A historical season came to end for Little Cypress-Mauriceville on Friday night. The Bears lost to the Chapel Hill Bulldogs 31-14 at the Berry Center in Cypress.
Little Cypress-Mauriceville (11-3) reached the state quarterfinals for only the second time in the school’s history. With the win Chapel Hill (11-3) moved on to the final four in the state Class 4-A, Division I playoff.
Chapel Hill enjoyed a dominate first half leading 21-0 before Little Cypress-Mauriceville made a game of it. After stopping the Bulldogs on their first drive of the third quarter, the Bears put together a scoring drive of 67 yards.
A 21-yard end around by Carson Peet gave LC-M a first down at the Bulldogs’ 20. Backup quarterback Dean Reynolds passed 18 yards to Da’Marion Morris for the touchdown that cut the Chapel Hill lead to 14 points with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs then drove into the red zone before being stopped by the Bears’ defense. Adolfo Tamaya tried a 29-yard field goal but was wide right with his kick to keep the score 21-7 late in the third.
The Bears began another sustained march of 17 plays from their 20. A personal foul penalty on the Bulldogs proved huge as it came after a bad snap that would have cost the Bears over ten yards, instead the result was a first down at the Chapel Hill 35.
Reynolds ran for two more first downs getting the ball to the eight. Morris carried three times scoring from the one to make the score 21-14 with 6:55 remaining in the game.
An onside kick by Little Cypress-Mauriceville took a bad bounce and went out-of-bounds giving Chapel Hill the ball at the Bears’ 42. On fourth-and-one freshman quarterback Demetrius Brisbon ran around left end and to the end zone for what proved a clinching touchdown with 5:17 to go in the fourth quarter.
A field goal by the Bulldogs closed the scoring with 65 seconds on the clock. Tamayo made the kick from 29 yards successfully that time.
The game started with the Bulldogs stopping the Bears on their first drive and then drove 81 yards in 15 plays. After an incompletion on the first play the Bulldogs ran the ball their next 13 plays. Brisbon carried five times for 48 yards and freshman running back Rickey Stewart ran four times good for 19 yards.
From the Bears’ 3, Brisbon threw to Ilonzo McGregor in the back of the end zone for the touchdown. Tamayo made it 7-0 for Chapel Hill with 4:22 left in the opening quarter.
Little Cypress-Mauriceville went three-and-out on its second drive. The Bulldogs made the deficit 14 points with a 67 yard drive taking seven plays. Stewart had the big with a 32-yard dash to start the march. Samari Willis gained another first down with a 14-yard carry.
Brisbon got the touchdown on a one-yard rush. Tamayo’s kick put Chapel Hill up 14-0 with 1:37 left in the first period.
The Bears were hoping to use starting quarterback Ashton Landry but his services were limited because of an injured ankle. Little Cypress-Mauriceville started a drive near midfield after a superb kick return by Da’Marion Morris. On third down Reynolds faked to Morris and appeared to have the first down until he fumbled the ball. Willis scooped the ball up and returned it 58 yards for the touchdown. The point after made the score 21-0 with 3:05 before halftime.
There was no quit in the Bears as they drove down the field in the closing minutes. Reynolds completed a 38-yard pass to Keaton Rives inside the Bulldogs’ 10.
With no timeouts left LC-M could not stop the clock. Morris was stopped twice at the one. Landry came in again and tried to sweep around the left end but did not have the ability to make a sharp cut like he did all season and was tackled for a two-yard loss on his only carry of the game as the half ran out.
Morris was the primary ball carrier for the Bears playing the quarterback in the Wildcat on several plays. He carried the ball 32 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. Reynolds was the second leading rusher for Little Cypress-Mauriceville with 57 yards on 13 carries.
Landry had difficulty planting his feet on passes and only completed 2 of 8 for 9 yards. Reynolds was 7 of 14 for 104 yards.
The fantastic freshmen for Chapel Hill, Brisbon and Stewart both had over one hundred yards rushing in the game. Stewart had 121 yards on 21 carries and Brisbon rushed for 118 on 16 carries with 2 touchdowns. Chapel Hill only attempted eight passes in the game completing four for 49 yards.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
Other scores
Lorena 63 Diboll 28
Gilmer 36 Pleasant Grove 15
Hirschi 32 Springtown 6
Crosby 14 Texas High 7
Celina 34 Aubrey 0
China Spring 31 WOS 14
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