But in the end it was a couple of interceptions and the Ellison running game that allowed the Eagles to prevail 45-28 in a District 12-5A battle at Leo Buckley Stadium.
“It was very big for us to come out and get back in the district race,” said Ellison coach Buddy McBryde, whose team lost 45-0 to Copperas Cove last week. “We wanted to make them throw the ball. Their running backs had been averaging pretty high, so we wanted to make them one-dimensional.”
The Eagles (3-2 overall, 1-1 in 12-5A) did just that. The Knights (1-4, 1-1), who had averaged more than 200 rushing yards per game, were limited to 137. Heights passed for 259 yards but was hurt by its two interceptions.
The first big interception came in the third quarter after the Knights had moved from their 39-yard line to the Ellison 15. But Tommy Seigman’s pass was intercepted at the 5 by Larry Brooks, who returned it about 30 yards before tossing a lateral to Jovonny Perez, who took it to the Knights’ 26.
“They are what they are,” Heights coach Todd McVey said of the interceptions. “It’s like I told Tommy, ‘Those are on me.’ I have to find a way to make sure he’s not throwing those. I thought he did a great job. He showed great leadership out there. Sometimes you learn more from the bad.”
Ellison took advantage of the turnover. Daniel Cobb, who ran for 137 yards on 14 carries, rushed for a touchdown on the first play of the possession.
The teams traded touchdowns, giving Ellison a 38-21 lead, and it looked like the Knights might be able to climb back in the game after Cobb fumbled at the Knights’ 34.
Seigman hit Alphonso James and CJ Akins on consecutive passes totaling 56 yards to help Heights move to the Eagles’ 4.
But on third-and-goal, Seigman fired into the end zone and Dominique Hosea stepped in front of the ball for the third interception of the night.
Ellison drove down the field to make it 45-21, putting the game out of reach with 5:51 to play.
In addition to Cobb’s production, the Eagles got a 144-yard rushing performance from Jaron Turner and 50 yards from Cobb’s brother, David.
“We lost our first district game, so we wanted to get back on track,” Daniel Cobb said. “Watching film, we found if we just attack, attack, attack, we could run until they stop us. Heights is a good team, so we knew we had to run down their throat and keep it going.”
It had the makings of a blowout early as Ellison exploded to a 15-0 lead on a touchdown run by Daniel Cobb, a safety and a scoring pass from Kyle Skinner to Prezel Hardy on the first play after the safety.
Then the Eagles got the ball back after forcing a three-and-out series by Heights.
But the Knights, who had only 3 yards of offense and no first downs to that point, suddenly caught a break when Cobb coughed up the ball on a handoff. Nick Hall recovered, giving the Knights the ball at the Ellison 40.
Heights used a little trickery to take advantage of the break, with Seigman pitching to receiver Alex Long on a reverse. Long stepped back and fired to a wide-open Akins, who got it to the 4. Three plays later, Deandre Jones pushed it in from 1 yard out, and the Knights converted the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 15-8.
“That woke us up,” McVey said of the 15-0 lead. “That’s also my fault. We have to get them ready to play for four quarters. Last week we played two quarters; this week it was three. Hopefully next week we play a full four.”
The Knights’ defense woke up, as well, stuffing Ellison on its next possession and then tackling punter Devon Hocutt after he was slow handling a snap, giving Heights the ball at the Eagles’ 17.
But the Knights failed to capitalize, settling for a 37-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked. Then Ellison took off again and built the lead to 25-15 by halftime.
The Eagles completed only three of six passes, but they went for 88 yards and a touchdown.
“Heights came out loading the box,” McBryde said. “So we knew the play-action (pass) could work and eventually it opened up the running game.”
mhood@temple-telegram.com
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