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| Lineman Austin Crossin watched his teammates in good spirits after suffering a broken leg in the game 1 of 2014. |
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Lions Recover From Early Mistakes and Come Roaring Back, CLEVELAND, September 6, 2014 - Livingston Lion new Head Coach, Brian Broussard can enjoy a good weekend after his all new Livingston Lions went into Cleveland and gave him his first win ever as the top dog (yes, it was accompanied by a gatorade drenching) with a convincing win over the struggling Cleveland Indians. What makes this good is that this was a game that Livingston was supposed to win and they did win decisively. The Lions did however make the first half interesting as they drove to the goal line of the Indians only to fumble away an easy touchdown to the Indians. They repeated the misstep on their next trip to the Indian goal line. The Indians scored at touchdown and extra point. The Lions finally scored when they answered with a touchdown (but missed the extra point), and the next thing you know, it's halftime an the Lions are losing to the hapless Cleveland Indians 7 to 6. That's the things that the 2014 Lions need to learn early on in this young season. Mental mistakes can cost you... severely. Once the district games begin, recovering from blown golden opportunities like that will certainly cost them games, should they occur. By the half, Coach Broussard was fit to be tied. I don't have a clue what he said to his team in the locker room during halftime, but whatever it was, by the second half the mental errors ceased for the most part.
Scoring Summary...
Second Quarter:
5:37 Indians complete a 20 yard TD and convert PAT for a 7-0 lead
1:50 Quarterback Curt Wilson completes a 10 yard TD pass to Ryan Rice (Lions missed PAT) Indians lead 7-6
Third Quarter:
8:50 Wilson 10 yd TD run (Lions missed PAT), Lions take lead 12-7
2:24 Ryan Rice stepped in at qb for injured (wrist) Curt Wilson 5 yard pass to Jaquavious Nix, Lions maket 2 pt conversion, Lions 20-7
Fourth Quarter:
8:03 Wilson completes another 10 yd td pass to Nix. Wilson runs in 2 pt conversion, Lions 28-7
5:54 Ryan Rice makes 82 yd td run on QB keeper, Lions make 2 pt conversion, Lions 35-7
3:11 Quarterback Brendan Riley runs in from 9 yards out, Lions convert PAT, Lions 41-7
3:01 Running Back Joshua Kennedy makes 6 yard TD run, Lions convert PAT, Lions 48-7
0:00 Indians score cosmetic TD on last play of the game
FINAL SCORE Lions 48, Indians 13
One thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that the Lion defense played a respectable game. The Lion pass rush kept pressure on the Indian quarterback for most of the game and the stopped the Indians a bunch of times for loss of yardage. Being the old grouch that I am, however, the Lion defense needs to tighten up on their tackling fundamentals. There were several plays where Indian ball carriers would advance nice chunks of yardage by breaking multiple would be Lion tackles. These very capable players need to work on wrapping up the ball carrier with reckless abandon. Sophomore Quarterback, Curt Wilson continues to impress me with not only his leadership on the field, but his athletic ability. The skinny kid can run fast, and he's pretty elusive (this in addition to being a pretty darn good passer). Junior running back, David Caddie also had a great game. The Lions offensive line (anchored by left tackle, Parker Ogletree) is also doing a great job of protecting the Lion backfield and paving the way for runners. Other than the few mistakes I mentioned, this was an impressive showing for the Lions. Coach Broussard, relax and enjoy a good weekend. Throw a steak on the grill and enjoy (as the Lion head coach, pressure is waiting on Monday morning as the Lions get ready for the next game against Silsbee in the Lion's Den).
Willie P. Openshaw, Editor
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