But until Kason Lowrance picked off a Brandon Grant pass with 58 seconds left in the game, the Eagles had no idea if they would get out of cozy Sizemore Stadium with a victory Friday night.
Lowrance’s second fourth-quarter interception in two weeks staved off a Lago Vista scoring threat and helped preserve the Eagles’ 24-21 win over the Vikings in a District 25-2A opener.
Baecker hit what eventually became a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 8:14 to play. Then the Eagle defense had to battle as the Vikings took the next seven minutes and 14 plays to move inside the Rogers 25, converting a pair of fourth downs along the way.
“We just told the defense we’re putting it in your hands,” Rogers coach John Stillwell said, whose team moved to 3-1 for the season, as did Lago Vista. “We felt like good things were going to happen and sometimes you just feed off of that.”
The Vikings proved to be hard to shake with a ground-oriented offense that amassed 273 yards and 22 first downs. Devin Brown rang up 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Eagles spent most of the first half filling the air with footballs and the last half getting their ground game back into gear. Bane threw for 162 yards and two touchdowns, while Chappell rushed for 105 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown.
“At halftime we were determined that we were going to run the football,” Stillwell said. “We were mad that we weren’t able to in the first half. That changed the game and helped us gain control of it.”
Eagle linebacker Andrew Kotrla recovered a Viking fumble at the Eagle 10 to turn away a scoring threat on the opening possession of the second half.
Instead, it was the Eagles who broke the 14-14 halftime deadlock by going 90 yards in 10 plays, most notably on the legs of Chappell.
Chappell, who saw the bulk of the time at tailback as fellow sophomore E.J. Larkin left the game in the first half with a shoulder injury, carried four times for 79 yards on the drive. On a fourth-and-five from the Viking 35, Chappell took a draw and manuevered his way through the Viking defense en route to the end zone to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead at the 4:37 mark of the third quarter.
Brown evened the game on the first play of the fourth quarter, slipping two tackles and scampering 20 yards for a touchdown for a 21-21 game.
A long kickoff return by Jordan Sebek put the Eagles in good field position. A 21-yard screen to Chappell keyed the Eagles drive inside the Viking 5 where they stalled and settled for Baecker’s 22-yard field goal, his fourth of the season.
“Thank God we had (Chappell),” Stillwell said. “Both of our backs have their strengths. Donovan is strong and powerful with breakaway speed. He was seeing the holes.”
Lago Vista found early success against the Rogers defense, capitalizing on good field position by muscling 41 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Brown dove in from the 2 off right tackle to get the Vikings on top 7-0 at the 7:59 mark of the first quarter.
The Eagles answered with an 80-yard scoring drive in 10 plays, eight of which came through the air. Bane hit Aaron Martin and Sebek on completions of 26 and 27 yards, respectively, to spark the drive. Bane hit Dalton Kuehn alone in the end zone from the 4 as the Eagles tied the game.
Rogers wasted no time using advantageous field position to grab the lead. The Eagles took over at the Viking 32. Bane pumped and hit Kuehn streaking behind the Viking secondary on the first play for a 14-7 margin with 11:28 remaining in the half.
ntwaits@temple-telegram.com
ROGERS 24, LAGO VISTA 21
Rogers 7 7 7 3 - 24
Lago Vista 7 7 0 7 - 21
LV - Devin Brown 2 run (Adin Menkin kick)
Rog - Dalton Kuehn 4 pass from Jonathan Bane (Ben Baecker kick)
Rog - Kuehn 32 pass from Bane (Baecker kick)
LV - Jacob Carver 12 pass from Brandon Grant (Menkin kick)
Rog - Donovan Chappell 35 run (Baecker kick)
LV - Brown 20 run (Menkin kick)
Rog - Baecker 22 field goal
TEAM STATISTICS
Rog LV
First downs 17 22
Rushes-yards 25-146 49-273
Passing yards 162 12
Comp.-Att.-Int. 13-26-0 1-3-1
Punts-average 3-40 2-30
Fumbles-lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 4-25 6-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Rogers: Donovan Chappell 10-105, Jonathan Bane 11-35, Jordon Sebek 2-(-2), E.J. Larkin 2-8; Lago Vista: Scott Kerr 10-54, Devin Brown 22-154, Jacob Carver 9-39, Brandon Grant 4-8, Ricky Brooks 4-18.
PASSING - Rogers: Jonathan Bane 13-26-0-162; Lago Vista: Brandon Grant 1-3-1-12.
RECEIVING - Rogers: J.W. McLean 1-8, Aaron Martin 2-28, Jordan Sebek 4-51, Dalton Kuehn 3-45, E.J. Larkin 1-2, Cory Murray 1-7, Donovan Chappell 1-21; Lago Vista: Jacob Carver 1-12.
