Pageland Central gets the best of an injury-plagued Lewisville squad
Lewisville is used to facing challenges. Excuses, however, are not the domain of the Lions.
Despite playing without two of its top players -- Christian Yoder and Demetric Hardin, along with many other players out due to injury -- Lewisville continues to fight. Pageland Central proved too much for the Lions to overcome in their region opener, scoring 42 unanswered points in a 42-3 victory Friday night.
“I’m very proud (of the team’s fight),” said Lewisville coach Will Mitchell. “It’s been two years of adversity. We’re seeing how things are. We’re going to be able to come out of this. We’re getting a little bit better every time.”
Lewisville (2-3, 0-1 Region 4-2A) appeared poised to strike early, with a 57-yard kickoff return from Deven McCrorey setting up the Lions at the Pageland Central 23. That drive stalled after just one first down, however, with a 30-yard Ryan Graddy field goal putting the Lions ahead, 3-0.
Pageland Central (3-3, 1-1) pounced on its next three possessions, jumping ahead 8-3 on a 12-yard hookup from Shy McManus to Cameron Miller that capped a six-play, 67-yard opening drive. The Eagles then finished back-to-back drives with Jalen Robinson touchdown runs of four and nine yards, respectively, extending their lead to 20-3.
The Lions turned in a snappy final drive of the half to try to regain some momentum. Back-to-back completions from Jadon Scott to Jalen Seegars put Lewisville in the red zone, and the Lions gradually worked their way to the 1-yard line on a run from Scott. The drive stalled from there, however, as the Lions were unable to convert before the halftime horn.
“You wonder if we could have gotten it over (the goal line) right there, if that would have given us a little more juice, some momentum going into the second half,” said Mitchell. “I think more so than getting stopped on that first drive, I think getting stopped right there at the end took the wind out of our sails a little bit more.”
The Eagles took just shy of three minutes on the opening possession of the second half to march 71 yards, with Fred Rivers collecting the final 40 on a sprint down the right sideline to claim a 28-3 advantage for his club. The Lions got a much-needed break on the next Eagle drive, with Luke Harris recovering a fumbled snap and setting up Lewisville near midfield. Pageland Central’s defense again stiffened, however, forcing another Lion punt.
The stop fired up the Pageland Central defense, and the offense followed suit. Jacob Jordan went 28 yards to the house on a one-play Eagle drive to move the lead to 35-3, with Raheem Lindo taking charge on all three plays of a 29-yard drive on the visitors’ ensuing possession to provide the eventual final margin.
Central rushed for nearly 300 yards, with Robinson carrying much of the load. The senior carried 17 times for 135 and two scores. Jordan added 75 on nine carries.
Scott recorded 21 carries for the Lions, with the injuries forcing a change in game plan for the club. Mitchell praised Scott and McCrorey for their performances at quarterback.
“My hat’s off to Jadon Scott, really. (He’s) just a warrior,” said Mitchell. “He and (McCrorey) sticking his head in there, too. Those guys were both battling, and really taking somewhat of a beating. There’s no skill to measure their toughness. If there was, they’d be topping it out.”
Lewisville returns to action next Friday, hosting Buford in Region 4-2A play. One thing of which Mitchell is sure, though, is that he can count on the continued effort of his team against the odds.
“This bunch hasn’t shown any quit yet,” said Mitchell. “They’re from Lewisville. Quitting ain’t in our blood.”