Lions roll to district victory

It’s OK to be pretty much one dimensional on a Friday night if it’s working well.

H.W. Byers ran the football 34 times for 434 yards in a 4014 Region 1-1A win over Falkner at home last week.

“We like to throw,” head coach Chris Daniels said, “but if we don’t have to we probably won’t throw it much. We rushed for over 400 yards, and hey, that’s pretty good.

“We’ve been working a lot with our offensive line. They’re playing more physical. We want them to engage (the defender) and remain engaged. They did that.”

Quarterback Michael James kept the football 11 times for 189 yards and a touchdown. Vincent Talley ran 18 times for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Chris Isom had six carries for 71 yards.

James was three of four passing for 67 yards and a score. Jabarri Wright caught all three, one for a score.

The Lions led the Eagles 186 at halftime.

Their only score of the first quarter came on a 3-yard run In the second quarter, James scampered 45 yards for six points, and he also connected with Wright for a 60yard touchdown pass.

A 45-yard scoring run by Talley and Isom’s two-point conversion pushed the lead to 26-6 in the third quarter.

Talley added a 7-yard touchdown carry in the fourth, and Isom tacked on another conversion. It was 34-6.

Falkner got its second touchdown of the night late in the final quarter.

Then Wright promptly returned the kickoff 75 yards for the Lions’ last score of the game.

Byers had no turnovers in the game, and Daniels said that certainly made him happy.

“But we’re still making too many mental mistakes,” Coach Daniels said. “We had two touchdowns called back for blocks in the back, and we didn’t even have to touch the guy on those plays.”

The Lions improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the district.

Four district games remain in the regular season. The next two are away ­ Biggersville this Friday and at Smithville the next, October 22.

“We’re battling for one of four playoff spots,” he said. “We have two big games the next two weeks on the road. Biggersville is a traditional power and then comes Smithville, another traditional power. We have to eliminate those mistakes.”