Leps Beat Cameron 52-49 in OT on Cook’s Game-Winner

In what was one of the most thrilling – and longest – football season openers in school history, the Leps outlasted Cameron 52-49 in overtime Friday after three hours and 34 minutes of back-andforth drama.

At times the Leps seemed headed for a blowout win but then saw their 22-point second half lead slip away before the foot of Taylor Cook vaulted La Grange to the win.

Cook, a senior kicker, was perfect on seven extra point tries Friday, but it was his 35yard field goal in overtime that proved to be the game-winner.

“He did the same thing in El Campo (in a preseason scrimmage). All he does is bang walk-off field goals. I’m proud of him. He’s put a lot of time into his kicking,” said La Grange head coach Kyle Cooper. “We almost gave this away, but for us to battle back says a lot. We will spring board this into next week and into the rest of the season.”

Only moments before Cook’s game winner, Cameron’s try at taking the lead in overtime with a field goal of their own had gone awry amidst Lep defensive pressure.

After Cook’s kick sailed through the uprights the La Grange players stormed the field in celebration of a win that snapped a four-game losing streak that dated back to last season.

“I was really nervous,” Cook said of the kick. “I just tried to breathe through it. I thought about what I do in practice and just took it out onto the field. It felt amazing.”

This game had a little of everything, but a whole lot of offense, as La Grange amassed 515 total yards of offense. Cameron gained 452 yards, and was jump-started by a second-half quarterback change.

La Grange senior quarterback Clayton Cooper ran for 139 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 190 yards and another score.

La Grange sophomore Dwodney Thompson had a huge game, catching five passes for 123 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown, and he also returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score.

“Things feel a lot slower this year,” said Thompson, comparing his freshman year on varsity to this one. “We’ve got a lot better as a team. It feels so good to come out with this win, and I’m excited for next week.”

Leps varsity newcomer, junior Da’von Giscome led the Leps in rushing with 186 yards and two touchdowns, the second of which was a 84-yard scamper with 1:16 left in the game that broke a tie and put the Leps up 49-42.

But Cameron battled back as they did all game marching 61 yards in the game’s final minute-plus to score on a seven yard touchdown pass from Cade Hubnik to Timothy Grice Jr. with just 10 seconds left in the game. Homero Najera tied the game with his extra point to send the game to overtime, but a pair of missed field goals by Cameron earlier in the game loomed large in this one.

Right from the start this game was wild.

Cameron intercepted a tipped pass on La Grange’s first possession of the game and scored one play later. Elijah Goodrum snagged the interception and ran for the touchdown.

But the Leps fought back to take a 28-20 lead into halftime thanks to the offensive heroics of Cooper and Thompson, who each scored twice before halftime – and opportunistic defensive plays. Graham Youens recovered a fumble and Max Dixon snagged an interception in the end zone.

La Grange looked like they might blow the game open when they forced a pair of turnovers on each of Cameron’s first two possessions of the second half, and eventually cashed both in for touchdowns. An Oliver Gunn fumble recovery eventually turned into Cooper’s third touchdown run of the night. Then Holdyn Cooper intercepted a pass and five plays layer Giscome ran for a 22 yard touchdown to put the Leps up 42-20.

“We lost some of our intensity when we went up three scores,” Coach Cooper said. “The difference between a good team and a great team is to bury people. Great teams finish them, and we are not there yet, that’s OK. It’s the first game of the year, but that’s where we are going.”

That second interception ended the night for Jacoby Scott at quarterback for Cameron, but his replacement Cade Hubnik sparked the Yoeman to score 22 unanswered points.

But La Grange was not going to let this one slip away.

“This feels great. 3-8 last year didn’t feel nice,” said Holdyn Cooper. “Coming out here and starting with a win, I’m excited for what’s to come. We’re a different team, we’re a different animal.”

Now the Leps turn their attention to an old rival Columbus, which is a legitimate state title contender on Class 3A. The Cardinals opened their season by going to Cuero and beating the Gobblers 65-24 as their quarterback Adam Schobel, a TCU commit, threw for 217 yards and five touchdowns. La Grange plays at Columbus Friday at 7:30 p.m.

La Grange 52, Cameron 49 (OT)

Score by quarters

La Grange 14 14 14 7 3 – 35 Cameron 7 13 7 22 0 – 49

LG Cam.

Rushing yds 325 260 Passing yards 190 192 Total yards 515 452 Comp-Att-Int 16-31-1 1421-2 Fumbles-lost 3-1 5-2 Penalties-Yds 10-70 10-75

Scoring summary FIRST QUARTER

CAMERON – 11:03, Elijah Goodrum 8 run (Homero Najera kick) LA GRANGE – 3:41, Clayton Cooper 21 run (Taylor Cook kick) LA GRANGE – :18, Dwodney Thompson 64 pass from Cooper (Cook kick) SECOND QUARTER

CAMERON – 6:38, Jacoby Scott 14 run (conversion pass failed) LA GRANGE – 6:14, Cooper 78 run (Cook kick) CAMERON – 4:07, Brody Aguirre 30 pass from Scott (Najera kick) LA GRANGE – 3:53, Thompson 96 yard kickoff return (Cook kick) Third Quarter

LA GRANGE – 10:03, Cooper 2 run (Cook kick) LA GRANGE – 6:53, Da’von Giscome 22 run (Cook kick) CAMERON – 2:04, Cade Hubnik 6 run (Najera kick) Fourth Quarter

CAMERON – 7:50, Antonio Vargas Jr. 44 pass from Hubnik (Najera kick) CAMERON – 6:22, Hubnik 28 run (Timothy Grice. Jr. run ) LA GRANGE – 1:16, Giscome 84 run (Cook kick) CAMERON – :10, Grice Jr. 7 pass from Hubnik (Najera kick) Overtime

LA GRANGE – Cook 35 yard field goal

INDIVIDUAL STATS Rushing: La Grange: Da’von Giscome 16-186, Clayton Cooper 16-139, Le’Kayvion Broussard 2-0, Dillan Johnson 1-0; Cameron: Timothy Grice. Jr. 29-168, Cade Hubnik 10-74, Jacoby Scott 6-25, Elijah Goodrum 2-10, Lopez-Pinch 1-3, Team 1-(-20).

Passing: La Grange 16 of 31 for 190 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT; Scott 8 of 13 for 73 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs, Hubnik 6 of 8 for 119 with 2 TDs.

Receiving: La Grange – Dwodney Thompson 5-123, Dillan Johnson 5-53, Eli Gillum 5-14, Mason Kleiber 1-0; Cameron: Antonio Vargas Jr. 6-103, Tre-Veon Myles 2-41,

District 11-4A La Grange 1-0 Sealy 1-0 Madisonville 1-0 Caldwell 1-0 Giddings 0-1 Bellville 0-1

Friday’s results:

La Grange 52, Cameron 49 (OT) Jarrell 20, Giddings 14 Celina 49, Bellville 30 Sealy 70, Navasota 33 Madisonville 28, Diboll 27 Caldwell 35, Crockett 34

This week’s games: La Grange at Columbus Giddings at Smithville Stafford at Bellville Sealy at Cameron Navasota at Madisonville