Kilgore Bulldogs

KILGORE – Hallsville quarterback Semaj Boyd rushed for 124 yards, scoring on runs of 2 and 1 yard, to lead the Bobcats to a 20-10 victory over Kilgore on Friday night at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium.

The win, the Bobcats’ second of the season, surpasses Hallsville’s season win total a year ago by one under second-year Hallsville coach Joe Drennan.

It also marked the first Hallsville victory over Kilgore since 2006.

Kilgore had taken a 10-7 halftime lead on a 37-yard field goal by Elivan Torres with just seconds left in the first half.

The visiting Bobcats, though, put together an impressive 7-play, 82-yard march with Courtland Venters going the final 20 yards for the touchdown to give Hallsville a 14-10 lead with 5:38 left in the third quarter.

Boyd’s second scoring run came with 7:05 remaining in the contest, extending the Bobcats lead to 10 even though the Bulldogs blocked Tristan Driggers’ extra point attempt.

For the second time in as many weeks, turnovers were costly for the Bulldogs, who lost a couple of fumbles as well as an interception by Triggers in the second half to thwart any chance of a comeback in the contest.

The loss marked the second of the season for Kilgore for the first time since beginning the 2016 season 0-2 with back-to-back losses to Nacogdoches and Gladewater.

Hallsville outgained Kilgore in total yardage 304 to 200. The ’Cats rushed for 261 yards on 45 carries. Boyd was 3 of 9 passing for 43 yards.

Following Boyd’s game-high 124 yards rushing were Driggers (86) and Venters (44).

Witt led Kilgore’s rushing attack with 104 yards on 10 carries. Kennieth Lacy followed with 44 yards and Nick Hooper added 20.

Witt was 7 of 10 passing for 38 yards.

Kilgore, which failed to score in the first half of its season opener a week ago, opened the scoring with a 14-yard Lacy scamper to cap a nifty 65-yard scoring march on the fourth play of the possession. What led to Lacy’s third touchdown of the season was a 39-yard keeper by Witt.

Torres converted the PAT to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead with just 22.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Hallsville answered, though, with Boyd’s 2-yard keeper to complete a 77-yard drive. Driggers’ extra point knotted the score at 7-all with 5:19 left in the second period.

Kilgore’s Damien Parker returned a Driggers’ punt 62 yards for a touchdown, but the play was wiped out by a block in the back penalty on the Bulldogs.

Kilgore got the football at the Hallsville 38, following the step off, and made the most of the opportunity reaching the Hallsville 20 on an 11-yard Witt to Lacy completion. On fourth-down, Torres booted a 37-yard field goal, giving the ’Dogs a 10-7 lead with just 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

On the ensuing kickoff return by Hallsville’s Driggers, there was an unsportsmanlike penalty on both sides and Torres, the Kilgore kicker, and Tre Fuller, a Hallsville running back, were ejected.

Next week, Kilgore visits Longview to meet longtime rival Pine Tree, while the Bobcats return home to entertain Bullard.

Twitter: @Joeyballgamejh