A pack of Robert E. Lee players race to keep up with West Brook wide receiver Jalen Malone on Friday at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. (Sarah A. Miller | Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Beaumont West Brook kicker Diego Uribe tripped before he could make contact with the ball for the second half kickoff. Instead, he kicked the tee while the ball started meandering forward. As stunned players watched, West Brook alertly pounced on the ball after it had gone 10 yards, turning Uribe’s embarrassment into a recovered onside kick.

It was that kind of night for Robert E. Lee, which lost three fumbles and was held to a season low 27 yards passing in a 37-7 loss Friday on Earl Campbell Field at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

Lee trailed 21-0 at halftime and looked forward to cutting into its deficit. Instead, West Brook took advantage of their fortune and tacked on another touchdown. Then Lee fumbled on the next kickoff, giving West Brook the ball back again.

When Lee’s offense finally went out on the field for the second half, REL was trailing 31-0.

“I am very disappointed; disappointed in a lot of things,” said Lee coach Randy Huffstickler. “We didn’t get them ready to play. They played hard for four weeks and we were hoping this wasn’t going to happen and I think we came out flat against a good football team.”

The loss drops lee to 1-4 for the season while West Brook raises its record to 4-1.

The Bruins were playing without their starting quarterback as senior Joshua Stump was ruled out for injury. Senior tailback Percy Johnson took up the slack and then some. He entered the game with 300 yards rushing on the season and had 205 and three touchdowns by halftime. Johnson finished with 233 on 21 carries while backup quarterback Chris Clack completed 10 of 14 passes for 113 yards and two scores.

“We were going to have to run the ball (without our starting quarterback) and our offensive line took it upon themselves,” said West Brook coach Craig Stump. “Our defense got some turnovers and we rebounded from a week ago at Katy when we didn’t play mentally and I am proud of the way they played today.”

The last time Lee played at home, the team rushed for more than 400 yards. West Brook limited the Red Raiders to 169 rushing on 29 attempts. REL avoided being shut out at home when fullback Vincent Cato bulldozed in from 3 yards out with 1:02 left to play.

Cato finished with 70 yards on 12 carries with senior Dalaven Baker totaling 75 on 12 carries. Senior quarterback Joseph Seeber finished 3 of 9 for 27 yards.

West Brook jumped on the Red Raiders early as Johnson turned a third-and-2 from the Bruins 32 into a 68-yard touchdown run.

The Red Raiders attempted to respond and looked about to do so as Cato, Baker and Dreak Scott moved Lee down into Bruins territory. On second-and-7 from the 23, Seeber faked a handoff before rolling out to hit his back on a throw-back pass. He motored for eight yards, but coughed up the ball with West Brook recovering.

“You can’t afford turnovers and we had those tonight,” Huffstickler said. “Anything in the world that could go wrong did go wrong tonight, and we made it go wrong.”

Lee’s defense stopped the Bruins ensuing drive, but a three-and-out from the Red Raiders and a 31-yard punt return by West Brook’s Jalen Malone eventually ended with Johnson cruising into the end zone from 12 yards out.

Trailing 14-0, Lee again moved to midfield. On first-and-10, Seeber drew West Brook offside, meaning he had a free play. Seeber had single coverage and looked to have hit his receiver in the hands for a possible touchdown, but it was dropped.

Lee fumbled on its next play with West Brook taking advantage again. Johnson did the honors a third time, this time on a 23-yard scamper.

Any chance Lee had to get back in the game ended in the opening minutes of the second half when on the recovered onside kick and lost fumble.

The Red Raiders have a bye week before beginning District 11-5A play at home Oct. 7 against Mesquite Horn. 

Beaumont West Brook 37, Robert E. Lee 7

At Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium 

West Brook    7              14           10           6 – 37

Robert E. Lee 0              0              0            7 – 7

First Quarter

WB—Percy Johnson 68 run (Diego Uribe kick), 10:30

Second Quarter

WB—Johnson 13 run (Uribe kick), 4:24

WB—Johnson 23 run (Uribe kick), 1:49

Third Quarter

WB—Robert Redd 7 pass from Chris Clack (Uribe kick), 9:40

WB—FG Uribe 36 (4:22)

Fourth Quarter

WB—Ladarious Spearman 6 pass from Clack (3:15)|

REL—Vincent Cato 3 run (Lumi Kaba kick), 1:02

                                    WB                             REL

First Downs                    19                        16

Rushes-Yards                 40-286                 29-169

Passing Yards                 125                      27

Comp-Att-Int                 11-15-0                 3-9-0

Punts-Average               2-33.5                   4-37.2

Fumbles-Lost                 1-0                        3-3

Penalties-Yards             12-75                     5-40 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – West Brook, Percy Johnson 21-233, Jalen Malone 7-27, Justin Hervey 3-16, Stephen Wycoff, 5-8, Keelan Martin 1-7, Cameron McBride 1-2, Chris Clack 1-(minus 7); Robert E. Lee, Dalaven Baker 12-75, Vincent Cato 12-70, Dreak Scott 4-31, Joseph Seeber 3-(minus 7).

PASSING – West Brook, Clack 10-14-0 113, Malone 1-1-0 12; Robert E. Lee, Seeber 3-9-0 27.

RECEIVING – West Brook, Ladarious Spearman 3-40, Keith Sam 2-32, Robert Redd 2-14, Martin 1-17, Wycoff 1-7, Malone 1-8, Julian Rogers 1-7; Robert E. Lee, Cato 2-17, Baker 1-10.