Published: October 31, 2009 12:13 am      

Bears comeback falls short; Lumberton wins, 21-14

LITTLE CYPRESS — Miracle comeback number two, became almost miracle comeback number one during the Coach Randy Crouch era. The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears rallied late before falling to the Lumberton Raiders 21-14 at Battlin’ Bears Stadium Friday Night.

Little Cypress-Mauriceville (3-6, 1-5) had only five first downs and trailed 13-0 when it took over the ball at its own 13 with 7:28 to play in the game. The next 97 seconds would see the Bears take the lead.

Tevvin Jones caught a pass for 7 yards and ran for 4 yards giving LCM a first down at the 24. Hunter Gonzales pump faked a short pass to the left and then lofted a perfect strike to Zack Sonnier behind the Lumberton secondary. Sonnier made the catch and ran about 45 yards to complete a spectacular 76-yard touchdown. Garhett Bonneaux added the point-after and the Bears only trailed 13-7.

Lumberton (5-4, 2-4) had played turnover free football to that point in the contest. On first down after the kickoff, the Raiders tried to pass deep and the Bears’ Johnny Epps made them regret the decision. Epps out jumped a Lumberton receiver for the football to make a magnificent interception at the 40 and then returned the ball down the sidelines 31 yards to the 9.

Gonzales lost two yards on first down. On second down Gonzales found Sonnier in the corner of end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Bonneaux’s kick had LCM in front 14-13 with just 5:51 to play.

The Raiders responded to the comeback. Starting at their 42 the Raiders moved into the Bears end of the field on a pass from Ryan Hughes to Jesse Sparks good for 29 yards. Lumberton used a trick play, an end around that fooled the Bears, as Kyler Keith went around left end almost untouched for 20 yards and the score. Hughes then passed to Lance Pace in the back of the end zone for two points to put the Raiders up 21-14 with 3:35 to go in the fourth quarter.

That was enough time for the Bears to come within inches of tieing the game. LCM drove from its 36 to the Lumberton 11 with still over a minute to play. The hook-and-ladder worked for 14 yards and a first down. Gonzales picked-up two more first downs on fourth down runs. The second was followed by a roughing penalty on Lumberton which moved the ball to the 11.

Gonzales ran the ball to the 10, and then just missed completing two passes in the end zone, one to Sonnier and one to Daniel Harrison. On fourth down, Gonzales’ pass sailed over the outstretched hands of Sonnier at the goal line to be intercepted by Lumberton’s Pace who returned the ball over 100 yards for an apparent score which was called back by a Raider penalty on the return.

The Raiders ran out the clock to seal the victory. The win was really due to two big plays in the first half.

Although the weather was quite pleasant by game time, the field resembled a marsh and the ball appeared at times very difficult to hang onto. This led to the first points of the game. Gonzales threw the ball over the middle which went through the hands of the Bears’ receiver and was intercepted by the Raiders’ Anthony Beard who returned it to the Bears’ 4.

On the next play Ryan Asher ran off tackle for the 4-yard touchdown. The kick failed, possibly because of a slippery hold on the snap, to keep the score 6-0 with 1:49 left in the first quarter.

After a series of exchanges of punts the Raiders added to their lead in the second quarter. Taylor McDonald broke loose on a 37-yard run around left end. Hughes passed 41 yards to Ty Choate for the touchdown. Cody Guitterez was successful with the point-after to make the score 13-0 with 5:51 left in the half.

The Bears had one good drive late when Gonzales ran for one first down and then passed for another to Harrison. On the pass, Harrison made a nice catch, but as he was trying to repossession the ball in his arms it slipped out and was recovered by the Raiders at their 27. They ran out the clock to end the half.

Little Cypress-Mauriceville plays in Beaumont against Ozen to end the season next week. Lumberton closes the season at home against Nederland.





LC-M 14

Lumberton 21



LC-M 0 0 0 14 — 14

Lum 6 7 0 8 — 21

Scoring summary

Lum-Ryan Asher 4 run. Kick failed.

Lum-Ty Choate 41 pass from Ryan Hughes. Cody Guitterez kick.

LCM-Zack Sonnier 76 pass from Hunter Gonzales. Garhett Bonneaux kick.

LCM-Sonnier 11 pass from Gonzales. Bonneaux kick.

Lum-Kyler Keith 20 run. Lance Pace pass from Hughes.

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LC-M Lum

First downs 11 10

Rushes-yards 22-66 38-167

Passing 173 98

Comp-Att-Int 13-34-3 5-11-1

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-0

Penalties-Yards 2-20 7-73



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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—LC-M, Hunter Gonzales 17-58, Tevvin Jones 5-8; Lumberton, Taylor McDonald 12-103, Ryan Asher 15-38, Kyler Keith 1-20, Ryan Hughes 10-6.

PASSING— LC-M, Hunter Gonzales 13-34-3 173; Lumberton, Ryan Hughes 5-11-1 98.

RECEIVING—LC-M, Zack Sonnier 5-105, Daniel Harrison 3-35, Tevvin Jones 2-14, Tyler Wright 2-11, Preston Armstrong 1-8; Lumberton, Jesse Sparks 2-37, Ty Choate 1-41, Lance Pace 1-16, Kyler Keith 1-4.