WHEAT SIFTING THROUGH OPPONENTS | Reigning Whataburger / ETB Player of the Week scores 10 total TDs as LC turns Apple Springs into apple pie

LC went to Apple Springs Friday night to finish its non-district schedule, and unfortunately for Apple Springs, the Lions brought Trent Wheat – the reigning Whataburger / ETBlitz Player of the Week – with them.

Turns out Wheat, who scored nine touchdowns and had 411 rushing yards in the wide-open game of Texas six-man football last week in a win over East Texas HomeSchool Sports, can play defense about as well. And he made an impact early and often on both sides of the ball – Wheat, and all of his teammates in this one.

Wheat would again score nine touchdowns on offense and add one on defense, an interception he returned for a touchdown, in another unbelievable performance. Keaton Geter would also score twice for LC.

He recovered an Apple Springs fumble in the first quarter, then scored on an 18-yard run, the first points of the game for either team, to give LC a 6-0 lead.

After teammate David Salazar got a sack, it was a turnover on downs, giving the Lions the ball at the Apple Springs’ 35-yard-line. Wheat burst free for a 25-yard run, but that possession would end in disappointment, a fumble recovery by AS defender Drake Pierce at the Eagles’ 5.

Preston Murray tied the game with a 37-yard run, and Nate Sanders gave the Eagles an 8-6 lead.

Just after that, BOOM – Wheat with a 50-yard run to put LC right back in front, 14-8.

A pass interference call on LC helped AS get into scoring position, and Zeth Dugat would score for the Eagles, a 4-yard run. They’d go in front on Sanders’ kick (16-14), still in the first quarter.

Apple Springs tried an onside kick that failed, and LC, this time on a methodical drive, got a 4-yard score from Geter, reclaiming the lead, 20-16, with 45 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Dugat took the kickoff back 40 yards, all the way to LC’s 24, and yet another pass interference against LC set up another score, a TD pass from Sanders to Dugat for a 13-yard TD (24-20, Apple Springs).

But LC, with – guess who? – Wheat’s legs would not stay behind, his second 18-yard TD run of the night, and third overall, 30-24 Lions.

The Lions’ defense got another stop on the Eagles’ next possession, giving LC the ball at Apple Springs’ 33, early in the second quarter. Not good for the Eagles, and that equaled a fourth touchdown of the night for Wheat, a 35-yarder, and a 36-24 LC advantage.

Christus Smith came up big with a sack for the Lions, burying Apple Springs at its own 15, and then Wheat got the ball on an interception at the AS 23. The pick was overturned, however, on a pass interference flag.

LC would still force a turnover on downs, but at its own 40.

The Lions began to pull away. Wheat was dealt the ball a few plays later, and with a burst of speed, a 38-yard touchdown run, his fourth score of the game (42-24 LC). And he’d add another, a fifth TD, with less than a minute left, from 4 yards out, 48-24.

Just when you thought that would be the halftime score, Apple Springs threw the ball – and it was Wheat that stepped in front of it. Wheat, who has all of that offense in him, plays defense, too. We reminded you earlier in this recap. And he did, he stepped in front of the pass, picked it off and took it all the way back. An interception for a touchdown, a pick-six, a 40-yard return for a score, and more importantly, a 56-24 LC advantage that the Lions took into halftime – AS got the ball back, but this time, wisely took a knee.

Sanders and Dugat connected for a 50-yard score, and a fumble by LC led to another TD pass to Noah Thompson to get the Eagles a bit closer (56-40), but this night belonged to the Lions, and nothing AS did would prevent that.

Still in the third quarter, Wheat hit a 33-yard rushing score, his sixth offensive touchdown of the night and seventh overall, counting the pick-six (62-40), and after Corey Grant intercepted Apple Springs again, Geter would score for the Lions on a 20-yard run (68-40, LC).

Wheat wasn’t finished. Rush TD No. 7 would come with about four minutes left in the third quarter, from 10 yards out (74-40), and then Smith recovered an Apple Springs fumble inside the Eagles’ 15-yard-line. That led to Wheat’s eighth rush TD, another 18-yarder (82-40).

LC would score one last time, and it would be – you know who. Wheat would score on a 60-yard run, another nine-touchdown night, another masterpiece. And that would wrap the scoring.

Coach Keith Hughes’ Lions are now 3-2, and will take this week off, now that they’ve concluded their non-district schedule. They’ll play at Union Hill on Friday, Oct. 11 to open District 10-1A, Division I play.