Lake Ridge wraps regular season with win

By Bob Kowalski

Mansfield Record

During a game in which both offenses were prolific, the Lake Ridge defense made momentum-turning plays in the fourth quarter to help lead to a 49-42 victory over Crowley on Friday at Vernon Newsom Stadium.

After Lake Ridge (5-5, 3-4 District 11-6A) scored on a 21-yard pass from Deshawn Edwards to Jayden Evans to tie the game at 42-42 with 9 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles' Bryce Pilot sacked Crowley quarterback Antwain Griffin, leading to a three-and-out.

The next time Crowley (3-7, 2-5) had the ball, Pilot and Olaolu Shittu combined for another sack, forcing a punt that Evans returned to midfield, setting up Lake Ridge for the winning drive.

On third-and-12 from Lake Ridge's 47, Edwards hit Rayden Newsom for 45 yards, putting the Eagles at the 8-yard line. After two plays netted negative yardage, Edwards found Micah Blow from 16 yards out for the winning TD with just under 3 minutes left in the game.

The Lake Ridge defense again stood up, with Christian Haywood sacking Griffin on second, and the defense forcing two incomplete passes to gain the ball and allow the offense to run out the clock.

Crowley took a first-half lead on two drives that started in generous field position. The visiting Eagles moved from their own 40 and scored on Stephan Brown's one-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 7:15 to play in the first quarter. Later in the quarter, on a drive that started at Lake Ridge's 37-yard line, Griffin trotted in from 8 yards out for a 14-0 lead.

Lake Ridge registered its initial first down with just over a minute left in the first quarter, and finally breached Crowley territory just before the first quarter ended.

Big plays led to Lake Ridge's first score. Jonathan Mwangala rushed 13 yards on first down, followed by a 27-yard run from Jaiden Cotton. Three plays later, Edwards threaded a sideline needle to Evans for a 24-yard TD and 14-7 score with just under 8 minutes left in the half.

Crowley answered with a 37-yard TD pass from Griffin to Derrell Martin with 1:57 to play, but Lake Ridge snuck in a touchdown with 23 seconds when Mwangala ran for 16 yards and 21-21 halftime tie.

Lake Ridge's defense again made a big play to start the second half when Myles Johnson recovered a fumble on Crowley's third play. Two big gains, a 26-yard pass from Edwards to Blow and a 22-yard run by Edwards led to Cotton's 12-yard touchdown run and Lake Ridge's first lead of the game, at 28-21 with 9 minutes remaining in the third.

Again, the Lake Ridge defense rose, when Landon Pullen intercepted a pass after juggling it near the sideline. The Eagles were unable to capitalize, and Crowley scored from 80 yards out when Griffin passed to Martin, who raced up the sideline ahead of the Lake Ridge defenders to tie the game at 28-28 with just over 6 minutes to play in the third. The visitors again needed only one play to score on their next drive, taking a 35-28 lead on Cotton's 63-yard run about a minute later.

Lake Ridge then used a 10-play drive to tie the game when Edwards ran in from 7 yards out with 1 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Crowley scored once more in third, on Cotton's 2-yard run to regain the lead at 42-35. Edwards' 53-yard strike to Blow set up the tying TD, a 21-yard pass from Edwards to Evans for a 42-42 deadlock with 9 1/2 minutes to play. That's when the defense started piling up the sacks to clinch the victory.

On Thursday night, No. 5-ranked Timberview (10-0, 7-0 7-5A DII) wrapped up its unbeaten regular season and district title with a 55-8 win over Corsicana; playoff-bound Summit (5-5, 4-3 8-5A DI) closed its regular season with a 55-27 loss to Midlothian; Mansfield (3-7, 1-6 11-6A) fell to Waxahachie, 59-35; and Legacy (1-9, 1-6 8-5A DI) lost to Lancaster, 54-14.

Timberview will meet Waco (3-7) in the playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday at Vernon Newsom Stadium. Summit will face West Mesquite (8-2) in the bi-district round at a site and time to be determined.