Lions roll over the Wildcats

Sulphur Springs | Football

Lions are king of the jungle, and for now, the Ennis Lions rule the scene. The Lions are in the lead in District 8-5A football race. Ennis lived up to their statewide billing and remained undefeated in district with a 42-14 win over Sulphur Springs in Friday, Oct. 11 football action.

The crowd at Gerald Prim Stadium on a cool and windy night got to see just why the Lions are rated as one of the top Class 5A teams in the state.

The Lions led the Wildcats in every statistical category, as they rushed for almost as many yards as the home team had overall. Sulphur Springs did lead with four turnovers, a category in which they did not want to win. Ennis made one turnover, a slick interception by senior Wildcat defender Kylan Wade.

Ennis went to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in district with a game plan that featured a powerful ground game and a tough defense. Sulphur Springs dropped to 1-5 with the loss, 1-3 in district.

The Lions used a big line to dominate the game to rush for over 250 yards, averaging 6.5 per carry. Quarterback Collin Drake and burly 240-pound running back Jarius Jones each rushed for over 100 yards. Devion Beasley scored on a pair of touchdown trots.

Jones had two short scoring runs. Drake threw touchdown passes to Clayton Jenkins and was a threat all night to break a long run.

Sulphur Springs just managed 260 total yards in the game from 72 plays as they picked up 16 first downs.

Again, holding penalties and a few dropped passes stifled production.

Kaden Wallace was 11-of-27 passing for 132 yards with three interceptions and two touchdown passes. Zach Tiemeyer caught three passes for 38 yards, the top total on the team. Weston Fields caught three passes for 25 yards, including his first varsity touchdown reception. Chase Haney caught a 14-yard scoring pass.

The Wildcats rushed 37 times for 127 yards. Ca-den Davis rambled for 57 yards, Wallace added 44 yards in 10 tries, Da’Korian “Choc” Sims was held to 20 yards on 11 totes, and Jaden Janaway had two carries for 6 yards.

On the defensive side, Ryan Carrillo, a junior linebacker, fought through back spasms to again lead the team in stops. Carrillo had 19 total tackles including nine solo stops. Eleazar Brena contributed 14 total tackles and broke up a pass, Haney added nine stops and a pass defended, Korderrian Turner also had nine total tackles, Aiden Wallace recovered a fumble and had eight stops, and Cameron Kaufert also overcame an injury to recover six stops. Wade had eight tackles to go with his interception.

Noe Ponce was busy all night from punt formation with five total boots for a 40-yard average.

The visitors got on the scoreboard first with a scoring drive of 63 yards. The key play was a long quarterback keeper by Drake covering more than 40 yards. The scoring play was a 2-yard run by Jones. The extra point by Angel Aguilar gave the Lions a 7-0 lead.

Sulphur Springs again went to their uptempo style of offense and covered 70 yards in less than three minutes to tie the score. The mix of run and pass play backed up the Lions. The scoring play was a nice 14-yard slant pass from Wallace to Haney. Brandon Zavala tied the game with the point after with seven minutes still to play in the opening frame.

The Wildcats reached deep into their bag of tricks and successfully executed an onside kick. Sulphur Springs drove to the 10-yard line of the Lions before the drive stalled. A try for a 27-yard field by Zavala was not successful.

The Lions didn’t have any difficulty stringing together a scoring drive on their next possession. The 80-yard drive reached the end zone in just five plays. A pass inference penalty against Sulphur Springs helped the cause. The scoring play was a nifty Beasley run covering 21-yards as he followed blockers to pay dirt. The point after put the Lions ahead by a 14-7 margin.

Sulphur Springs appeared poised to answer the score, when disaster struck.

The Wildcats drove from their own 33-yard line to within the red zone, near the shadow of the goal posts.

Runs by Wallace and Sims fueled the drive.

Then on a third and goal from Ennis 2-yard line, the play of the game occurred. Wallace tried to slip through defenders to the goal, as he stretched out his 6-2 frame toward the end zone the football was knocked free with Ennis’ standout Jarveon Williams recovering.

Ennis took over at their own 1-yard line as the second quarter started. The Lions did what good teams do: They controlled the ball and expertly fashioned a 99-yard scoring drive on 16 plays. The capping call was a Drake to Clayton Jenkins scoring pass from 7 yards out.

Now Ennis had a 21-7 lead and all the momentum in the final minutes of the first half. The Lions were growling following the big score and appeared ready for more.

Wade picked off a Drake pass in the final seconds of the second frame to prevent any more damage by the Lions. The Wildcats went into the half on the short end of the 21-7 tally.

The second half was more of the same, the Lions scored twice and the Wildcats managed a lone touchdown.

The third quarter was full of penalties and a brief skirmish. Players, one from each team, were ejected from the contest.

Ennis got back to action and scored on a 16-yard run by Beasley. The point after padded the Ennis lead to 28-7 with 3:45 to play in the third period.

Sulphur Springs had one last hurrah, they put together a 60-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Wallace capped the drive with a scoring toss to Fields. The Wildcats had sliced the Ennis lead to 28-14 with 10:04 to play.

Jones ended a drive with a 1-yard scoring run to give the Lions a 35-14 edge.

Dacoby Sterling had the final touchdown of the game as he picked off a Wallace pass and returned it 50 yards for the final touchdown of the game.

Ennis closed out the contest with a 42-14 win. The Wildcats now play another district power, Corsicana, on the road on Friday, Oct. 18. Corsicana is coming off a 27-0 defeat at the hands of a talented Royse City team.

The Tigers are 5-2 overall, 4-1 in district. Scores from Friday, Oct. 11 action reveal Greenville over Terrell, 28-16, and North Forney hammering Kaufman, 48-20.