5A DIVISION I BI-DISTRICT: Falcons shock Titans with second-chance drive

Published 10:23 pm Friday, November 16, 2018

Richmond Foster got a do-over when it needed one most.

Lamar Jones recovered a JaVontae’ Hopkins fumble with 1:12 left, and on fourth-and-6, Ryan Stubblefield completed a 14-yard pass up the middle to tight end Koleman Hardin with 32 seconds left. Bryson Harrell’s extra point made the difference in the Falcons a 20-19 win over host Memorial on Friday night, surprisingly ending the Titans’ season at 9-2.

It was the first playoff game held at Memorial Stadium in at least 25 years, according to first-year coach Brian Morgan, but it ended bitterly for his team.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“Hopefully, it’s something the guys can learn from,” Morgan said. “The younger guys can learn from this and use this to help them grow. The older guys can use this as a life lesson they can take from football. Things don’t always go your way. It is what it is.”

Memorial had reached the 5A Division I Region III semifinals, or third round, each of the past two years, and had home field advantage as the second seed from District 9-5A Division I. Foster (7-4), however, is a team that was one point away from beating undefeated Alvin Shadow Creek but finished third in 10-5A-I.

The Titans stopped an onside kick attempt after the Falcons’ touchdown at its own 43 and moved the ball 22 yards before a 52-yard Kenny Pham field goal on third down went well short with 5 seconds remaining.

“We had 9 seconds left,” Morgan said, referring to the time left before the kick. “If you take a shot at the end zone, it’s going to take those 9 seconds left. If you run a play out of bounds, you don’t have time to snap it.

“[Pham] does have the ability. It’s just a flip of the coin. We’ve got a chance, but it didn’t happen.”

Neither team had a timeout remaining.

The Falcons received their mulligan after dropping a third-down pass and Memorial’s Jaylen LaPoint deflected a fourth-down toss in the end zone with 1:57 left. The Titans ran two plays before the costly fumble.

Hopkins ran 24 times for 136 yards and a touchdown. His longest carry went for 40 yards on a fourth-quarter drive that stalled.

Memorial went up 19-13 late in the third quarter. Kam Ladia converted a third-and-7 to Kenneth Washington on a slant, and that led to a 1-yard Jacob Washington carry to break the tie.

Hopkins’ 14-yard touchdown run gave Memorial a 13-6 lead late in the first half Friday, but Teajawon Mack was the guy who turned on the burners in the go-ahead drive.

Mack, who had a receiving touchdown to open the scoring, went 39 yards on a jet sweep one play after the Titans forced the Falcons to punt. That set up Hopkins’ TD run.

Hopkins, who had two identical 217-yard, three-touchdown games in the past three weeks, had 41 yards on 12 carries in the first half.

The Titans took a 6-0 lead after Mack caught a 21-yard pass from Kam Ladia midway through the first quarter. Foster blocked the extra point.

Memorial’s defense held Foster to four first downs and held the Falcons to a pair of Harrell field goals (from 25 and 37 yards out). The longer field goal evened the score at 6-all with 7:51 left.

“I thought we had a decent night packing [Foster’s runners] up,” Morgan said.

But Stubblefield would get his passing yards. He completed 14 of 34 for 216 yards, with Cody Johnson catching six passes for 109.

A LITTLE CHIPPY

Toward the end of the traditional postgame handshakes, a fight broke out near Memorial’s bench between Foster’s and Memorial’s players. The melee lasted no more than 2 minutes.

“Throughout the game, from pregame warm-ups, I just think there was just some chippiness,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t really tell you a whole lot about it. I was on the other side of the field. I’m not even sure how it started.”

THE GAME CHANGED …

More than once.

Isaac Johnson, who was held to minus-12 yards rushing in the first half, got going with a 26-yard sprint on Foster’s first series of the second half. A 15-yard penalty against the Titans buoyed the drive, which quarterback Ryan Stubblefield completed with a 1-yard keeper to tie the game at 13.

Foster executed a successful onside kick to follow, but was forced to punt and Memorial broke the tie on its next drive.

THE GAME BALL GOES TO …

Harrell, who converted two field goals and two extra points, one of them being the game winner.

NEXT UP …

Foster will take on Manor, which beat Dripping Springs 43-40, next weekend in the area round.

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

**CORRECTS Foster’s placekicker, who was misidentified in a roster.**

Falcons 20, Titans 19

Foster          3          3          7          7          —        20

Memorial        6          7          6          0          —        19

First quarter

Memorial — Teajawon Mack 21 pass from Kam Ladia (kick failed), 7:48

Foster — Bryson Harrell 25 FG, 1:53

Second quarter

Foster — Harrell 37 FG, 7:51

Memorial — JaVontae’ Hopkins 14 run (Kenny Pham kick), 4:50

Third quarter

Foster — Ryan Stubblefield 1 run (Harrell kick), 7:26

Memorial — Jacob Washington 1 run (Pham kick), 1:36

Fourth quarter

Foster — Koleman Hardin 14 pass from Stubblefield (Harrell kick), 0:32

Fos                  Mem

First downs                14                   14

Rushes-yards             41-27             41-163

Passing yards              189                 110

Total yards                 216                 273

Comp-Att-Int             14-34-0          8-19-0

Fumbles-lost              1-0                  2-1

Penalties-yards         8-75                8-78

Individual statistics

RUSHING — Foster: Isaac Johnson 9-40, Parker Hearon 1-5, Shadeed Ahmed 1-4, Jaden Smith 1-2, Stubblefield 4-(-11). Memorial: Hopkins 24-136, Teajawon Mack 1-39, J. Washington 4-22, Tyrence Augusta 4-9, Ladia 8-(-4).

PASSING — Foster: Stubblefield 14-34-0, 115. Memorial: Ladia 8-19-0, 110.

RECEIVING — Foster: Cody Johnson 6-109, Ahmed 5-61, Koleman Hardin 1-14, Sean Kelly 1-4, Collin Williams 1-1. Memorial: Kenneth Washington 3-49, Teajawon Mack 4-48, Hopkins 1-9, Alex Ned 1-6.

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

email author More by I.C.