RED HEAT! | Brooks blisters Lindale defense for 4 TD passes, Kilgore crushes Eagles, 49-29
LINDALE – They say the third time is the charm. The fourth time, then – must be the guarantee.
Kayson Brooks threw for four touchdowns as the third-ranked Bulldogs spilled previously unbeaten Lindale, 49-29, in a matchup of two top 10 teams here at Eagle Stadium on Friday night.
The loss was ninth-ranked Lindale’s first of the season and drops the Eagles to 6-1 overall, but more importantly to 2-1 in the District 9-4A, Division I standings – that’s what this one was all about, for the top spot in the district. And the Ragin’ Red claimed it
“It was a great win to keep our momentum going in the right direction in district play,” said Kilgore coach Clint Fuller. “Kayson played outstanding. We wanted to distribute the football to multiple wide receivers and he did that. Kayson read the coverages and got the ball out.”
Brooks was 18-of-26 passing for 325 yards with touchdowns going to Dre’ Sanders, LaKeyleon Graves, Ja’Kalen Sheffield and Tyler Johnigan.
Rayshaun Williams led Kilgore’s 195-yard rushing production with 164 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Brooks added 31 yards and a touchdown to the final rushing total.
Fuller praised the play of Graves, especially early in the second half. His 31-yard interception return for a touchdown opened the third quarter, followed rather quickly by his scoring reception of 19 yards to extend Kilgore’s advantage to 26 points.
“LaKeyleon had a big third quarter with the pick six and the touchdown catch on offense. Those plays gave us the edge we needed in the second half.”
The Bulldogs’ leading receiver was Sheffield, who had six catches for 132 yards and a touchdown. He was followed by Graves (four catches, 81 yards, TD), Sanders (four-28, TD), Johnigan (two-41, TD) and Brayden Williams (one-6).
Lindale quarterback David Lindig was 11-of-19 passing for 227 yards and two touchdowns. His scoring passes went to Brodee Copeland and Kaden Fowler, covering 51- and 13-yards, respectively.
Hank Thurman led Lindale in rushing with 110 yards on 26 carries. He also had two receptions for 26 yards.
Copeland led the Eagles’ receiving corps with four catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. He was followed by Fowler (2-64, 1), Reed Carnathan (2-17) and A’Million Johnson (1-12).
Kilgore won the toss and elected to receive the football. The Bulldogs reached the Eagles’ 28-yard where they failed to convert a fourth-and-4 play. A 5-yard penalty proved costly. Brooks, though, started fast with completions of 34 yards to Williams, 10 yards to Graves, and 11-yards to Sheffield.
Lindale took over, though, and moved to its 40, but needed to punt, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Kilgore 26. Seven plays and 74 yards later, the Ragin’ Red scored on a 31-yard Brooks completion to Sanders with 5:43 remaining in the first quarter. The drive took up 2:27 in time. Eddie Jimenez converted the first of his seven extra points to give Kilgore a 7-0 lead.
The Ragin’ Red defense held Lindale, this time on a fourth-and-7 play from the Kilgore 19. Lindig’s completion to Hank Thurman netted only four yards to the 15, where the Bulldogs took over on downs.
Six plays in just over three minutes and Kilgore was on the scoreboard again, 14-0, as Williams scored on a three-yard run. The big plays, along the way, were a 59-yard Williams run and a 24-yard Brooks-to-Johnigan completion.
Trailing 14-0, Lindale answered with a 51-yard Lindig to Copeland completion for the touchdown with 8:07 remaining in the second period. Cameron Christian, who verbally committed to Texas State University earlier on Friday, celebrated by blocking Camden Lane’s extra point. The six-play scoring march covered 88 yards and the big plays included an 11-yard run by Thurman and a 23-yard Lindig completion to Copeland.
The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff and put together a seven-play, 63-yard scoring march which was helped along by a roughing-the- passer call on the Eagles, which gave Kilgore a first-and-goal at the Lindale 7-yard-line.
Brooks would score his fourth rushing touchdown of the season on a 2-yard sneak with 5:03 left in the second quarter. The drive took three minutes in time and the big play was a 49-yard pass-and-run from Brooks to Johnigan.
The Eagles answered this time with a 12-play drive that stalled at the Kilgore 20. Lane booted a 37-yard field goal, his fifth of the season, and Lindale trailed 21-9 with just 37 left until halftime.
The Eagles would receive the second-half kickoff and did, but on just the third play, Graves intercepted a Lindig pass, returning it 31 yards for Kilgore’s fourth touchdown of the evening, stretching a 12-point lead to 19 (28-9) with 11:02 left in the third quarter.
A couple of short runs by Thurman, thanks to a couple of Bi’Syn Williams tackles and an incompletion, gave the Ragin’ Red the football at the its own 38. Runs of 16- and 10-yards by Rayshaun Williams, along with a 17-yard Brooks completion to Sheffield, set the stage for a 19-yard Brooks completion to Graves for the points with 7:50 remaining in the third period. The six-play drive took 2:13 and Kilgore led 35-9.
Lindale answered with a touchdown march of its own, covering 75 yards. The score came on a 13-yard Lindig completion to Fowler. The big play of the drive was a 43-yard Lindig-to-Fowler completion. This time, Lane converted the extra point and the Eagles were within 19 again, 35-16.
Lindale recovered its kickoff at the Kilgore 25, but on a fourth-and-11 play, Lindig’s pass to Carnathan, his tight end, came up a yard shy of a first down.
This next Kilgore scoring drive took just over two minutes in time with the Bulldogs’ sixth touchdown of the evening, a 23-yard Brooks-to-Sheffield completion with 2:23 remaining in the third. The big play of the march was a 44-yard completion from Brooks to Graves.
The Eagles would come right back, though, scoring on the initial play of the fourth quarter on a 26-yard Thurman run to cap an eight-play 75-yard march. With Lane’s extra point, the Eagles were once again within 19, 42-23.
The touchdown was Thurman’s team-leading 13th rushing score of the season. Thurman’s final touchdown of the night with just 2:17 remaining in the game came on a 14-yard run to complete a 10-play, 75-yard march in 4:10.
In between those two touchdowns, Brooks engineered another long Kilgore scoring drive (75 yards) with his fourth scoring toss, this one covering 17 yards to Johnigan. Along the way, Brooks rushed for eight and 18-yards to go with a 14-yard completion to Sheffield and a 6-yard toss to Brayden Williams.
While Kilgore returns home to R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium on Friday to host Palestine, Lindale will visit Mabank.
