The No. 10 Sam Houston Broncos controlled the first half and out gained the St. Louis Saints 448-252 turnovers proved to be their undoing. St. Louis used two second half interceptions and a huge play to start the second half to beat the Broncos 20-18 at Cowboy Stadium Friday night.
With the win, the Saints (6-3, 3-1) have now clinched at least a share of the District 5-4A title in their first year in Class 4A. All three of the Saints district wins have been by seven points or less. St. Louis beat Washington-Marion 27-24 last week and beat Westlake 28-21 in their district opener.
"I was excited," St. Louis head coach Mike Johns said. "We were thank full to even be in this situation tonight to play in this type of ball game in this stadium.
"It was a great atmosphere and good high school football."
The game was originally schedule to be played at Sam Houston's Wayne Hooper Memorial Stadium but rain earlier in the week and more on Thursday and Friday made the field unplayable.
The Broncos (6-3, 2-1) still have a chance at a piece of the title if they can beat the DeRidder Dragons on the road next week in the final week of the regular season.
We need to make sure to prepare and get ourselves ready to play because we still have an opportunity to get a peace of the championship.
The loss may have over shadowed the stellar night for Bronco receivers Chase Guillory and Donovan Landry. Both broke 100 yards with Guillory catching seven passes for 123 yards and Landry had nine catches for 122 yards. Quarterback Orlan Lockhart went 26-for-47 for 310 yards on the night with two interceptions and a touchdown. Normally the Broncos run a balanced offense but were forced to pass 48 times and rush just 28 times for 138 yards which was well below their season average. Kip Carter led the Broncos on the ground with 13 carries for 82 yards.
"We had trouble running the football tonight," Sam Houston head coach Russ Sutherland said. "Early on they forced us into passing situations.
"Our inability to stay balanced on offense kind of turned us into a one-dimensional offense in the second half and it caught up to us. Orlan avoided the rush a few times tonight and got the ball down the field. They (Guillory and Landry) came up with some big catches. "
Sam Houston held the Saints to just 14 rushing yards on 14 carries in the first half and led 12-6 at the break but St. Louis swung the momentum in just one play. On the first play from scrimmage of the second half, tailback Dillon Berlin found a hole on the right side of the offensive line and then went to his left and up the side line for a 63 yard touchdown. James Bice's extra point was good giving St. Louis a 13-12 lead just 17 seconds into the third quarter.
"At half time, we got with them and just told them to relax a little bit and made a couple of minor adjustments," Johns said. "We came out in the second half and Dillon (Berlin) busted that play and it was like it made all the difference in the world.
"It was a total team effort tonight. We approached this game with a positive attitude and I am just real proud of them. "
The Broncos looked determined to take the lead back on their next drive which lasted over 10 minutes, 66 yards and 20 plays. Sam Houston converted on third down three times and on fourth down once. Five consecutive runs by quarterback Orlan Lockhart set the Broncos at the Saints four yard line but an illegal procedure call moved the back to the nine. Two plays later, senior defensive lineman Ty Griffin intercepted Lockhart at the seven yard line and returned it 69 yards to the Broncos 25 yard line.
"I was proud of the way our defense played," Johns said. "We bent and we bent but we made some big plays.
"The interception was a big turning point in the ball game because they were going down there and they were fixing to score."
With the short field it didn't take long for the Saints to extend their lead on a five yard touchdown run by Berlin to give them a 20-12 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
""We are driving down to score and the zone blitzed us one time," Sutherland said. "The end dropped on the play and we just did not see him.
"They had a great call and he made a great play. That swung the momentum in their favor. We did not play a very good third quarter. I think that was the difference in the game."
After rushing for just 20 yards in the first half, Berlin had 100 yards on 14 carries and finished with 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Lockhart was intercepted again on the Broncos' next possession this time by linebacker Matt Viator. But St. Louis was not able to capitalize on the turnover with Bice missing on a 27 yard field goal attempt.
After trading punts, the Broncos got the ball back with 5:14 left in the game. The Saints put the Broncos in a third and 11 situation at the Saints' 44 yard line but Lockhart found Guillory for a 25 yard pass for the first down. Two plays later, Lockhart faked a hand off to tailback Kip Carter and took it up the left side. St. Louis' Jonathan Doucet had chance to stop Lockhart short of the goal line but missed allowing Lockhart to score from 11 yards out to pull Sam Houston within two, 20-18 with 2:55 left. But Doucet made up for the mistake as he batted away Lockhart's potential game tying two-point conversion pass in the end zone.
Sam Houston got the ball back for one last chance at the win with 1:13 left in the game.
Lockhart completed a nine yard pass to Landry to convert on fourth down and keep the drive alive. But after two fumbles slowed them down, Lockhart's pass to Peter Rubin for seven yards was not enough to convert on a fourth and 13 as time expired.
The Saints were the first to score when Bice connected on a 26 yard field goal with 3:23 left in the first quarter.
Sam Houston answered with a nine play, 84 yard drive capped by a four yard touchdown by Lockhart. Josh Miglicco missed on the extra point leaving the Broncos with a 6-3 lead. Guillory had two catches for 50 yards during that drive.
The Broncos took their biggest lead of the game when tailback Perry Chatman caught a 17 yard touchdown pass with 6:22 left in the second quarter. Lockhart's two-point conversion pass intended for Chatman was batted down in the end by Rusty Metoyer.
The only other scoring in the first half came with 2:25 left when Bice kicked a 41-yard field goal to cut the Broncos' lead to six.
The Saints passing game was held to 121 yards with Kenny Brown catching three passes for 82 yards and Drew Francois completing 8-of-17 passes for 121 yards.
