'Heavy Weight Battle'
By: Darrell Hamlett, Assistant Sports Editor10/31/2004
The marquee match-up of District 14-5A lived up to its hype.

In a battle between two state-ranked teams, No. 4 Lufkin and No. 10 The Woodlands played a game of "whatever you can do, I can do better," until the Panthers made a last-second defensive stand to escape a jam-packed Buddy Moorhead Memorial Stadium with a 35-28 victory over the Highlanders on Saturday.

"We told our kids it was a heavy weight battle where we would punch them and they would punch us," said TWHS coach Mark Schmid.

Before an overflow crowd of 10,391, the two squads swapped scores throughout the game with Lufkin's power running back Jorvorskie Lane scoring his fifth touchdown of the game to put the Panthers up 35-28 with just under five minutes left in the game.

Like they had all game, the Highlanders appeared as though they would answer that score with one of their own. The Woodlands converted on two key fourth down situations to keep the drive alive. Cameron Mont-gomery knifed his way through the Panther defense for a 25-yard gain to the Panther 41 on a fourth-and-1 at the TWHS 34 before Greg Meinzer found Kyle Anderson for a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-3 at the Lufkin 34 with under a minute to go.

From there Meinzer connected with Jake Robichaux for a 9-yard gain on second down to the 21. However, that would be as far as the Highlanders would get as two more incompletions turned the ball over to the Panthers on downs.

"We knew it would take a last-minute stand," said Schmid. "We had a chance to win it on the last play but it didn't turn out that way. I can't be any prouder of the way we played."

The Highlanders had fallen behind early as Lane scored the first of his five TDs on a 41-yard burst up the middle on the Panthers' first possession. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound bruising back finished the day with 222 yards on 27 carries.

"He's a huge load," said Schmid. "He's a tremendous football player. There's a reason why he's committed to play at Texas A&M."

The Woodlands would answer that score as Kyle Drabek returned the kickoff 60 yards to the Lufkin 40. Meinzer then connected with Drabek who dodged a defender and raced down to the Lufkin 5. On the next play, Montgomery used a key block from Josh Martinek to score from five yards out to cap off a four play, 40-yard drive.

After swapping punts, Lufkin would put together a 14 play, 93-yard drive to regain the lead on a 6-yard TD run by Lane.

Penalties then prevented the Highlanders from moving the ball on its next possession and the Panthers appeared ready to tack on another score. However, Roy Gardner fumbled the ball at the Highlander 17 and TWHS's Jaceson Mann recovered it to thwart the Lufkin offense.

Using the momentum gained from the defensive stop, The Woodlands went 83 yards in 11 plays to tie the game. Meinzer threaded a pass between a trio of Panther defenders to Drabek for a 34-yard gain. Montgomery was the workhorse for the Highlanders on the drive as the senior rushed for 41 of his 148 yards. He scored his second of three TDs on a one yard run on fourth-and-goal to end the drive.

The third quarter started out as a barn-burner as both offenses began clicking. The two teams combined for 28 points in the first 10 minutes after the break.

The Panthers opened up by driving 57 yards on eight plays to regain the lead as Lane took a direct snap and bowled his way in from 4-yards out.

The Woodlands then quickly answered as Meinzer found Drabek for a 44-yard gain to the Lufkin 2. Montgomery took it in on the next play and Jacob Gibbons' third extra point of the game made 21-21 with 7:45 left in the third.

The Highlanders appeared to have the Panther offense stopped on their next possession as Wayne Hrozek tripped up Lane for a loss to force a third-and-15. However, quarterback Jacovey Smallwood was able to avoid the rush and find Gardner for a 23-yard gain to keep the Panthers moving. Lane later capped off the drive with a 12-yard draw up the middle.

Once again, The Woodlands quickly answered back as Meinzer threw deep to Eric Paul for a 50-yard scoring strike that once again tied the game at 28-28.

The score swapping looked to continue as the Panthers drove down to the Highlander 13. However, the Highlander defense would rise to the challenge as TWHS's Ryan Graham broke up a pass in the endzone on third down. Lane's fourth down pass was too long for E.J. Shankle giving the ball back to the Highlanders.

This time the Panther defense would answer the bell with its own stop as they forced the Highlanders to punt. That kick was shanked, giving Lufkin the ball at the TWHS 34 where a re-energized Lane took over for his final score.

With the loss, the Highlanders fall to 6-3 on the year and 4-2 in 14-5A play. The Woodlands has already clinched a playoff berth and will be 14-5A's representative in the Division I bracket.

"With this game, we learned that we can play with anybody," Schmid said.

Lufkin remains undefeated on the season and clinches a least a share of the district title with just one game left next week at second-place Klein Collins.


©Houston Community Newspapers Online 2004



Oct. 31, 2004, 12:36PM

Lufkin halts The Woodlands

Panthers hold off Highlanders late; Lane runs for 5 TDs

By EMILY DAVIS
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

CONROE - The Woodlands had one chance to cut a seven-point deficit and send the sweltering afternoon game into overtime.

One chance. And on fourth-and-one from Lufkin's 22-yard line with six seconds left in the game, Highlanders quarterback Greg Meinzer took it.

When the pass went spiraling toward the end zone, everything stood still. A collective gasp was heard as receiver Kyle Drabek stretched out his hands and ...

Lufkin, the state's No. 4-ranked team, isn't about to say that it won the game simply because of Meinzer's incomplete pass. But the Panthers, who marched out of Moorhead Stadium with a 35-28 win and the District 14-5A title sewed up, were quick to admit Saturday's game was a bigger battle than they expected against the No. 10-ranked Highlanders.

"It was a true battle through and through," Lufkin coach John Outlaw said. "Coming into this game, you know about how big things are and how tough they'll be. But you just never quite know how much of a fight it will be until you put the play into action."

And that fight, staged in front of 10,319 screaming onlookers on a hot Saturday afternoon, was one that lasted until the bitter end.

Lufkin (9-0, 6-0 in 14-5A), opened the scoring with 9:17 left in the first quarter on senior Jorvorskie Lane's 41-yard touchdown run to cap a five-play, 76-yard drive. The game saw four lead changes after that and ended only after Meinzer's pass landed at Drabek's feet and Lufkin took a knee on the next play.

The Panthers racked up 468 yards; The Woodlands had 349.

"We told the guys at the half that this game was going to come down to the last man standing," said The Woodlands coach Mark Schmid, whose team scored with a minute left in the second quarter on running back Cameron Montgomery's one-yard scramble to head into halftime tied at 14. "This game shows our players that they can hand some tough competition to the best teams in the state and keep up until the end."

And the person the Highlanders (6-3, 4-2 in 14-5A) worked hardest to keep up with was the 6-1, 235 Lane, who finished the game with 222 of Lufkin's 300 yards rushing and scored all five of its touchdowns, including what proved to be the game-winner from 13 yards out with 4:55 left in the game.

Although Lane had suffered from a stomach virus all week and left the game briefly in the fourth quarter motioning for water and holding his sides, he was able to rack up more yards rushing on the Highlanders than any other team this season.

"I wasn't feeling well all week, so I knew coming into this game it was going to take an extra effort on my part to have the kind of game I did," Lane said. We just kept our heart. We never lost that."

But neither did The Woodlands. Montgomery finished the day with 148 yards rushing and three touchdowns, with runs of five, one and two yards. Meinzer was 9-for-17 for 190 yards and a touchdown, using Drabek as his primary receiver (118 yards on five receptions) and going to Eric Paul twice for 59 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to tie the game at 28.

In the end, Lufkin was the last team standing. And with the postseason looming, both teams are grateful for a playoff-caliber game with a week of district ahead of them.

"We have another game left," Schmid said. "But with this game today, we can take a lot out of here, use it against Oak Ridge in our final game of the season and know that we are absolutely equipped to handle teams in the playoffs."

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