LITTLE CYPRESS – It will definitely be a game that the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears would love to take back.

The Huffman Falcons entered Battlin’ Bear Stadium reeling after two blowout losses in District 10-4A Division I action but they walked away with a stunning 27-20 overtime victory over the Bears.

LC-M (3-3, 2-1) was its own worst enemy after beating both Silsbee and Bridge City to open up 10-4A play.

The Bears finished with three turnovers, two of them that went for scores for the Falcons (3-4, 1-2), who had been outscored 94-19 in their first two district tilts. Huffman also stopped LC-M on sixth fourth down tries.

The Bear defense certainly did their part, limiting the Falcons to just 171 total yards and nine first downs.

LC-M gobbled up 376 yards but the miscues were simply too costly.

LC-M quarterback Ethan McCollum passed for 210 yards on 12-of-26 passing and rushed for 105 more on 28 tough carries. Bear back J’Lon Douglas gobbled up 60 yards on 14 carries. LC-M’s leading rusher Chris Winters had 30 yards on 10 carries but was ejected from the game in the first half after he was called for targeting while playing at cornerback.

Huffman quarterback Justin Shively completed 10-of-26 passes for just 123 yards with receiver Cason Rice, who ended up with the game-winning catch, had three catches for 68 yards. Huffman simply had no running game, rushing for 48 yards on 24 totes.
Huffman scored on the first series of overtime as Shively connected with Rice on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the right corner of the end zone on third-and-12. Jackson Landry booted the extra-point to make it 27-20.
The Bears took the ball and McCollum broke a 22-yard run to the 3. Douglas picked up two yards to the 1 but on second down a bad snap pushed the Bears all the way back to the 12. McCollum then ran for a yard to set up fourth-and-goal from the 11. Huffman ended the game by sacking McCollum at the 21.
The Falcons tried to seal it with a 64-yard touchdown drive in regulation, the problem was, they only went 63.
Shively found receiver Aaron Johnson with a 34-yard pass that went all the way down to the Bear 20. Two plays later Shively found receiver Cason Rice for a 17-yard strike to the 1.
The Bear defense rose up and stopped back Kutter Tucker at the 1. The Falcons attempted a 18-yard field goal with one second left but the Bears blocked it to force overtime.
The Bears drove 75 yards in  nine plays to tie it with 1:28 remaining.
McCollum shined on the march, completing two passes to Brown, on a great 31-yard catch by Brown and the other a 13-yarder that got to the Falcon 20. McCollum would do the honors, sprinting into the end zone up the middle from 15 yards out. However, the point-after kick went wide left and the game was tied up.
Huffman went up 20-14 with 4:24 remaining when Falcon linebacker Noah Thomas stepped in front of an errant McCollum pitch to Douglas and returned it 65 yards for the score. The point-after kick went wide left.
LC-M found its groove with a big play near the end of the third quarter to go up 14-6.
McCollum found receiver Brown on a quick slant on the left side as Brown was isolated. Brown did the rest, sprinting 66 yards for the touchdown. McCollum ran in the two-point conversion to put the Bears up by eight with 0:10 second in the third.
The Falcons cashed in on a mistake by the Bears with 10:10 remaining when Huffman defensive back Elijah Watson picked off a McColum pass at the Falcon 44 and bulled his way down the left sideline for a 56-yard score. Shively then found back Kutter Tucker for the two-point conversion pass to tie things up.
The Bears cashed in on a turnover to tie the game up at 6-6 late in the third.
Falcon return man Cason Rice muffed a punt at the Bear 46 and LC-M’s Dameon Morris fell on the loose ball.
The Bears would find paydirt five plays later.
J’Lon Douglas busted loose on a 20-yard gallop to the Falcon 34 and three plays later McCollum worked some magic with the read option as he sprinted through the middle of the Falcon defense for a 27-yard touchdown gallop. The point-after kick was blocked as the game was tied with 3:37 in the third.
The Bears found themselves down 6-0 at halftime despite controlling the ball and the clock for most of the first 24 minutes.
The Bears outgained the Falcons 119-59 in the half but too many offensive miscues kept them from finding the end zone.
The Falcon defense held LC-M on four fourth-down attempts, picked off a pass and sacked McCollum five times.
The Bears were just as fierce on defense.
Huffman only had 24 yards in the half until Shively hit Rice on a late 35-yard touchdown toss.
Both teams were stingy on defense in a scoreless first quarter as the Bears could muster just 29 total yards while the Falcons had only 20.
LC-M linebacker Douglas picked off Shively on Huffman’s first series at the Falcon 48 and returned it to the 38 with 10:13 in the first quarter.
McCollum hit receiver Brown on a 22-yard pass over the middle to the Falcon 16 but the Falcons were able to hold the Bears eventually on a fourth down stop. with 8:14 in the quarter.
The Bears ate up nearly five minutes of the clock on a 13-play, 75-yard drive that went all the way down to the Falcon 5. However, the Falcon defense rose up again, stopping McCollum on a fourth-and-4 play from the 5 with 8:05 in the half.
After holding the Falcons to a quick three-and-out, the Bears took over at the Falcon 30 with 6:44 in the half. However, Falcon Blake Boss picked off a McCollum pass at the Falcon 1 with 5:34 in the half.
The Bears once again held the Falcons to a quick three-and-out and took over at their own 48 with 4:02 left. They got as far as the Falcon 32 but a false start and sack on fourth down set the Bears back again as Huffman was able to get the ball at midfield with 1:18 left.
After a Bear personal foul, Shively dropped back to pass and found receiver Cason Rice wide open down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown toss. The Bears blocked the extra-point as the Falcons led 6-0 with 1:07 in the half.
McCollum completed 3-of-10 passes for 50 yards in the half and rushed for 27 yards on 14 carries. Chris Winters had 30 yards on 10 totes.
Shively completed just 3-of-9 passes for 49 yards while the Falcons only mustered 10 yards on 13 rushes.

Huffman 27,

LC-M 20

LC-M            0       0       14      6— 20
Huff            0       6       0       21 —27

Scoring summary
Huffman: Cason Rice 35 pass from Justin Shively. Kick blocked.
LC-M: Ethan McCollum 27 run. Kick blocked.
LC-M: Katon Brown 66 pass from McCollum. McCollum run.
Huffman: Elijah Watson 56 interception return. Kutter Tucker pass from Shively.
Huffman: Noah Thomas 65 fumble return. Kick failed.
LC-M: McCollum 15 run. Kick failed.
Huffman: Rice 16 pass from Shively. Jackson Landry kick.

———
LC-M            Huff
First downs             20              9
Rushes-yards    55-166  24-48
Passing         210             123
Total yards             376             171
Comp-Att-Int    12-26-2       10-26-1
Fumbles-Lost    4-1             2-1
Penalties-yards         7-60 8-73
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing:  LC-M, Ethan McCollum 28-105, J’Lon Douglas 14-60, Chris Winters 10-30, Katon ırown 1-(-8), Dameon Morris 1-(-9), Team 1-(-12); Huffman, Blake Boss 5-24, Aaron Johnson 2-14, Kutter Tucker 16-12, Noah Thomas 1-(-2).

Passing, LC-M, Ethan McCollum 12-26-2 210; Huffman, Justin Shively 10-26-1 123
Receiving: LC-M, Katon Brown 6-151, Mark Netherly 2-25, Brandon Dunbar 2-13, Chris Winters 1-16, Dameon Morris 1-5; Huffman, Blake Boss 4-9, Cason Rice 3-68, Noah Thomas 2-12, Aaron Johnson 1-34