McBee thwarts Lewisville Lions’ rally in 1A playoff run

It’s tough to keep secrets from regional foes in the playoffs. Lewisville found that out Friday night in the Sandhills.

The Lions launched quick-strike drives on their Region 2-A foes on the first two possessions and held the Panthers at bay through much of the second half. Lewisville began a drive with 2:10 to play down one score, but could not draw level, as McBee held off the visitors, 27-20.

“Unfortunately, with high school football, it can only end good for one team,” said Lewisville coach Will Mitchell. “I feel like the kids played so well. They played so hard. I hope they take some lessons from this. Sometimes you put your whole heart and soul into something, and sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn’t. A whole lot of times this year, it worked out.”

Lewisville (10-3) took just five plays and 35 seconds to get on the board, striking first on a 42-yard toss from Trey Keels to Johnny Courtney to go ahead 6-0. A prolonged McBee drive ended in a one-yard plunge from Ricardo Wright, giving McBee (10-3) an 8-6 lead. Keels then found Mike Hill from nine yards out to cap a four-play drive that took just over a minute, giving the Lions a 12-6 advantage.

Lewisville trailed 24-12 at the half, but stiffened defensively in the second stanza. Four straight Panther drives ended fruitlessly, as the Lions’ run defense held McBee’s talented run game to short bursts. Keels hit AJ Robinson as the fourth quarter began to draw the Lions within four, but Lewisville’s final two drives would allow them to draw no further.

Mitchell spoke well of his team and its continued ascent after the game.

“You can’t say enough about them. For a lot of the seniors, they’re not done with football. For our underclassmen, now we’ve been here. Now we’ve been this far. It’s not a fantasy or a dream or something that coaches just talk about. Now they understand what it feels like.”

Turning point

Lewisville forced fumbles on back-to-back McBee possessions in the late first and early second quarters. The first possession gave the Lions the ball at their own 32. That seven-play drive saw the Lions pushed back to a second-and- 40 situation, and the drive ended on a punt. The next Lion drive ended after two plays, as Shane Hammonds scooped a Lewisville fumble and took it 32 yards to the end zone to put McBee ahead 16-12.

“The two takeaways that we had were really, really damaging,” said Mitchell. “They led directly to two scores for them. They turned it over three times, and it only led to one score for us. That’s the story of the game, right there.”

Critical

Lewisville’s defensive effort in the second half can hardly be understated. The Lions’ bend-but-don’t-break approach against a rugged McBee rushing attack paid dividends. Lewisville held the Panthers on downs, forced a fumble and made McBee punt twice in the closing 24 minutes.

“Outstanding effort by them,” said Mitchell. “(It was) a real physical game.”

Star contributions

Lewisville knew it would face a punishing run game from McBee, and that came true. Ricardo Wright and Dashonnell Wright combined to carry nearly 60 times for almost 315 yards, scoring twice. Hammonds recorded a pick-six and recovered a Lewisville fumble.

The Lions’ Trey Keels threw for nearly 240 yards and three scores. Quentin Sanders hauled in seven passes for 84 yards, with Hill, Courtney and Robinson adding touchdowns.

On deck

McBee will face the winner of Lamar and Williston-Elko in the A Upper State championship. Lewisville’s season concludes with a 10-3 record.

Box score

McBee 27, Lewisville 20

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

L – Johnny Courtney 42 pass from Trey Keels (conversion failed) 11:20

M – Ricardo Wright 1 run (Dashonnell Wright pass from Shane Hammonds) 4:52

L – Mike Hill 9 pass from Keels (conversion failed) 3:41

Second quarter

M – Shane Hammonds 32 fumble recovery (Alex Miller run) 5:17

M – D. Wright 36 run (Miller run) :50.8

Fourth quarter

L – AJ Robinson 50 pass from Keels (Courtney pass from Keels) 11:31

M – Billy Lovelace 26 field goal 2:19

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 8:16 AM with the headline "McBee thwarts Lewisville Lions’ rally in 1A playoff run."