LET’S JUST SCORE ALL NIGHT LONG | Diboll escapes with a win in a wild 49-40 shootout with West Rusk
NEW LONDON — A shootout here in Raider Country didn’t end in the way the West Rusk Raiders had planned, as Diboll left Bruce Bradshaw Stadium with a 49-40 win Friday night.
In the loss, West Rusk running back Daylan Williams scored five touchdowns.
West Rusk (1-1), who defeated Tatum in the season opener, now looks to get another non-district win next week – they’ll host another tough 3A team in Jermaine Lewis’s Gladewater Bears.
The Raiders would get the opening kickoff against Diboll, and put together a good drive.
Quarterback Trig Pratt hit Gunner Harp to move the ball to the Raiders’ 42-yard-line, and they would connect again to move it to the Lumberjacks’ 36.
A third connection got WR to the Lumberjacks’ 14, where the drive would stall and the Lumberjacks would take over.
Diboll would strike first and fast.
Rylie Arambula found Tyrece McMillan for 86 yards and the score, the game’s first touchdown. The point after by Ivan Gomez was good with 8:06 left in the first quarter (7-0 Diboll).
Two possessions later, the Raiders would take over at their own 44. Pratt found Kam Brown to move it to the Diboll 16 quickly. Williams broke free from the 15 and take it in for the score, and after the extra point by Luis Abelardo, things were tied up at 7-all with six seconds left in the first .
West Rusk’s defense would force another punt, and the Raiders would take control at the Lumberjacks’ 44.
Coach Rafe Mata made the decision to feed Williams the ball, first to the Diboll 38, then again to the 18, where Pratt would find Kemontrae McGregor for a 13-yard pass, moving it to the Lumberjacks’ 5.
Williams punched it in, giving the Raiders a 13-7 lead (the extra point was missed), with 7:18 left in the half.
Just as they did early in the game, the Lumberjacks would strike fast – on the very next play, in fact, an 80 yard kick return by Erin Robbins for the score.
The kick by Gomez was good, putting Diboll back in front by just one (14-13).
They didn’t do it instantaneously, but the Raiders would answer back, a long drive starting at their own 36.
Williams broke free for a run to midfield, and then Pratt and Harp connected again, down to the Diboll 40.
Williams would get the call and take it to the house from 40 yards out, in one of the most dynamic plays of the game.
West Rusk was back in front, without the extra point, and had claimed a 19-14 lead, with 5:39 left in the half.
The Lumberjacks would answer again, though, this time with a 60-yard scoring run by Kemani Land. Gomez hit the extra point, and the ‘Jacks led, 21-19.
The first half scoring wasn’t over.
West Rusk took over at its own 48, where Pratt-Harp connection was alive again, this time to the Diboll 29.
Pratt followed with a pass to Kam Brown to move it all the way to the Diboll 1. There was no stopping Williams this time, either, and he bulled into the end zone.
Abelardo hit the point after, and West Rusk was back on top, 26-21, with 4 ½ minutes left in the half.
Incredibly, the scorefest continued.
Diboll’s Tyrece McMillan scored from 48 yards out, Gomez once again was good on the kick, and the lead had changed again. With 3:41 left in the half, it was Diboll in front, 28-26.
The Raiders would get it at their own 41, where Pratt would find Williams to the Diboll 45, then Harp to the 25. Two plays later: Pratt connected with Brown for a 17-yard TD pass. Abelardo’s kick made it 33-28, the eventual halftime score.
In the third quarter, after back-to-back turnovers on downs, the Lumberjacks would get the first points of the second half.
Runs by Ty Jones and McMillan put the ‘Jacks at their own 48. Arambula would hit Kevi Davis-Dill, moving it to the Raiders’ 43. McMillan got the call for back-to-back runs, and the ‘Jacks would have it at the WR 13.
Arambula scored, and once again, the Gomez kick was good, and we had another lead change: 35-33 Diboll, with 3:58 left in the third quarter.
A fumble on the kickoff gave it right back to Diboll at the WR 37.
Runs by Davis-Dill, AJ Emmons, and McMillian set the Lumberjacks up at the Raiders’ 20. Three plays and the end of the quarter later, Diboll’s Jones ran it in from 3 yards out, and Diboll had a bit of a cushion. Gomez hit the point after and the ‘Jacks were now up by 9, 42-33, with 11:56 left in the game.
West Rusk would answer.
Pratt hits Brown and Drake Mills for back-to-back completions, and the Raiders were right back in business at the Lumberjacks’ 2.
Williams punched it into the end zone yet again, and the kick by Abelardo was good, getting West Rusk within two (42-40) with 6:10 left.
Diboll wasn’t to be denied, though, and would score one more time after pounding it on the ground with Davis-Dill, Jones, Arambula, and McMillan. The Lumberjacks’ ground game got them to the Raiders’ 12, and Arambula used his legs from there, a 12-yard run. Gomez was good on what would be his final extra point (7-of-7), making it 49-40.
The Raiders had one more shot, but an interception by Davis-Dill allowed the Lumberjacks to run out the clock, and take the win.