The first victory of the season is always sweet and to do it on the road is extra nice. Little Cypress-Mauriceville lost an early lead, but rallied to win its first game of the season. The Bears defeated the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks 30-18 on Friday night at Hawk Stadium
The thirty points scored by Little Cypress-Mauriceville (1-4) was more points than the Bears had scored in their first four games combined. Hardin-Jefferson (1-4) extended its losing streak to four straight.
After being shutout in the first half the Hawks scored on three of their first four possessions in the second half. Hardin-Jefferson’s Slot-T offense began to roll in the third quarter chewing up yards and making first downs. After only three first downs in the first half the Hawks had 11 in the last two quarters.
Scoring marches of 45 yards, 73 yards, and 68 yards brought the Hawks from a 12-point deficit to a tie. Sam Dickerson swept right end for a 34-yard touchdown to tie the game at 18 with 3:02 to play in regulation. The Hawks ran Izakk Whitman off tackle, but the Bears stopped him shy of the goal line to foil the try for two.
A determined effort by James Williams on the kickoff gave LC-M the ball at the Hardin-Jefferson 45. Christian Ickes carried twice to pickup a first down at the Hawk’s 34. Ickes was the leading ball carrier in the game with 121 yards on 21 carries which included a 31-yard touchdown early in the third quarter that gave the Bears an 18-6 lead.
Quarterback Adam Pope faked to Ickes and swept to his left for a huge 20-yard gain to the 14. Ickes got another first down and got out-of-bounds at the four.
A fumble almost proved disastrous, but an alert Bears’ lineman fell on the ball back at the six. Pope scored on the next play struggling to get over to give LC-M the lead again. A bad snap on the point after forced Pope to try a pass which was incomplete. The Bears had a 24-18 lead with only 29 seconds left.
Insurance came on the first play after the kickoff. Hardin-Jefferson attempted a pass from quarterback Westen Nugent, his first of the game. James Williams stepped in front of the receiver near midfield and took it to the house for the touchdown. The Bears missed their fifth point-after of the game, but the game was theirs 30-18.
Little Cypress-Mauriceville did not waste anytime taking the lead in the first quarter. On the Bears’ first drive they drove 61 yards in eight plays to score. The Bears picked up first downs on their first two plays with runs by Pope and Ickes to the Hardin-Jefferson 34.
Pope lost yardage on the next two plays and threw an incomplete pass. Facing fourth-and-16 from the 40 LC-M threw a long pass on which the Hawks were called for defensive holding giving the Bears an automatic first down at the 30.
Following two short runs LC-M had a third-and-8 from the 28. Pope threw a short pass to Darian Williams who made the catch and ran the ball over 20 yards for the touchdown. The point after kick was missed leaving the score 6-0 in favor of the Bears with 9:02 left in the first period.
The Bears increased their lead to two scores before the end of the first quarter taking advantage of a Hawks’ turnover. LC-M recovered a H-J fumble at the Hawk’s 20.
Ickes picked up a first down on a 10-yard run to the five. A procedure penalty moved the ball back to the ten. Pope threw a shuttle pass to James Williams coming in motion behind the line of scrimmage. He swept around the end and down the sideline for the score. The kick was blocked keeping the score 12-0.
A golden opportunity to add to the lead was missed by Little Cypress-Mauriceville in the second quarter. Pope and James Williams connected for a 59-yard pass on which Williams broke a couple of tackles before being brought down at the Hawks’ 11. Pope had a strong night throwing the ball completing 9 of 17 for 127 yards with two touchdowns
The Bears lost a touchdown when Pope found Brandon Pollack all alone in the back of the end zone for what would have been a touchdown. The score was nullified because of an ineligible receiver downfield. The chance to score was lost when Ickes trying for extra yards fumbled on the next play with Hardin-Jefferson recovering on its four-yard line.
The LC-M lead at the half 12-0 while holding the Hawks to just 76 yards total offense. LC-M had 181 yards, 68 on the ground and 113 through the air.
Next week is the bye for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears. They will next play on October 12 at Bridge City in the opening game of district. The Hardin-Jefferson Hawks are at home next Friday against the Tarkington Longhorns.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
LCM 12 0 6 12- 30
HJ 0 0 12 6- 18
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