Lamar’s defense halted a potential game tying drive with 2:50 left
Aldine – Sophomore running back Ta’Zhawn Henry spent half of his game time with the Lamar training staff, suffering from leg cramps. The other half bolting through Eisenhower’s defense for huge chunks of yards.
The Eagles, who advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008, fail to seal the middle of its defense where Henry exploited the open void.
Henry rushed for 279 yards while the Texans defense forced a final turnover to post a 31-17 victory on Saturday evening in the Class 6A Region III Bi-District playoffs at Thorn Stadium.
Lamar (11-1) will face the winner of Dickenson/Pearland next week at a time and place to be determined.
Eisenhower’s season ends at (8-4).
Suffering from leg cramps, Henry spent nearly as much time with the trainers and medical staff as he did running through Eisenhower’s defense. Head coach Nolan mentioned, he’ll grow up and learn that drinking soda pop isn’t going to help his cause.
“My calf muscles kept pulling,” Lamar running back Henry said. ” I need to drink plenty of water.”
He also admitted to drinking too much soda.
Leading 24-17, Lamar’s defense halted a meaningful drive with 2:50 left. Facing fourth and six from its 23, Eisenhower was penalized for holding. That proved to be the icing as the Texans declined the call and took possession of the ball at the Eagles 21 and suffocated the clock.
“Playing a team like that you can’t make mistakes,” Eisenhower’s coach Kerry Bamburg explained. “You can’t have penalties and turnovers and you got to execute. You got to tackle in big ball games like this.”
Henry carried the ball to the one-yard line before finishing a one-yard touchdown run. That extended Lamar’s deficit to 31-17.
Henry closed a fabulous day with 20 carries, 279 yards, and three touchdowns. In addition to 121-yards in kickoff returns to finish with 400 all-purpose yards.
“I want to give a big shout out to our offensive line,” says Henry. “I was just working hard because Eisenhower is a great team with great coaches.”
Trailing 24-3 in the third quarter, Eisenhower responded with two second half touchdowns. But it wasn’t enough to have the storybook ending as it did in last week’s 26-unanswered point outburst which sidelined Cy-Fair in the first round of the playoffs.
Eisenhower faced an uphill battle in the first half dealing with the huge athletic front seven of Lamar.
“First, give all the credit to Lamar,” says Bamburg. They are a hell-of-a football team and they deserve that.”
To get things started, Eisenhower’s defense forced Lamar to punt from its end zone. That gave the Eagles possession at Lamar’s 36-yard line following a short punt.
Running back Juwaan Williams carried eight yards to the 28 and Darden finished it with a keeper, pulling the Eagles closer at 24-10 with 5:13 to go in the third quarter.
Then William tacked on the Eagles final touchdown when he took a handoff going left. He turned upfield, shifted back to the right and raced to the end zone. That made the score 24-17 and as close as Eisenhower would come.
The Eagles, who held an edge in total yards with 361 to 312 ended its final drive when junior quarterback Jaeion Darden fumbled the ball at the 46 of Lamar with 1:51 left to play.
Darden was 5-of-12 passing for 68 yards and had 18 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. Ja Juan Allen led the rushing attack on 12 carries for 107 yards and Williams added 72 yards on nine carries and a touchdown for the Eagles.
It also suffered nine penalties which subtracted 60 yards. While the Texans didn’t fair much better with seven setbacks totaling 62 yards.
In the first half, Eisenhower’s idea of pinning the Texans deep in its territory at the four-yard line looked great for a moment. But things changed one play later. Henry blasted through a huge hole up the middle and raced 96 yards untouched to the end zone for his first of two first-half scores.
“We got the breaks in the first half and they got the breaks in the second half,” Lamar coach Tom Nolan said. “We’re real fortunate to get out of here with a win against a fine team.”
The Eagles managed a 37-yard field goal from Charalambos Pashas on its first series of the game.
After, a suffocating defense was one of few problems the Eagles faced. Hammered by a half dozen of penalties, drives begin to stall which left its defense on the field more time than it wanted.
As a result, Henry punched in his second touchdown of the day on a 15-yard run and halfback Dua’Vadis Williams opened the Texans scoring with a one-yard plunge.
