Leps Win Homecoming Shootout 56-43
La Grange Scores Most Points Since 2014; Rogers Accounts for 5 TDs
The new turf at Leopard Stadium is officially broken in now.
The La Grange and Lago Vista football teams marched up and down that new turf Friday combing for 99 points and over 1,000 yards of offense before the Leps finally prevailed 56-43.
It was the most points La Grange had scored in a game since the 2014 season.
“This is a family victory, couldn’t be more proud of the whole group. They are becoming a team,” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. “I don’t like giving up 43 points – ever, but happy to be 3-2. We have a lot of work to do.”
The homecoming night victory puts a nice exclamation mark on the non-district portion of the season for La Grange, which hits its bye week with a that 3-2 record and a two-game winning streak.
La Grange’s Bravion Rogers scored five touchdowns Friday, three rushing and two receiving. He also threw a 68 pass to Andrew Faske on the Leps’ first play from scrimmage, played most the game on defense, and punted six times for a 43.6 yard average. “Big thanks to the line,
“Big thanks to the line, when they do their thing I do my thing,” Rogers said.
Friday’s game couldn’t have started any better for the Leps as they jumped out to a 22-0 lead in the first quarter. Rogers scored on a one yard touchdown just two minutes into the game (set up by his long pass play to Faske). Minutes later he caught a perfectly thrown spiral in stride from sophomore Jaden Williams for a 50-yard touchdown and then Ryder Imhoff added a 40-yard touchdown run.
It looked like this was going to be a blowout.
But Lago Vista had other ideas.
“They were a state quarterfinalist last year and they are about to become a quarterfinalists again this year, watch and see. They throw and catch it so well,” Kates said.
The Vikings responded from the 22-0 hole with a pair of second quarter touchdown passes from Bowen Stobb to head into the halftime locker room down just 22-13.
That set the stage for a wild third quarter that had the teams trading touchdowns like this was a video game.
Lago Vista scored on Stobb’s third touchdown pass of the night to cut the lead to 22-20, but La Grange responded one play later with a 62-yard touchdown pass from Clay Wolff to Rogers.
Stobb ran for a 19-yard touchdown, only to see La Grange respond even quicker, this time with a 90-yard kick-off return by Jakobe Wilkerson.
The Vikings were up to the challenge, answering with a 70- yard touchdown run by Logan Parsons, who ran for a game-high 206 yards.
That cut the La Grange lead to 37-34, and the Vikings tied the game early in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Stobb.
That early 22-0 lead seemed ages ago.
But even though the momentum was lost, the Leps didn't allow the game to be.
Rogers scored on touchdown runs of 63 and 70 yards in the fourth quarter to rally the Leps.
La Grange was clinging to a 50-4 3 lead but had to punt the ball back to the Vikings, where Lago Vista was pinned at their OiiTI 18-yard line with six seconds to go in the game.
A last desperate play by La go Vista was fumbled and senior Gerald Rodriguez scooped it up and returned it for one final touchdown to make the final 56-43 as time expired.
"I saw the dude fumble and I was thinking about falling on it, but then I was like, this is home coming I gotta score this one," Rodriguez said. La Grange, which had been so victimized by turnovers this season, used them to their advantage Friday. Besides the Rodriguez scoop-and-score, Williams also recovered a fumble and so did Kadyn Hall after a ball was knocked loose by Imhoff.
Now La Grange heads into their bye week with extra time to prepare for their district opener at home against No. 9-ranked Cuero (4-1) on Oct. 8, followed by a home date against Navasota Oct 15.
It's a tough way to start District 13-4A play.
"We're just trying to find the formula for people like Cuero and Navasota," Kates said.
"Going into the bye week I feel pretty good about it," Rodriguez said. "We're going to keep going at it, working to get better."
Scoring summary
FIRST QUARTER
LA GRANGE - 9:49, Bravi on Rogers 1 run (Brendan Mad dox kick)
LA GRANGE - 2:21, Jaden Williams 50 pass to Rogers (Ma dox kick)
LA GRANGE - :24, Ryd er Imhoff 40 run (I mhoff conversion run)
SECOND QUARTER
LAGO VISTA - 5:45, Bowen Stobb 26 pass to Braden Smith (Stobb kick)
LAGO VISTA - 1 :42, Stobb 23 pass to Ethan Helton (kick failed)
THIRD QUARTER
LAGO VISTA - 8:49, Stobb 15 pass to Helton (Stobb kick)
LA GRANGE - 8:34, Clay Wolff 62 pass to Rogers (Imhoff conversion run)
LAGO VISTA - 5;48, Stobb 19 run kick blocked)
LA GRANGE - 5;33, Jakobe Wilkerson 90 kickoff return (Maddox kick)
LAGO VISTA - 5;13, Logan Parsons 70 run (Stobb to Helton conversion pass)
Fourth Quarter
LAGO VISTA - 11 :46, Stobb 31 yard field goal
LA GRANGE - 11 :20, Rogers 63 run (Maddox kick)
LAGO VISTA - 7:04, David Garcia 12 run (kick failed)
LA GRANGE - 6 39, Rogers 70 run (pass failed)
LA GRANGE - 0:00, Gerald Rodriguez fumble return for touchdown
INDIVIDUAL SlATS
Rushing - La Grange: Bravion Rogers 11-1 59, Ryder Imhoff 11-80, CJ Davis 2-7, Clay Wolff 2-6, Jaden Williams 1-5, Dana Baker 3-2, Jakobe Wilkerson 1-(-3); Lago Vista: Logan Parsons 24-206, Bowen Stobb 22- 150, Ethan Helton 1-26, David Garcia 3-16.
Passing - La Grange: Rogers 1 of 1 for 68 yards, Williams 1 of 1 for 50 yards and 1 TO, Wolff 7 of 11 for 112 with 1 TO; lago Vista: Stobb 12 of 24 for 199 with 3 TDs.
Receiving - La Grange: Rogers 2-112, Andrew Faske 1-68, Jaxon Cooper 2-28, Williams 1-1 7, Baker 1-4, Gerald Rodriguez 1-4, Imhoff 1-(-4); Lago Vista: Helton 5-92, Gavin Hester 5-68, Braden Smith 2-39.
This week:
AJI district teams have byes
Ocl8Games
Cuero at La Grange
Smithlille at Navasota
Giddings at Gonzales