Cubs too much for junior Rams
Lakeside could not find its footing Thursday night as De Queen showed up ready to control the ground at Chick Austin Field in a 20-0 wrap up of the season.
“This is my third year playing De Queen, and this was the most physical I’ve ever seen them play,” Lakeside junior high head coach Lewis Jolly said. “Their kids came out and they were very physical and they just played very tough. … I thought we ran the ball well. We’ve been limited in the passing game all year and that finally caught up to us. We had three guys out on offense that played a big part in our running game. I think that hurt us a little bit. It wasn’t much that as much as us not coming out focused and if you give a team that hasn’t won much some hope and you give them a shot to win a game when they haven’t won many games, they’re gonna take it. And they came out, ran it right at us.”
A kickoff return that was recovered by De Queen’s Tye Lindsey set the tone for the night, but neither team could find their way into the end zone in the first frame even as the junior Rams had a 12 play drive that resulted in a turnover on downs starting the second.
Donyea Whitmore broke free for a 44-yard run in the second quarter and the junior Rams caused a 15-yard penalty, pushing the Cubs closer to the goal. Whitmore ran for 28 yards, arriving to the the 3-yard line and Lindsey gained 2 yards to punch it in for a swift 1-yard score with 22.7 seconds left until the half. Whitmore was good on the 2-point conversion to make the scoreboard 8-0.
“We’ve been so close in about five or six games that just came out the wrong way,” De Queen junior high head coach Stephen Sloan said. “Tonight we put it all together — limited on mistakes and our defense stepped up and made some big, big stops. One of ‘em right on the goal line. A complete game. It was a great game for ‘em.”
Ezequiel Escobedo intercepted a pass from Towle Douglas to give the Cubs possession once again and a handoff to Whitmore prompted a 24-yard TD pass to Manny Hernandez as time expired for the half. The conversion was denied for a 14-0 score.
Kicking off into the third frame, Whitmore found the end zone on a 44-yard rush with 6:35 remaining, and the conversion was unsuccessful to set the final.
Douglas was for 4-for-8 passing and Whitmore paced the Cubs’ offense with 16 carries for 172 yards for the night.
“Hats off to those kids and those coaches ‘cause both groups, eighth and ninth grade, are vastly improved,” Jolly said. “Especially the ninth grade team. They deserved to win
that game. … Our kids weren’t ready to play a game like that and that falls on my shoulders. … We turned the ball over three or four times. Two fumbles and a kickoff return fumble to open the game. I know we threw a bad interception. And we fumbled towards the goal line. You get those back, it’s probably a whole different game. We just got outplayed.
“This was our last game of the season. These guys, we’ll get them into gear to start gearing up for next season, trying to see where kids can improve and grow ‘em in the weight room. They’ll [the ninth graders] join the senior high team to start working out with them and start learning about stuff right there. Our biggest thing probably with these ninth graders is getting them bought into those little things that coach [Jared] McBride expects out of his program — playing hard, being committed, working hard in the weight room, those things you have to do to be successful at the high school level and that’s what we’ll start with them next week with.”