Lions win first district title
Quick take
Lake Creek, playing for its first District 10-5A Division II title in the program’s short history, defeated Brenham 54-42 on Friday night at Montgomery ISD Stadium for its first undefeated regular-season record. It was also the first time a Montgomery ISD school has beaten Brenham at football.
Lake Creek (10-0, 6-0) led 26-19 over the Cubs (6-4, 5-1) at halftime.
“Like I told them at halftime, we had to get two stops,” Lake Creek coach Pat Kennedy said. “And if we got two stops, we’d win the football game. We got two stops. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple times. We had the blocked punt again for the safety. But I couldn’t be prouder of the kids, prouder of the seniors. I’m extremely excited for them.”
Highlights
The Lions had two long scoring playing plays in the second quarter that helped the Lions keep pace.
Sam Lee caught a 60yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Cade Tessier that gave the Lions a seven-point lead with 2:29 before halftime.
Earlier in the quarter, sophomore running back Tyvon Byars broke free for an 80-yard touchdown.
Tessier opened the game with a 3-yard touchdown run, and then he hit Cason Pustka for a 6-yard score.
Brenham had two touchdown passes from Rylan Wooten. He hit Ian Stelter for 23 yards in the first quarter and Reid Robinson for 25 yards in the second quarter.
Brenham’s Cade Moore recovered a punt he blocked in the end zone at the 7:32 mark of the second quarter to the game at 19.
The teams exchanged touchdowns in the third quarter. Byars had 2-yard run, while Brooks McGee had a 6-yard score.
Brenham tied the game at 40-all on a 37-yard run by Wooten near the end of the third quarter.
Lake Creek then fell behind by two points after Brenham blocking a punt and tackling Lake Creek in the end zone for a safety with 10:38 left.
Tessier then hit Cason Pustka for a 47-yard touchdown to take a 47-42 lead with 9:12 left. It was Pustka’s second TD grab of the night.
Lake Creek later stopped Brenham on fourth down at its own 38. Then Tessier, Byars and the Lions put together their best drive of the night.
Tessier hit Kolbey Wisnieske on the near sideline for a 15-yard gain on third-and-long after evading a Brenham blitzer.
“I just dropped back, and it was a hitch-andgo,” Tessier said. “I saw the hitch, and out of the corner my eye, I saw a guy coming. I got out of the way and I saw Colby get open. He did all the work for me. I just had to toss it to him.”
A few plays later, Byars put in the insurance touchdown from 9 yards out with just over 2 minutes to play.
What it means
Lake Creek reaches the postseason for the first time since 2020 and for only the second time. The last time, they were the fourth and final team in.
The postgame celebration in the light sprinkle of rain (the game started two-and-a-half hours early due to a threat of storms later in the evening) was fun for the Lions. But they will get serious again real soon.
“It honestly feels surreal,” Tessier said.
Game balls
Byars led the way with 320 yards on 33 carries and three touchdowns.
Tessier 10-for-17 for 180 yards.
Pustka had the two touchdown receptions and 77 yards total.
Quotable
“I believe when people come to play, they know we are going to be physical with them,” Kennedy said. “We’ve got a really good back. And if we get into the fourth quarter close, we have a chance to beat you. That’s what we coach and what we are about. It’s great to see it come to fruition.”
Up next
Lake Creek will likely face Texas City at home in the Class 5A Region III Division II bi-district round next week. The Lions and Stingarees have never met.
Brenham is lined up to play Dayton.