Lions’ Late Rally Not Enough To Overcome Mildred

by RLPhipps · October 26, 2014

It’s Gettin’ Kinda Scary!

It’s gettin’ kinda scary, things have not gone our way.

Next week is Halloween and Rio Vista we’ll play.

No ghosts, goblins or vampires will make a difference next week.

The Lions need a victory or we’ll be up a creek!

Two weeks of teams named Eagles, one game already crossed.

Next Eagles must be beaten or the season will be lost.

Panthers, Bulldogs and Eagles have all taken their toll

But our hometown fightin’ Lions can still get on a roll!

Lions’ Late Rally Not Enough To Overcome Mildred

When the Blooming Grove Lions opened district play against Maypearl on October 10^th, they were 4-1 and riding high off the heels of a 67-21 romp over non-district Riesel. Since then the Lions have not had it so easy. After district losses to Maypearl and Palmer they needed to get on track against Mildred. Friday night’s game was the type of tough battle the Lions have just had to get used to this season. The Mildred Eagles flew into town with a losing record overall but 1-1 in district play. The Lions entered the game 4-3 overall and 0-2 in district. A win on this evening would’ve helped them get back in the thick of things in District 9-3A.

BG began the game on offense and on the first play of the game the ball was snapped over the head of Sr. QB Tyler Ellis for a 12-yard loss. Wearing #12 instead of his usual #3 jersey, Jr. Juanya Pyburn took the handoff 75 yards for a touchdown on the very next play. Lions led after less than a minute of play 7-0. Mildred promptly scored on a 42-yd run by Fr. Wesley Huitt.

The 2-point conversion was no good, leaving the score 7-6 in favor of BG. The Lions fumbled on their second possession, setting up Mildred at the BG 38-yd line. Again, Huitt took the ball on a running play right up the middle for a 38-yard TD.

After the 2-point conversion the score was 14-7, Mildred on top. BG then drove downfield for a Tyler Ellis 20-yd field goal which cut Mildred’s lead to 14-10. Mildred quickly took the ball and scored on a 64-yd TD pass to make the score 22-10 after a successful 2-point conversion. Late in the 1^st quarter the Lions scored their second TD on a Juanya Pyburn 20-yd run.

The score after one quarter was Mildred 22, BG 17.

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The 2^nd quarter was not nearly as exciting as the first period. Both teams jockeyed back and forth for field position and weren’t able to muster very much offense. The quarter was highlighted defensively for BG when Jr. Jared Obenour recovered a fumble at the BG 40-yd line.

Obenour has been a key defensive weapon for the Lions all season. However, BG wasn’t able to capitalize on the turnover. Mildred scored on a 20-yd TD run and successful 2-point conversion and went into halftime with a 30-17 lead. With the exception of a few punts, the Eagles’ kicking game was non-existent. They would not attempt one field goal or extra point in the entire game.

Mildred got the ball first in the 2^nd half but the BG defense forced the Eagles to punt. With the ball at their own 37, Juanya Pyburn got the call and again answered with an impressive 63-yd TD run. Pyburn was the offensive star of the game, gaining over 200 all-purpose yards and scoring four touchdowns. Pyburn’s 3^rd quarter TD cut the Mildred lead to 30-24.

However, Mildred burned up a lot of the clock on a long drive capped off by a 1-yd TD run which put them ahead 38-24 going into the 4^th quarter.

For the second consecutive week the Lions gave up 44 points in a close loss. The loss evens the Lions’ record up at 4-4 (0-3 in district). With only two more regular season games to play their season is on the line. Next week they face Rio Vista who is winless on the season, 0-8 overall (0-3 in district). The Lions complete their regular season on Nov. 7 against Rice (3-5, 1-2 district). Rice has not won a game on the road this season so the next two weeks set up favorably for the Lions. However, BG must win both games to make the playoffs. With the new 4-team playoff format that started in 2013, four of the six teams in Region III, District 9-3A2 will make the playoffs.

Chris Forgey

www.bloominggrovetx.com

SCORING BY QUARTERS:

Mildred 22 – 8 – 8 – 6 – TOTAL 44

Lions 17 – 0 – 7 – 14 – TOTAL 38

Region III, District 9-3A2 Standings:

PALMER 3-0 (6-2 overall)

MAYPEARL 3-0 (5-3 overall)

MILDRED 2-1 (2-5 overall)

RICE 1-2 (3-5 overall)

BLOOMING GROVE 0-3 (4-4 overall)

RIO VISTA 0-3 (0-8 overall)