John Tyler blanks Lee, 21-0

Published on Saturday, 15 September 2012 00:51        Written by Chris Parry

It was big bad John Tyler defense on Friday night. The Lions smothered rival Robert E. Lee, holding the Red Raiders to 139 yards of total offense in a 21-0 win in front of a capacity crowd at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium. JT, ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, led 7-0 at halftime and added two more to its tally in the second half, one of them a 40-yard interception return. It was one of two interceptions for JT in the game with the Lions also recovering a fumble. The loss for Lee keeps the Red Raiders (0-3) winless on the season and prevents REL from tying the overall Rose City Rivalry series which now stands at 29-27-1 in favor of JT. Lee senior tailback LaQuintas Wallace, one of three ball carriers to rush for over 100 yards in a 39-30 Lee win last year, was held to 33 on 12 attempts. All told, Lee rushed for 88 yards, averaging 2.6 per attempt. “That’s all we practiced this week was to take (Wallace) out of the game because a running back of that caliber, you can’t let that guy beat you,” said JT coach Ricklan Holmes. “So we had to make sure we contained him. You can’t really stop him, but you have to make sure you contain him to make sure he doesn’t have the big games he is accustomed to having.” REL used a 27-yard run by Bryce Wilkerson to grab a first down midway through the first quarter. Lee did not register another first down until the 6:28 mark of the third quarter. “They’re fast and they flew to the football, but some of the stuff we did we should’ve been able to hurt them on,” said Lee coach Darrell Piske. “We didn’t take advantage of (opportunities) when they were misaligned. We had the (right play) called to (exploit) that gap and we cut it back and not trusting the point of attack. “But (John Tyler) did a great job. You’ve got to give them credit. They came out and got tired of hearing about Robert E. Lee running on them and they did a great job of shutting us down.” The Red Raiders defense also stymied JT for much of the night, holding Lions quarterback Greg Ward to 129 yards passing and 26 rushing. That was enough on as Ward connected with Fred Ross for a 21-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter. On Lee’s next possession, DeQuante Woods leapt high for an interception and returned back the other way for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 21-0. Just to put a cap on the night and one more chance to show JT’s defensive superiority, Elliott Hart intercepted Lee’s final pass attempt in the end zone, and immediately went to a knee, before joining his teammates on the sideline to celebrate. Neither offense could muster much on their first possessions with JT getting things going in the right direction on its second opportunity. A 39-yard punt return by Fred Ross gave the Lions a first down at the 46. It took six plays for JT to turn their good field position into a touchdown. Greg Ward connected on passes to Darion Flowers and Justice Liggins for gains of 16 and 8 yards. Ross then thought he gave JT the lead with a 23-yard scoring run on a jet sweep, but it was called back for holding. A determined JT offense went back to work with 9-yard run by Reggie Gipson. This set up second-and-1 at the 11 with Jeremy Wilson doing the rest, cruising up the middle for an 11-yard TD. Porfirio Benitez’s extra point gave John Tyler a 7-0 lead with 5:49 remaining in the first quarter. Lee did little to nothing on offense in the first half with Wallace limited to 16 yards on seven carries and REL rushing for 49 yards total, most of which came on a 27-yard breakaway run by Bryce Wilkerson. Jordan Richardson, in his first extended action of the season, carried four times for five yards with the JT defense holding Raleigh Poster without a completion. Meanwhile, Lee’s defense was frustrating the Lions. JT overcame a third-and-22 with a 25-yard scramble by Greg Ward. This put JT in business deep in REL territory, but a strip and fumble on the next play went straight into the hands of C.J. Thompson to get Lee the ball back. Lee went three and out and began a series of misfires from both offenses with Ward shaken up after a blitz and sack from Spencer Borah to leave the score 7-0 JT at halftime.

John Tyler 21, Robert E. Lee 0

At Earl Campbell Field, Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium

John Tyler 7 0 14 0 — 21

Robert E. Lee 0 0 0 0 — 0

First Quarter

JT—Jeremy Wilson 11 run (Porfirio Benitez kick), 5:49

Third Quarter

JT—Fred Ross 21 pass from Greg Ward (Benitez kick), 2:12

JT—DeQuante Woods 40 interception return (Benitez kick), :00

Attendance – 11,500

JT REL

First Downs 14 7

Rushes-Yards 34-137 33-88

Passing Yards 129 51

Comp.-Att.-Int. 11-15-0 2-15-2

Punts-Avg. 6-43.8 9-48.3

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 3-1

Penalties-Yards 10-75 5-40

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—John Tyler, Reggie Gipson 13-67, Greg Ward 9-26, Jeremy Wilson 3-14, Tyus Bowser, 3-14, Fred Ross 4-14, Dyran McDuff 1-2, Duan Brooks 1-(minus 2). Robert E. Lee, LaQuintas Wallace 12-33, Jordan Richardson 10-26, Bryce Wilkerson 4-21, LeTerrence Simmons 5-4, Marquiston Williams 1-7, Daimeyen Sanders 1-(minus 3).

PASSING—John Tyler, Ward 11-15-0 129. Robert E. Lee, Raleigh Poster 2-11-1 51, Richardson 0-4-1 0.

RECEIVING—John Tyler, Ross 3-31, Justice Liggins 3-24, Darion Flowers 2-24, Gipson 2-21, Wilson 1-19. Robert E. Lee, Williams 1-29, Wallace 1-22.