By Jim Irish
Photos by Dustyn Werner, Jim Irish
Cedar Creek running back Anthony Scott ran 10 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 5:18 minutes remaining in the game.
Ahead 38-34, the Eagles needed a stop on Lehman’s next possession.
They didn’t get it.
With 19 ticks left on the clock, Lehman wide receiver David Rivera held on to a 14-yard pass with both feet in bounds at the back of the end zone from quarterback Gunner Winiecki.
One other key play on the winning drive was Colton’s Gunderson’s 35-yard scamper after a catch on a crucial fourth-and-14 from Lehman’s 26-yard line.
Lehman won the battle of winless teams 41-38 at Memorial Stadium on Friday. The Lobos (1-8 overall, 1-6 District 12-5A Division I) snapped a 10-game skid dating back to last year. Cedar Creek (0-9, 0-7) lost its 34th consecutive contest. The Eagles beat Elgin 14-6 on Oct. 1, 2021 for its last victory.
Cedar Creek quarterback Dillon Dubee completed passes of 22 yards to Eduardo Macedo and 37 yards to Kaleb Dowell in the final 19 seconds but fell short at the 12-yard line as the game ended.
“We’re excited,” Lehman head coach Chris Castillo said. “We’re happy for our kids. They’ve been fighting for one (win). This district is tough as heck.”
Rivera, a junior, caught only two passes, but he came up big when it counted, despite close coverage by Cedar Creek cornerback Dereon Jones.
"We're excited. We're happy for our kids. They've been fighting for one (win). This district is tough as heck."
-- Lehman coach Chris Castillo
“We wanted a one-on-one situation,” Castillo said. “He just made a play. Our quarterback threw a good ball. We’re glad to see them execute it.”
Castillo said he had a Plan B.
“We had a couple of seconds (left),” he said. “Let’s take a shot. If we didn’t complete it, we’d go to something else. We isolated (Rivera) on that cornerback. He made a great play.”
Extra points played a major role in the game. Cedar Creek’s David Chavez had an extra point blocked in the first quarter after a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dubee to Macedo. In the second quarter, Cedar Creek failed on a two-point pass and a two-point run after touchdowns.
The Eagles would have won the game if it had converted all three and tied if had converted the kick and one of the two-point conversions.
Dubee, who was injured during last week’s 86-6 loss at A&M Consolidated, turned in a remarkable performance, completing 20-of-32 passes for 282 yards and four touchdown passes. He was not intercepted. He added 23 yards on two carries.
Cedar Creek has been unable to implement a running game to balance its offense this season. Anthony Scott, who scored twice on runs, was limited to 30 yards on 16 attempts. He was the Eagles’ leading rusher.
Macedo, who switched to quarterback from wide receiver for four games, returned to his natural position and hauled in five passes for 141 yards. In addition to the 5-yard touchdown, he had scores from 22 and 47 yards.
Another standout for the Eagles was freshman receiver Dowell who caught four passes for 131 yards.
Lehman also had a freshman who turned in a stellar performance. Despite being only 5-foot-5, 165 pounds, Zayne Barber, pounded through defenders and gained 117 yards on 25 carries and touchdown runs of 3 and 2 yards.
Lehman’s Winiecki completed 11-of-22 passes for 163 yards and suffered an interception by Ivan Lopez. He gained 49 yards on the ground, including touchdown runs of 9 and 14 yards.
Cedar Creek had no turnovers compared to Lehman’s two but still lost.
The Eagles conclude their season at Hendrickson (4-5, 3-4) on Friday.
Jim Irish is a freelance writer in Bastrop, Texas
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