Navasota Scores 22 in Fourth Quarter to Down Leopards
For three quarters Friday the La Grange football team was outmanned but not outplayed.
Then came a nightmarish fourth quarter.
The injury-ravaged Leps led by one point going into the fourth quarter but Navasota scored 22 unanswered points in the final period to beat La Grange 42-21.
“It just comes down to about four plays. Last week it came down to about four plays too,” said La Grange head coach Matt Kates. “We’ve just got to find a way to make the plays.”
The loss drops the Leps overall record to 3-4 and more importantly 0-2 in district. To keep their playoff hopes alive, La Grange faces a must-win situation this Friday at home against Gonzales, which like La Grange is also winless in district play.
“The playoffs start now,” Kates told his players after Friday’s game.
La Grange has had its back against the wall before this season and the Leps bounced back from a 0-2 start to win three straight. They need a similar turnaround now.
“We’ve proved we can play with anyone in the region, with or without the injuries,” Kates said. “These kids are going to keep fighting.”
Leps senior D.J. Taylor ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns but Rattlers senior Darius Randle ran for 272 yards and four touchdowns.
Even though two of their best defensive players (Grant Juno and Adam Faske) and their top two quarterbacks (Matthew Johnson and Caden Cooper) were all sidelined with injuries, things nevertheless started well for La Grange Friday in Navasota.
With junior Clay Wolff making his first ever varsity start at quarterback (and star running back D.J. Taylor also taking some direct snaps at the QB spot) the Leps took their opening possession for a touchdown. That drive was highlighted by a 44-yard pass from Wolff to Bravion Rogers and capped off by a Taylor nine-yard touchdown run.
Wolff completed his first three passes of the game and ended up going 6-for-13 for 71 yards.
“I definitely had to change the game plan. I’m used to being a defensive player (he was the starting safety) and all my energy and effort was focused on special teams and defense and when Caden and Matthew went down I was told I had to step up to help us try to win football games,” Wolff said.
Navasota responded with a touchdown of their own (a 64- yard drive capped by a eightyard touchdown by quarterback Ja’mar Jessie). The Navasota quarterback ended up running for 113 yards Friday.
La Grange sputtered on their next possession and punted, but Leps forced a fumble on the Rattlers return (recovered by Gerald Rodriguez).
Seven plays later Wolff ran for a one-yard touchdown to put the Leps up 14-7.
Navasota tied the game 14-14 with a 54-yard touchdown run by Randle. That was the first of what would be four touchdown runs by Randle Friday.
With 2:11 before halftime, La Grange took a 21-14 lead on a Taylor 31-yard touchdown run. That drive was kept alive when Ryder Imhoff converted a fake punt. On a fourth-and-four play, he took the snap and ran for 12 yards.
Navasota had just enough time to score again before halftime, as Randle’s four-yard run with 15 seconds left before the break cut the La Grange lead to 21-20. Navasota failed on the extra point kick.
La Grange’s Jackson Bundick had been perfect on all three of his first half extra points and that was the difference at halftime.
The third quarter was scoreless, thanks in large part to a Kadyn Hall fumble recovery as Navasota was driving for a goahead score.
But on the first play of the fourth quarter Navasota converted on a fourth-and-one play as Randle ran for 20 yards. The floodgates seemed to open after that. Two plays later Jessie score the go-ahead touchdown on a four yard keeper.
The teams traded fumbles later in the quarter with Imhoff recovering a Rattlers fumble. But La Grange had trouble putting together any late drives, while Randle ran wild for Navasota, rushing for touchdowns of 45 and 66 yards in the final minutes.
“They just ran it at us,” said La Grange senior lineman Joseph Mueller. “We didn’t adjust right. We didn’t play fast enough. We didn’t come out to play in the second half.”
“It starts in practice. We’ve got to have people step up and prepare for next week against Gonzales.”
Injury Update
La Grange quarterback Caden Cooper is out for the season with a leg injury, but his fellow senior quarterback Matthew Johnson said he expects to be ready to play this Friday.