Embracing the Opportunity: Lindale set for rematch with Kilgore in regional semifinals

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, November 23, 2022

LINDALE — When Lindale was on the turf inside of its indoor practice facility on Monday morning preparing for a Class 4A Division I Region III semifinal contest against district foe Kilgore, the message was about embracing the opportunity.

The opportunity to play in the third round of the playoffs, something Lindale has done just twice — the other time was in 2020 when the Eagles advanced all the way to the Class 4A Division I championship game.

Also, the opportunity to have a rematch with Kilgore, which took a 49-35 win over Lindale on Oct. 7 at Eagle Stadium in Lindale.

“That’s how we’re viewing it, as a great opportunity,” Lindale head football coach Chris Cochran said. “These young men want to be able to do something special. They want to be able to tell people they were one of the best teams in Lindale. We’re not there yet, but we want to prove we can be one of the best.

“The other side of the opportunity is you don’t always get a second chance at a district opponent. We are going to embrace it and make the most of it.”

Following that loss to Kilgore, Lindale suffered a 79-45 road defeat to Chapel Hill the following week. Since then, Lindale has reeled off four straight victories, including two postseason wins, and is averaging 46.75 points per game in that span.

The past two weeks, Lindale has defeated Vidor (45-23) and Brazosport (42-28) to reach the third round of the playoffs for the second time in program history.

“On Aug. 1, coach talked about stacking gold balls, and that’s something we’ve really taken pride in as a team,” senior offensive lineman said. “We’ve come together to all have the same goal. We’re all pushing the same way in the wagon, and that’s how we’ve pushed along and got to the third round.”

Sitting at 4-4 midway through October, it could’ve went a different direction, and Cochran said he is proud of the way the players and coaches handled themselves in that moment.

“This thing could have gone one or two directions,” Cochran said. “These guys chose the positive route. Our coaches and players came in that next Monday morning positive and upbeat and ready to work. This is a resilient group. A bunch of people on the outside left us for dead and talked about Lindale football in a negative way. These guys didn’t listen to that. I am proud of our guys and coaches for sticking together.”

“We’ve just really become closer as a team,” senior defensive lineman Christian King said. “We went through a lot of adversity through district. We battled some good teams in pre-district and during district. So during these last couple of weeks, we’ve been working on getting better each and every day to try to take it one step and one practice at a time.”

Up next is a rematch with Kilgore. In the previous meeting, Lindale trailed 35-7 early in the third quarter, but battled back to cut it to a 14-point deficit before running out of time.

“We knew immediately after that game, our coaches said we’re going to have another chance at these guys,” King said. “We just had to get working day by day to make sure we got another chance.”

Kilgore running back Isaiah Ross, who has carried the ball 221 times for 2,142 yards and 22 touchdowns this season, had 343 yards and three touchdowns in the game against Lindale, when the Bulldogs had 537 yards as a team.

“They’re very gifted,” Cochran said. “They’re really good up front on both sides of the ball. They’ve got playmakers with Ross and the quarterback (Da’Marion Van Zandt). They are just a really solid, well-coached team.”

In that loss, Lindale quarterback Clint Thurman was 29 of 44 for 400 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he ran for 48 yards and a touchdown.

For the season, Thurman is 126 of 220 for 1,764 yards with 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and he’s carried the ball 187 times for 1,377 yards and 16 touchdowns behind an offensive line of Mazratian, Casey Poe, Will Hutchens, Cory Watts, Ethan Heller and Brandon Pettway.

“He’s by far the toughest dude I’ve been around,” Mazratian said. “He’s always got a smile and always positive no matter what he’s doing. On the field, he’s a positive influence on everybody around him. And that’s what is needed to take the team to the next level, and that’s what we have with Clint.”

The winner of Lindale and Kilgore — set for 1 p.m. Friday at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium — could face another District 9-4A Division I foe in the state quarterfinals. But first, Chapel Hill will have to get past Lumberton. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Randall Reed Stadium in New Caney.