Daingerfield rolls past Newton, 42-21, in regional football finals

JACKSONVILLE, Texas — Chase Johnson threw two long touchdown passes and ran for a couple of scores, and the Daingerfield Tigers rolled to a 42-21 win over the Newton Eagles in a Class 3A Division I Region III regional final on Friday at the Tomato Bowl.

The Tigers improve to 11-3 on the season and will take on Tidehaven in the state semifinals next week.

Newton ends its season with an 11-1 record.

Johnson, who entered the game with 2,586 passing yards and 31 touchdowns to go along with 696 rushing yards and 14 scores, threw TD strikes of 76 and 60 yards and scored rushing TDS of 10 and 15 yards. Ashton Williams also had a huge game for the tigers, scoring on a 30-yard run and a long kickoff return.

Daingerfield took a 7-0 lead with 8:48 left in the first quarter on a 76-yard scoring pass from Johnson to Aeryn Hampton and the PAT by Jonathan Solis.

Newton answered four minutes later when Hieko Malone rambled in from three yards out.

With 5:50 left in the second, Williams scored on a 30-yard run and Solis booted the extra point to make it a 14-7 contest, but the Eagles tied it just over a minute later on a K.J. Porter 3-yard run.

Johnson’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Mosley a minute later put Daingerfield on top 21-14 at halftime, but Newton tied it just 47 second into the third on a 34-yard run by Malone.

Williams brought the ensuing kickoff back 84 yards for a touchdown, and then Johnson added a 10-yard TD run with 4:14 left to give the Tigers a 35-21 lead heading into the final stanza.

Johnson’s 15-yard TD run with 2:55 left pushed the Tiger lead to 42-21, and I’layn Boyd picked off a Newton pass on the 30-yard line to seal the victory.

The meeting was the seventh overall between the two teams in the playoffs, and the series had been tied at 3-3 prior to Friday.