Jr. Rams shut out Texarkana
Lakeside put up 20 unanswered points as the junior Rams shut out Texarkana Thursday night at Chick Austin Field.
“We totally went back to coaching hard, focusing on what we’re supposed to do, and we didn’t do anything new this week,” said Lakeside head junior high coach Lewis Jolly. “We focused on our base stuff and coaching hard, and they really responded. The kids really rose to the occasion, but we told them we were going to challenge them this week.”
Trailing the Rams 6-0 at the half, Texarkana’s defense was unable to contain Lakeside quarterback Towle Douglas as he connected with wide receiver Brennan Browning for a 13-yard pass for a score with 2:15 left in the third. The conversion play failed, leaving the Rams with a 12-0 lead.
“We’ve got Browning back; that kind of gave everybody a boost,” said Jolly. “He went out in our scrimmage; he’s been out all year. His attitude in practice helps us.”
Kyler Wolf added a final touchdown on a quick 6-yard run for the end zone with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Wolf then rushed the ball back for two more points to set the final.
“We’ve had a couple really bad losses,” Jolly said. “Coach [Jared] McBride came down and talked to them Monday, and said we’ve got to focus, give better effort 100% of the time when we’re on that field, and they responded.”
Wolf set the tone with two minutes remaining in the opening frame as he zipped into the end zone, and the PAT failed, leaving the score 6-0.
Plyler Oseguera recovered a fumble for the Rams with six seconds left in the first, and Wolf scooped up another two minutes before halftime.
“Sometimes it’s just about heart, focus and effort, and good things happen,” noted Jolly. “The scoreboard takes care of itself when that happens. I thought we tackled better tonight than we’ve tackled all year. We ran to the ball hard. We had some guys that were out sick all week, so we had some kids start on defense [who] have never started for us, and they just played their hearts out. Jack Henry Frisbee isn’t going to show up on any stat sheet; he’s never started a game for us since I’ve been here.
“He held his own there on the defensive line, and I’m really proud. I’d like to recognize him because sometimes I think we pay too much attention to stats and touchdowns, and sometimes it’s those kids that just keep plugging away at it and when you call their name, they respond for you, and that’s big. Anytime you put a zero on the scoreboard in a game, it makes you very proud of your defense. That’s a big, physical group of kids [that] Texarkana has; they play hard, but we just kept grinding it out. I’m very proud of the effort from the kids.”