The Orange Leader

FANNETT — In a game that featured bruising rushing attacks, it was the Orangefield Bobcats that held on to defeat the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns 38-32 in a crucial District 12-4A Division II win on the road for the Bobcats.

Orangefield (2-3, 1-1) received a huge effort from fullback Blake Bradley.

Bradley zipped through the Longhorns (2-6, 0-3) for 209 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.

The Bobcat win offset a huge performance from Longhorn back Tyrese White, who bolted for 213 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and caught two passes for 40 yards.

The Bobcats rolled up 466 yards of total offense, 439 via their ground arsenal while picking up 24 first downs. The Longhorns finished with 411 yards, 315 of it on the ground.

The Bobcats led 38-20 going to the fourth quarter and were able to hold back the Longhorns late.

White got the Longhorns off on the right foot when he scooted 75 yards for the score on the game’s first series as H-F led 7-0 13 seconds in.

HUFFMAN HARGRAVE 27, LCM 20
LITTLE CYPRESS – It will definitely be a game that the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears would love to take back.

The Huffman Hargrave Falcons entered Battlin’ Bear Stadium reeling after two blowout losses in District 10-4A Division I action but they walked away with a stunning 27-20 overtime victory over the Bears.

LCM (3-3, 2-1) was its own worst enemy after beating both Silsbee and Bridge City to open up 10-4A play.

The Bears finished with three turnovers, two of them that went for scores for the Falcons (3-4, 1-2), who had been outscored 94-19 in their first two district tilts. Huffman also stopped LC-M on sixth fourth down tries.

The Bear defense certainly did their part, limiting the Falcons to just 171 total yards and nine first downs.

LCM gobbled up 376 yards but the miscues were simply too costly.

LCM quarterback Ethan McCollum passed for 210 yards on 12-of-26 passing and rushed for 105 more on 28 tough carries. Bear back J’Lon Douglas gobbled up 60 yards on 14 carries. LCM’s leading rusher Chris Winters had 30 yards on 10 carries but was ejected from the game in the first half after he was called for targeting while playing at cornerback.

Huffman quarterback Justin Shively completed 10-of-26 passes for just 123 yards with receiver Cason Rice, who ended up with the game-winning catch, had three catches for 68 yards. Huffman simply had no running game, rushing for 48 yards on 24 totes.

SILSBEE 40, BRIDGE CITY 15
SILSBEE — The Silsbee Tigers beat the Bridge City Cardinals 40-15 in Silsbee Friday night in an offensive-heavy game in District 10-4A Division I action.

The Tigers (3-4, 2-1) ended with 274 rushing yards with seven separate running backs contributing to the offense as they finished with 311 yards.

The Tigers defense is what really won the game holding the Cardinals (1-5, 1-2) scoreless in the second half to ensure the win at home.

Tiger running back Christopher Martin zipped for 131 yards on 19 carries, and fellow back Draylyn Taylor had 86 yards on 16 totes.

The Tigers added to the Cardinals’ misery as Class 4A 100 and 200-meter state champion Kalon Barnes brough back two punt returns for scores.

The Cardinals finished with 266 yards on the night, 179 on the ground and 87 in the air.

Marcus Abrego paced the Cardinal ground game with 98 yards while Roman Haymon finished with 53. Quarterback Caleb DuBois completed two passes for 87, including a 68-yard touchdown pass to back Logan Hamm.

Each team entered this game wanting to secure a higher seed in the district. This game held a lot of possibilities in the outcome for the playoff picture and the race is far from over as Little Cypress-Mauriceville (3-3, 2-1) fell to Huffman (3-3, 1-2) 27-20 in overtime.