La Grange Still Looking for First District Win After Loss to Navasota
The La Grange football team overcame an early 14-point deficit to briefly take a lead in the fourth quarter Friday.
But Navasota rallied to score the final 13 points of the game and escape with a 33-21 win.
This was a battle between two teams that desperately needed wins to stay in the playoff hunt. The Rattlers got theirs to improve to 3-4 overall and 1-l in district.
La Grange, meanwhile, fell to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in district. This Friday's Leps game at Gonzales is now a battle between the only two teams in l3-4A without a district win yet.
"Being 0-2 is a bad feeling. We've got to tum this around if we want to have any hope of continuing our season (into the playoffs)," said La Grange defensive lineman Cooper Imhoff. "We thought we had everything we needed to win this one, it just didn't tum out that way."
These two teams both had stars get hurt the previous week. La Grange's Bravion Rogers was back in uniform Friday and caught a touchdo11n pass.
Navasota, meanwhile, was still without Ja'Mar Jessie (a 2,000-yard passer from last year who hurt his hamstring in the Smithville game two weeks ago). In Jessie's place was sophomore Hudson Minor, and he led the Rattlers to victory, throwing for 86 yards and rushing for 72, including a 50-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter than put Navasota up to stay.
Navasota running back Jamal! Thomas was a workhorse for the Rattlers, rushing a whopping 23 times for 164 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
"Navasota runs the football really well and we knew that coming in, but they also made some big plays in the passing game too," said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. "We felt good when we went ahead 21 -20, but they are tough. We just couldn't tackle them, couldn't bring them down."
As has happened a number of times this season, La Grange fell into an early hole in this one, as Navasota raced out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of Thomas touchdowns.
But La Grange came back.
A Jakobe Wilkerson interception set up an 11-yard touchdowll pass from senior quarterback Clay Wolff to Rogers that cut the Navasota lead to 14-7 going into halftime.
Navasota extended that lead to 20-7 before Wolff tossed his second touchdown pass of the night, this one a 23-yarder to Jaxon Cooper.
Ovemll Wolff threw for 144 yards with two TDs and just one interception as his passing output continues to improve as the season has gone on.
"The beginning of the year was rocky, but we learned from our mistakes;' Wolff said.
La Grange took their first and only lead of the night early in the fourth quarter after Ryder Imhoff's 10-yard touchdown run and Brendan Maddox's ensuing extra point gave the Leps a 21-20 lead.
But the Rattlers stormed back.
Just four plays after La Grange took the lead, Navasota took it back on Minor's 50-yard touchdown run with l 0:06left in the game.
Do11n 26-21, La Grange put together a 45-yard yard march but a fourth down pass fell incomplete with 5:21 left and Navasota got the ball back. They went on an SO-yard drive of their own, eating up most of the rest of the time and capping it off \\1th a 14-yard touchdown run by Ja'Marion Frear with just 34 seconds left in the game.
That put the game out of reach.
"What's done is done, we just have to learn from this and make ourselves better," Wolff said. "We as seniors have to step up. We realize time is winding down. If we're going to make something of this, we have to be the ones to do it. We know our potential, we know what we are capable of, hopefully we can come out and show people what it is."
Scoring summary
First Quarter
NAVASOTA - 6:29, Jamall Thomas 52 run (Juan Vargas kick)
Second Quarter
NAVASOTA - 9:07, Thomas 5 run (Vargas kick)
LA GRANGE - 5:45, Bravion Rogers 11 pass from Clay Wolff (Brendan Maddox kick)
Third Quarter
NAVASOTA - 6:39, Xavier Steptoe 21 pass from Hudson Minor (kick blocked)
LA GRANGE - 5:15, Jaxon Cooper 23 pass from Clay Wolff (Maddox kick)
Fourth Quarter
LA GRANGE - 1 1:07, Ryder Imhoff 10 run (Maddox kick)
NAVASOTA - 1 0:06, Minor 50 run (conversion run failed)
NAVASOTA - :34, Ja'Marion Frear 14 run (Vargas kick)
INDIVIDUAL STAYS
Rushing - La Grange: Ryder Im hoff 11-44, Clay Wolff 6-16, Bravion Rogers 5-14, Dana Baker 3-10, Jaden Wi lliams 2-8, C.J. Dav is 2-1-2 1. Team 2-1-5); Navasota: Ja mal! Thomas 23-164, Hudson Minor 9-72, Ja'Marion Frear 13-54.
Passing - La Grange: Clay Wo lff 11 of 17 for 144 with 2 TDs and 1 INT, Rogers 1 for 1 for 1 yard, Williams 0 for 1; Minor: 4 of 6 for 86 yards with 1 tNT.
Receiving - La Grange: Jaxon Cooper 6-64, Imhoff 2-43, Rogers 2-28, Baker 1-8, Wolff 1-1 ; Navasota: Jo hn Lee 2-43, Frear 1-22, Xav ier Steptoe 1-21 .
Friday's scores:
Navasota 33, La Grnnge 21
SmittMIIe 35, Goozales 19
Cuero 35, Giddings 7
This week's games:
La Grange at Gonzales
Cuero at Navasota Smitllville at Giddings
Smitllville at Giddings