"That was the difference in the game," said TWHS head coach Mark Schmid about the turnovers. "We played with them back-and-forth. Take those things away and it's a
great ball game. You can't take those things away. Obviously, we're disappointed. Our kids played a whole lot better than the score reflects.
We have to bounce back and get ready for next week against Oak Ridge. We look forward to our first playoff game."
Leonard Hewitt and Mandela Roberts returned interceptions for touchdowns to put Lufkin in control in the second half, and Jamie Harris' 68-yard fumble return iced the game for the Pack, as Lufkin was able to overcome a night in which The Woodlands rushed for 242 yards on 41 carries.
"At the end of the game, I thought we might want to have an overtime with ourselves because the defense put up 21, and the offense put up 21," Lufkin Head Coach John Outlaw said. "Those were obviously some huge plays that the
defense had tonight. When the defense can score three touchdowns, you're not going to get beat many nights."
The district title was Lufkin's second straight in the Houston-area district and the third straight overall. The Panthers also won the district title in 2003 when they were competing against Tyler Lee, John Tyler and Longview.
Lufkin has now won 21 straight games and is one win away from wrapping up a second straight undefeated regular season game.
"It's tradition on a mission," Outlaw said. "These kids want to finish off the regular season with the 10-0 record, then see where we can go from there."
Lufkin's offense had a solid night, although it did struggle at times. The Panthers had some success with the passing game but ran the ball for much of
the night due to their big lead.
Jeremy Claybon finished the night with 163 yards on 6-of-11 passing. Dez Bryant led Lufkin's receivers with three catches for 80 yards, while Marcus Rains had two catches for 74 yards.
E.J. Shankle made the most of his six carries, running for two touchdowns and 34 yards on his six rushes.
"I really thought in the first half we were clicking, but we just didn't have that many possessions," Outlaw said. "That happens when the defense scores two touchdowns. We know we can still improve, but I thought we did a pretty good job."
The Panthers set the tone for the night on The Woodlands' first possession, as Roberts forced a fumble and Harris came up with the recovery on the Highlanders' third play of the night.
However, Lufkin also fumbled on its first possession. After the Panthers forced The Woodlands into a punt, Lufkin had a long scoring drive to get on
the board.
The Panthers went 81 yards on 11 plays with Claybon running in from 1 yard out to make it 7-0 early. Thaddeus Gordon had a 17-yard catch, and Bryant made a 35-yard reception to set up the score.
The Lufkin defense got into the scoring column on The Woodlands' next drive.
Facing a third-and-17, the Highlanders went for the screen pass. However, Roberts read it perfectly, intercepting the pass and going 33 yards untouched for the score.
The Woodlands quickly responded as it went four plays on 63 yards with D.J. Smalls running in for a 4-yard touchdown that made it 14-7.
Lufkin didn't waste long in getting back to work as Shankle returned the following kickoff to midfield. Six plays later, Shankle scored from one yard
out to make it 20-7.
This time the Panthers' defense didn't waste any time in matching the offense. On The Woodlands' first play of the next drive, Hewitt stepped in front of a Dillon Pound pass that was intended for Kyle Drabek and ran it
back 32 yards for the score and a 26-7 lead. Dez Bryant caught the two-point conversion pass to make it 28-7.
The Woodlands got back in the game before the half as it drove 71 yards on 10 plays to cut Lufkin's lead to 28-14 at the break.
The Panthers didn't waste long to get on the board in the second half.
Bryant returned the opening kickoff 32 yards to the Highlander 38. Five
plays later, Shankle had a spectacular play to extend Lufkin's lead.
Shankle was handed the ball on a reverse that was perfectly read by the Highlanders' defense. However, he reversed his field, eventually outsprinting The Woodlands' defenders into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown run and a 35-14 lead.
The Highlanders cut the lead to 35-17 on a Derek Depasquale 29-yard field goal and were driving once again to get back into the game.
That's when Harris came up with the big play, stripping the ball from the Highlanders' running back and running 68 yards for the score to make the final 42-17.
Lufkin (9-0, 6-0) will look to wrap up its perfect regular season when it plays at Klein Collins Friday. The Woodlands moves to 6-3 on the season and 5-1 in district play.