boulware’s liking, but the Lions’ leader had nothing but praise for the response from his sophomore signal-caller.
“He made a bad read. That’s part of having a young quarterback,” Boulware said. “We said, ‘so what, now what?’ and he bounced back and managed the game for us. He did a good job.”
The visiting Vikings cashed in another defensive score early in the third, as Kelveon Adams snatched away the ball from a Lion ball carrier and galloped 43 yards for a touchdown. The Adams score cut the Lewisville margin to 17-12.
Lewisville authoritatively responded, tearing off a stretch of 26 unanswered points over much of the second half. Grissom and Robinson again connected, Rogers rushed for another score, JaQuintus Cousar crossed scored and Darcel Fee added a 35-yard field goal.
The Lion defense stiffened to hold the Vikings run game under 100 yards. The Vikings did not cross midfield until early in the fourth quarter.
Denmark-Olar broke the string of consecutive Lion points with a 22-yard touchdown toss from Christopher Sanders to Tykeem Ross with 1:15 remaining.
“Our defense is clicking right now. You win championships on defense,” Boulware said. “That’s one of the things we’ve been preaching since day one. We’re proud of our guys flying around to the football and playing together.”
Grissom completed 13-of-19 throws through the air for just shy of 170 yards and two touchdowns. Fee neared the 150-yard mark on 16 carries.
“Everybody sees all the time that we’re gonna throw the ball over the top,” Boulware said. “We saw that they were gonna give us the run game early on, and we took what they gave us. We’re a well-balanced team. We were able to execute with our run game.”
The Lions will travel to 1A power Christ Church next Friday for the upper state semifinals. Boulware expressed his excitement for the opportunity.
“The message to the team tomorrow is that we’ve been down and out all year,” Boulware said. “We’ve been told that we can’t play with Christ Church. Now we get them. We get to line up against them.
“They may be a private school, but they haven’t seen a team like Lewisville that’s coming Friday.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 6:17 PM.