The Lobos’ Jordan Shields made the biggest of the game’s many big plays, getting in on a tackle of Bryan quarterback Nico Bulhof and helping force a fumble that he picked up and ran in from the Viking 20-yard line for the winning touchdown.
“The fumble for the touchdown was the tough one,” Bryan coach Ross Rogers said. “Started with a low snap and it just graduated from there. It was a tough thing, but the kids were playing hard.”
On the first play from scrimmage after the Lobos pulled within 31-28, Bulhof couldn’t cleanly grab the snap down by his knees. Just as he picked it up, he was swarmed under by three Lobos including Shields, who made the right decision to scoop it up rather than just fall on it.
The quickest strike of the game came after the longest drive by the Lobos. Langham Creek (1-4, 1-2) drove 75 yards on 14 plays to get within a field goal early in the fourth quarter. The key play of the drive was a 14-yard pass from Seth Johnson to Ronald Rowan on third-and-12 from the Lobo 23. Backup tailback Javion Jackson finished the drive with a 4-yard run with 10:08 left in the game.
Shields’ fumble return then gave Langham Creek the lead, but Bryan had two opportunities to get it back. The first ended near midfield and the second on downs at Langham Creek’s 21 when Jalen Davis was stopped for 2 yards on a jet sweep on fourth-and-7.
“The jet sweep had been good to us,” Rogers said. “We just didn’t get the blocking we wanted that time.”
The Vikings (1-3, 0-2) were able to make their final run at victory by stopping Shields on a fourth-and-inches at the Bryan 41. Shields, a linebacker who came in on short-yardage situations, never had a chance with linebacker Caden Heil and defensive end Nic Caraway getting to Shields as he took the handoff.
Bulhof ran for 10 yards on the ensuing possession, and a personal foul penalty put the Vikings inside the Lobos’ 30 with less than 2 minutes remaining. Two runs went for little, and an incompletion set up the fourth-down run by Davis, who had 130 yards rushing.
The Lobos closed the gap midway through the third quarter to 24-21 on a Shields’ 5-yard TD run, but the Vikings answered with arguably their best drive of the season, marching 75 yards in seven plays. Davis opened it with an 18-yard run and also broke free for 38 yards to set up Bulhof’s 4-yard TD run with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter.
“I thought that was big, and I thought it would give us what we needed.” Rogers said.
Both teams had struggled offensively entering the game, but Bryan scored 10 more points than it had in its previous three games combined, and the Lobos put up 12 more points than they had in their four games combined.
“You just never know — it’s high school football,” Rogers said. “We threw the ball better and hit some runs down the middle. It was the best first half we had.”
The Vikings took the opening kickoff and had four plays gain at least 10 yards before Ja’lijah Tyler went in from the 1 for a 7-0 lead.
Bryan made big plays defensively in the first half as well, with sophomore Du’wayne Paulhill stealing the ball from receiver Naisiah Jacobs after a reception and intercepting Seth Johnson on another pass intended for Jacobs. Bryan’s Cameron White, who suffered an injury later in the half, was the quickest to pounce on a fumble on a high snap to Johnson.
Paulhill’s fumble recovery led to a 34-yard field goal by Bulhof, the first field goal by the Vikings since the 2017 season. Bryan followed White’s recovery with a 25-yard touchdown run by Davis.
The Vikings also scored on a one-play drive when Bulhof ran 48 yards after a Davis punt return gave the Vikings good field position.
The Lobos cut the Vikings lead to 10-7 on a 9-yard TD run by Johnson that was set up by 60-yard kickoff return by Jacobs. Their other first-half score came on a 42-yard pass down the sideline from Johnson to Corey Constantine, which again cut the Vikings lead to three points.
“Hard fought game, and they were struggling for a win. We were, too,” Rogers... Click here to read full article
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