The Sam Houston Broncos overcame extremely poor field conditions and two second half fumbles to beat Jennings 34-25 in the District 5-4A opener for both teams on Friday at Wayne Hooper Memorial Stadium.
The rain fell from start to finish but the rain turned into a deluge in the second half.
Sam Houston two second half fumbles came within a 2-minute span at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth.
The first one came when Evan Powell fumbled on a punt return with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Kip Carter fumbled just 42 seconds into the fourth quarter. But both times the Broncos defense stopped the Bulldogs.
In fact, the Broncos shutout the Bulldogs in the second half and held them to just 46 yards after giving up 235 in the first half.
Sam Houston and Jennings combined for 11 fumbles in the game.
“The second half was a battle of field position and will,” Sam Houston head coach Russ Sutherland said. “I really like the way we battled.
“It was probably the worst (field conditions) that I have ever seen in 20 years of coaching. We are very proud of our kids. We had a couple of fumbles in the second half that could have been costly but our defense rose to the occasion and got a couple of stops when we need it. It was a great team effort. I told the kids that I would trade the victory for the field any day.”
With Sam Houston clinging on to a 27-25, the Broncos got the break they needed.
Jennings punter Zach Duhon fumbled the snap and the kick slipped off his foot and was recovered by Sam Houston’s Kris Hagerich at the Bulldogs 33 yard line with 4:24 left in the game.
Faced with a fourth and three from the Jennings’ 26-yard line, quarterback Orlan Lockhart broke through the middle for a six-yard gain for the first down. Three plays later, tailback Kip Carter took it up the middle and then to his left for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:33 left in the game. Josh Miglicco’s extra point game the Broncos a 34-25 lead.
Sam Houston’s defense forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs with three seconds left to end the game.
While the Broncos held on in the end, it was all Bulldogs in the beginning as they jumped out to a 12-0 in the first 5 minutes of the game.
Although originally not expected to play, Bulldog quarterback Bryson Abraham led the Bulldogs to a touchdown on their first possession of the game.
Abraham completed three straight passes to move Jennings to the Broncos’ 17-yard line and punched it in from one yard out five plays later.
Duhon’s extra point try failed leaving Jennings with a 6-0 lead but it would not take long for them to increase that lead.
Lockhart fumbled the ball at the Jennings 47 yard line and Larry Daniels was able to scoop it up and return it 53 yards for the touchdown.
Sam Houston cut the lead to 12-6 after the longest play from scrimmage of the game. Lockhart connected with Trevor Avery for a 75 yard score.
Kavik Butler recovered the football for the Broncos on the ensuing kickoff at the Jennings 37 yard line.
Lockhart gained 37 yards on the ensuing drive and finished with one-yd touchdown to tie the game at 12-12. Miglicco’s kick gave Sam Houston a 13-12 lead with 4:57 left in the first quarter.
Late in the first quarter, Sam Houston got a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by Powell and another rushing touchdown from Lockhart to take a commanding 27-12 lead in the second quarter.
“That was a real big momentum swinger for us,” Sutherland said. “Evan steps in front of the ball and then takes it to the house.
“We dug ourselves a hole early and that really helped us get out of the hole.”
That lead almost disappeared before the break with the Bulldogs using their speed to reel off two touchdowns runs of over 56 yards to pull within two points in the last four minutes of the first half. Abraham scored on a 56 yards run and Davondrick Phillips added a 65-yard touchdown run.
“Any time you have an advantage on somebody it is big at the half especially when you play in this kind of stuff,” Jennings’ head coach Rusty Felts said. “It got worse at halftime.
“We played the field position game and finally turned it. We got a turnover and we did not punch it in. That is the way it goes. Sam Houston did a great job. We had a 12-0 lead and they made a big play and we fumbled. All of the scoring except for that last drive was done in the first half. We just have to try and bounce back.”
Jennings struggled with penalties and fumbles. The Bulldogs were penalized 12 times for 68 yards and fumbled the ball six times.
Sam Houston lost three of five fumbles and was out gained 276-230.
Lockhart finished with 89 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. He also completed 4-of-10 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Phillips led the Bulldogs on the ground gaining 104 of Jennings’ 204 rushing yards on 18 carries.
Moss Bluff, La. —
