Leps Run for 445 Yards to Down Lockhart 37-21
La Grange ran away with this one, literally.
In one of their best rushing games in recent history, the Leps ran for 445 yards Friday on their way to a 37-21 victory over Lockhart.
The forward pass was almost an afterthought in this one for La Grange (the Leps had just four yards passing) but they didn’t need to get fancy.
The Leps evened their record at 2-2 with the win and snapped a two-game losing streak.
“The past two losses hit us really hard, but our word of the week was ‘bounce-back’ and that’s what we did,” said La Grange junior defensive tackle Anthony Weikel, who forced a key fumble in the second quarter that eventually led to a Leps touchdown.
Bravion Rogers led the way for the Leps with 154 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns.
But Friday marked the most significant impact juniors Jakobe Wilkerson and C.J. Davis have had on the Leps offense. Wilkerson carried the ball nine times for 105 yards and Davis needed just four carries to amass 72 yards and his first varsity touchdown, a 37-yarder in the third quarter that put the Leps up 37-7. Ryder Imhoff also ran for 72 yards and a touchdown.
“It feels kinda great,” said Davis of that first varsity touchdown. “I can’t thank my teammates enough for helping me do this. I’m going to stay hungry.”
Through the first three weeks of the season, the Leps had often been their own worst enemy with penalties and turnovers galore.
But Friday the Leps looked much more polished, especially early, jumping out to a 30-point lead in the third quarter before Lockhart scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to make the final score seem a lot closer than this game felt.
“It was huge,” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates of eliminating those mistakes Friday. “I’m so proud of the way we played the first three-and-a-half quarters, but you can’t keep teams that explosive in the ballgame.”
Lockhart sophomore quarterback Ashton Dickens ran for 117 yards and threw two late touchdown passes.
“Look at their linemen,” Kates said. “That’s the biggest difference between 4A and 5A teams, it’s on the line and the depth they have in the trenches. Those guys are playing one side of the football. Those guys are playing half the snaps our guys are.”
But the Leps were up to the challenge Friday.
La Grange has struggled to force turnovers the past few weeks, but that was not the case Friday. Gerald Rodriguez grabbed a interception in the second quarter and then on the next Lions’ possession defensive tackle Anthony Weikel forced a fumble and recovered it himself.
“I saw the quarterback was about to give it to the running back and I stuck my hand out trying to get the ball out which ended up happening and it bounced right into my hands,” Weikel said. “It feels amazing.”
La Grange eventually turned both those turnovers into touchdowns. Friday marked the Leps’ first victory over Lockhart since the 2010 season opener, a 16-6 victory that was Kates’ first as a head coach at La Grange.
Kates and the Leps now turn their attention to Lago Vista, which comes to town for homecoming at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Leopard Stadium.
Lago Vista (a Class 3A school) is 2-1, beating Cameron 64-62 in the season opener and then Teague 28-0 before falling to Little River Academy 30-28 last week.
Last season La Grange went to Lago Vista and beat the Vikings 42-26. Lago Vista ended up going to the fourth round of the playoffs last year.
“Last year we were able to steal one from them,” Kates said. “We have to do a great job of taking care of that home field advantage against a really, really good football team.”
Homecoming
This Wednesday the Community Pep Rally will be at 7:30 p.m. at Leopard Stadium. Then Friday homecoming royalty will be announced prior to the game.
La Grange 37, Lockhart 21
Score by quarters
La Grange 9 21 7 0 – 37
Lockhart 0 7 0 14 – 21
Scoring summary
First Quarter
LA GRANGE – 9:23, Bravion Rogers 55 run (kick blocked)
LA GRANGE – 2:28, Brendan Maddox 37 field goal
Second Quarter
LA GRANGE – Jakobe Wilkerson 27 run (Maddox kick)
LOCKHART – 8:19, Ashton Dickens 41 run (Joseph Suarez kick)
LA GRANGE – 2:37, Rogers 1 run (Maddox kick)
LA GRANGE – Ryder Imhoff 8 run (Maddox kick)
Third Quarter
LA GRANGE – 5;28, C.J. Davis 37 run (Maddox kick)
Fourth Quarter
LOCKHART – 10:09, Dianta Jackson 39 pass from Dickens (Suarez kick)
LOCKHART – 5:13, Dylan Evans 43 pass from Dickens (Suarez kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – La Grange: Bravion Rogers 13-154, Jakobe Wilkerson 9-105, Ryder Imhoff 12-72, C.J. Davis 4-72, Dana Baker 4-29, Clay Wolff 4-10, Devon Johnson 1-3; Lockhart: Ashton Dickens 17-117, Sean McKinney 15-46.
Passing – La Grange: Clay Wolff 1 of 5 for 4 yards; Lockhart: Dickens 13 of 26 for 190 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.
Receiving – La Grange: Jaden Williams 1-4; Lockhart: Dylan Evans 7-116, Diante Jackson 1-39, Sean McKinney 4-19, Tay Andrews 1-16.
District 13-4A Football
Cuero 3-1
Smithville 3-1
Navasota 2-2
La Grange 2-2
Gonzales 1-3
Giddings 1-3
Friday’s scores:
La Grange 37, Lockhart 21
Hargrave 37, Navasota 20
Ingleside 35, Gonzales 19
Smithville 78, Crockett 7
Navarro 29, Cuero 27
Giddings 28, Caldwell 14
This week’s games:
Lago Vista at La Grange
Smithville at Columbus
Navarro at Giddings
Yoakum ay Navasota
Somerset at Cuero
Gonzales at Jarrell