SEARCH:

Select a School:

Your Hometown:

Archives > Sports Update

Print
E-mail
Comment (No comments posted.)
Rate

RSS
Share
Text Size

Touchback Setback: Controversial call halts West momentum in 34-19 loss to LH

BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com

Published: Saturday, September 8, 2012 1:10 AM CDT

DALLAS -- When is a touchdown not a touchdown?

Plano West (1-1) learned the answer to that question Friday night at Wildcat-Ram Stadium against Lake Highlands (1-1) as an apparent touchdown by senior wide receiver Zac Gideo with 7:14 remaining in the fourth quarter was ruled a fumble into the end zone with the Wildcats recovering to preserve a 28-19 lead in an eventual 34-19 victory.

"It was tough to see from where I was at," said Mike Hughes, West head coach. "Zac said he scored, but the line judge and back judge said it was a fumble; I'll have to go back and look at the video.

"We had some momentum though and that was a huge call right there."

That call halted West's fourth quarter march.

The Wolves, who were without senior starting quarterback Travis Korry due to a sprained ankle, entered the final frame in a 28-13 hole. The comeback attempt started shortly into the fourth as sophomore quarterback Zach Norris completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to senior Connor Doyle to make it 28-19 with 9:54 remaining after the 2-point conversion failed.

Doyle, who had three grabs for 79 yards, was one of eight Wolves to catch a pass.

"We've got some good receivers," Hughes said, "and we got in a position where we needed to move fast and score."

The West defense, which had been torched in the first half, held up its end from there by forcing Lake Highlands into a three-and-out for the fourth time in five second-half drives.

"We weren't running as many stunts," said Oshen Matheson, West senior linebacker, "and we stopped just arm tackling like we were in the first half."

The Wolves took over and seemingly moved the ball 64 yards in three plays with a 29-yard scoring strike to Gideo, who had four catches for 117 yards, finishing the drive with 7:14 left. The catch only turned out to be 28 yards though as the ball was turned over at the 1.

Lake Highlands took advantage and marched the ball 80 yards with an 8-yard touchdown from Tyrone Palm, his second of the game, making it 34-19 with 2:40 left.

That would be the final score as well.

That Lake Highlands' last score would come on the ground is no surprise as that's how all five of the team's touchdowns manifested.

That was imperative as the Wildcats' passing game was anemic. Quarterback Trent Jones threw three interceptions in the first half, with Wolves junior Parker Dunn grabbing one and senior Davis Roeschke making two picks, but he was also at the forefront of a Lake Highlands' rushing attack that gathered 371 yards on the night.

The bulk of those yards came from Jones, Tyler Hughes and Elbert Landry.

"They've got some good athletes with speed and you have to wrap guys like that up," coach Hughes said. "Good defenses tackle well and we didn't do that tonight."

Players on the Wolves' defense agreed.

"We weren't wrapping up tonight," said Jake Wodka, West senior linebacker. "Maybe it's because it was hot out there and the guys were sweaty and slippery, but that is not an excuse; we have to do better."

Jones ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, Landry had 124 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and Hughes ran for 90 yards on seven carries. Jones, Landry and Palm scored touchdowns in the first half to give Lake Highlands a 21-7 lead. West's lone score came from sophomore Sotonya Jamabo, who broke off a 41-yard run for a touchdown. So-so, who had 14 carries for 89 yards, wouldn't get many touches in the second half though as West was consistently playing catch up.

Norris, who alternated every two series with sophomore Colton Hepp in the first half before taking over in the second half, aided in that effort.

Norris completed 15-of-20 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns with the first coming on a 29-yard toss to Austin Copeland that cut West's deficit to 21-13 in the third quarter. The senior was Norris' top target as he caught six passes for 115 yards and had a lengthy kickoff return early in the fourth to set up another potential scoring drive.

That drive would be stopped on the 1 due to the fumble though as West dropped its first game of the season, 34-19.

"We had a little adversity tonight with our starting quarterback being out," coach Hughes said, "but adversity is going to happen and we have to play better when it does."

West will get that chance at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they host South Garland at Clark Stadium. Whether Korry plays remains to be seen as both he and Norris, who took a big hit on the last series of the game, were described as day-to-day by Hughes.

"We are going to hurt for the next 24 hours," Wodka said, "but we will learn from this game and I think it will end up just being a minor roadblock for us."

Share this Article