DALLAS — After a sloppy first half start and three fumbles, the Longview Lobos overcame an early deficit to roll 27-6 over Rowlett on Saturday in the Class 5A Division II Region II bi-district round.
It was the seventh straight season that the Lobos have won in the bi-district round and improves Longview's perfect record all-time at Kincaide Stadium to 9-0. It was also the first meeting between the schools.
The six points given up by the defense was the fourth straight game that the Lobos held their opponent to 7 points or less.
Longview takes on Dallas Jesuit on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Richardson's Wildcat-Ram Stadium in the Class 5A Division II Region II Area playoff game
Longview's Tory White led all Lobos with 130 yards and one touchdown rushing on 18 carries while JaMycal Hasty had 45 yards on three carries.
Lobos sophomore quarterback Dezmond Chumley finished the night 12 of 17 for 155 yards and the touchdown pass on the final play of the first half.
On the opening possession, the Lobos took ten plays to reach the Eagles 2 where senior running back White fumbled the ball to Rowlett.
After holding the Eagles to a punt, Chumley completed a pass to senior wide receiver Justinn Spady at the Eagles 40 where he immediately fumbled the ball back to Rowlett.
Nine plays later, the Eagles converted a key third-and-22 to the Longview 16 and on the next play Jaylen Lawson picked off a Carson Hyles pass in the end zone and returned it 8 yards.
Over midway through the second quarter, Longview punted the ball to its own 47, but after a catch interference by the Lobos, the ball was placed at the 32.
A few plays later, Rowlett was held to a 28-yard field goal by Aspen Hulme with 5:13 remaining in the half, giving Rowlett the 3-0 lead.
On the ensuing drive, White fumbled the ball for the second time in the half, this time at the Rowlett 45.
The Eagles took over and the drive stalled at the 11 and Hulme made another 28-yard field goal to extend the Rowlett lead to 6-0 with 1:36 left in the first half.
Longview returned the kickoff to its 26 and on first play from scrimmage, Chumley connected to Spady to the Eagles 44. Five plays later, Chumley connected with Chris Pellum on a 35-yard touchdown pass with no time left in the first half. Andres Perez's extra point put the Lobos up 7-6 at the half.
In the second half, the Longview offense woke up and the defense continued to keep the Rowlett offense off the board.
After holding the Eagles to a fourth down, Rowlett punted to Nakia Brown, who returned it untouched 81 yards for a touchdown and the extra point put Longview up 14-6. The punt return for a touchdown was Brown's fourth of the season.
Rowlett returned the kick to its own 47 and the Lobos held the Eagles to fourth down before Hulme missed a 49-yard field goal.
On Rowlett's next drive, Lawson recorded his second interception of the night.
Four plays later, sophomore running back Hasty broke several tackles as he scampered in for the 22-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score at 20-6 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
After a three-and-out by the Eagles, it took the Lobos six plays to score when White took the pitch from Chumley and ran it in for a 2-yard touchdown. The extra point by Perez extended the lead to 27-6 with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter.
Both offenses were shut down in the fourth quarter and Brown recorded an interception in the quarter.