Last three weeks of season offer Lewisville some respite

Since 2014’s realignment, the last three weeks of the high school football season come as a big relief to Lewisville.

Lions coach Will Mitchell would probably be the first to admit he got a little overzealous in scheduling, beefing up the school’s already difficult region schedule with nonregion games against much bigger neighbors Lancaster and Chester. Mitchell was able to drop Charlotte all-star team Carolina Pride this season in place of North Central, a game the Lions won, but they still had a tough slog the first seven weeks of the season.

Then came a bye, a glorious bye in mid-October.

And then C.A. Johnson, and now Great Falls (1-8, 1-2 Region 3-A) at home, no slouches, but nothing like the previous bunch Lewisville (2-7, 1-2) played. At one point, Mitchell’s team encountered four straight undefeated teams – Indian Land, North Central, Lancaster and McBee – and also played just one team with a losing record prior to a 48-20 win over C.A. Johnson last Thursday.

Gone are the two 3A schools and Indian Land, a 3A school as of next year, and added to the Lions’ schedule are Whitmire and Eau Claire, schools with enrollment far more similar to Lewisville’s.

Lions quarterback Trey Keels hit his first 11 passes during the win in Columbia, a nice run of positive momentum that has been hard to come by the last few seasons for the Lions.

But the brutal slate the last two years has made the orange and yellow hues that color the latter half of October that much more handsome in Mitchell’s eyes. The bye week is crucial for any 1A team. Perching it just before arguably the two biggest games of the season for the Lions – who can make the playoffs with one region win – has been helpful. Last year, a winless Lewisville team rallied to beat C.A. Johnson and Great Falls in the final two games to make the playoffs as a No. 7 seed in the Upper State.

Great Falls coach Kenneth Schofield couldn’t be reached by phone on Wednesday, but Mitchell said the Red Devils – already young following the graduation of a talented senior class – were hit early by injuries, but are getting some of those players back.

“One thing I’ve learned, here now four years, is that the Great Falls team I see, regardless of how much they’ve struggled, the one I see in the first quarter Friday night will be different than anything we’ve seen this season,” said Mitchell, whose three games against Great Falls have all been close.

Lewisville will try and push the pace Friday night to wear down the already thin rivals from down the road.

While Great Falls continues to confront dwindling numbers of players, the outlook is far sunnier for Lewisville. Standout sophomore defensive tackle Josh Belk has missed much of the season with a knee injury but should be able to return for the playoffs; fans haven’t seen his best yet. And a number of the Lions’ best players will be back next season, including standout juniors Mike Hill, Jene Thompson and Keels.

Next year’s realignment should also benefit Lewisville, with current 1A powers like Christ Church, St. Joseph’s, Southside Christian, Bamberg-Ehrhardt, Calhoun County, and others jettisoned to the new-look 2A classification. McBee and Lamar will still be in Lewisville’s region, but the Lions will have better shots at advancing in the Upper State playoffs with all the private schools bumped up a class. Lewisville will also be in the unusual position of being the biggest school in its class.

A little further into the future, the Giti Tire Plant, located just across Interstate 77 from Lewisville and scheduled to open in 2017, is expected to employ 1,700 workers. Surely some of those will be new to the area. Maybe some of their kids will be 6-foot-5, 300-pounders?

That’s getting ahead.

Lewisville’s concern this week is its rival, Great Falls. If the Lions can win their second straight in the series, before a week off due to the season being extended to help flood-damaged schools in the Lower state, then Mitchell’s team may be nearer to its short term goal than anyone expected.

“It’s just a matter of us maintaining confidence and they’ve been able to keep their eye on the prize,” he said.

The prize? Winning a first playoff game since 2005.

“We’re not gonna play anybody like Lancaster or Chester,” Mitchell said.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Last three weeks of season offer Lewisville some respite."