Harris, Knights hold off Buffaloes
MISSOURI CITY — Elkins coach Dennis Brantley coached Leonard Harris III’s dad at Willowridge.
Brantley loves them both, but there’s no doubt who he’s taking today.
Harris ran for 277 yards and five touchdowns — all after halftime — and scored on back-to-back carries in overtime, lifting the Knights to a 48-41 upset of Fort Bend Marshall in double overtime Thursday at Hall Stadium.
“His dad made all-state, but I told him (Thursday), ‘Today, you’re better than your dad,’ ” said Brantley, the running backs coach at Willowridge in 1990-91.
The win kept Elkins’ playoff hopes alive, sending it to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in District 23-5A after a 0-3 start to the season, with losses to Dickinson, Oak Ridge and Travis.
Marshall dropped to 6-2, 3-2.
“We were definitely the underdog, (but) this put us right back in it, with a great chance to make the playoffs,” Brantley said.
Harris controlled the second half — but Marshall had control early.
Henry Thomas (five receptions, 59 yards), who scored three TDs in the second half, caught a twoyard scoring pass to give the Buffaloes a 20-7 lead 1 minute, 40 seconds into the third.
But Harris answered with an 11-yard TD run. Harris and Marshall QB Jabari James then traded scores before Harris’ 61yard TD sprint tied it 27-27 with 11:02 left in the game.
Elkins took its first lead with 5:43 left, but Thomas hauled in a 21-yard TD with 3:11 left, eventually leading to OT, where Marshall scored on the first play on Thomas’s 25-yard scoring grab.
A Knight for offense
Harris capped the Knights’ answer with a one-yard plunge, then scored on a spinning 25yard run on his next carry. The score held up as the game-winner after Kenneth Orji sacked James on fourth down.
“When a back feels it, when he says, ‘Coach, I’m feeling it,’ that means in his mind he can’t be stopped, so hey, if he tells me he’s feeling it and I see it, I’m going to continue to feed him,” Brantley said.
“I saw it open and I hit it, every time,” Harris said. “No holding back, no hesitating, just hitting it, every time, and no giving up.”
Marshall led 14-7 at halftime on two TDs by Korey King.
The sophomore receiver gave the Buffaloes a 7-0 lead with a 15-yard grab, and a 14-7 edge with 8:13 left before the break on an 84-yard catch-and-run after a short pass from a scrambling James on thirdand-12.
‘Never quit’
King finished with six receptions for 154 yards.
But the Knights rallied behind Harris and eventually pulled out a seasonsaving victory.
“We fought all the way to the end, never gave up, worked as a team and came out with the win,” Harris said.
Elkins racked up 501 total yards (353 on 49 rushes) and 26 first downs.
QB Luke LeBlanc completed 13 of 29 passes for 148 yards and one touchdown.
Marshall produced 464 yards and 24 first downs. James completed 12 of 19 passes for 231 yards and six TDs (one rushing).
RB Jerry Davis added 17 carries for 120 yards.
“Our motto is ‘Never quit,’ and we’ve been struggling this year, we have a lot of young guys, but they never quit,” Brantley said.