JARRELL—For the better part of a decade, nothing has come easy for the Lago Vista Vikings.
In the early years of the program wins were scarce and the team has spent many seasons at or near the bottom of the district standings. It was fitting then that Friday night’s 42-17 victory over the winless Jarrell Cougars—a win that clinched the Vikings’ first ever district title—required them to fight through a bit of adversity.
Jarrell (0-9 overall, 0-6 in district play) entered the game having lost its previous three contests by a combined 148 points, so a win for the district-leading Vikings (7-2, 5-1) was seemingly a foregone conclusion. The Cougars, however, refused to go quietly.
First, quarterback Stephen Taylor found receiver Daniel Tucker for a 49-yard touchdown strike that gave Jarrell an early 7-0 lead. After touchdown runs of nine and five yards from Ryan Bingham and Jason Cormier respectively, Lago Vista appeared to have seized control. But Taylor connected with Kameron Congdon for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14. Taylor finished the game with 131 yards completing seven of his 14 attempts.
The outgunned Jarrell squad played valiantly with a hunger not typically seen in teams at the bottom of the district standings. Fortunately for Lago Vista, the Vikings were able to match the Bobcats’ intensity on both sides of the ball.
Cormier and Bingham headed a demoralizing rushing attack that amassed 448 yards on the ground. Cormier totaled 265 yards and four touchdowns for the game on 28 carries and broke the school record of 15 rushing touchdowns in a season. Bingham’s tough running style earned him extra yards against a Jarrell defense that seemed to wear down as the game progressed; Bingham finished with a season-high 105 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
The Viking defense also returned to the form of previous weeks, intercepting Taylor twice in the end zone and blocking two Cougar punts. The Cougars were held to just three second-half points.
As the largest qualifying school, the Vikings will be the district’s sole representative in the Division I 2A playoff bracket and will face Hempstead in the opening bi-district round.
Hempstead, like Lago Vista, was picked by many to finish in the bottom half of its district and yet it entered the final two weeks of the regular season with a chance to win the District 26-2A title. The Bobcats, however, fell to state power Rice Consolidated and then suffered a disappointing 55-28 loss to Weimar to end the season with a 6-4 record (4-2 in district).
Hempstead is led by dual-threat sophomore quarterback Obie Wilder. Austin area fans might remember Wilder from his five-touchdown performance in a 54-14 rout of the 4A Reagan Raiders earlier this season.
Running back Ronald Turner will carry the load on the ground for the Bobcats. The senior has racked up more than 1,300 yards rushing this season and is averaging more than eight yards per carry.
Defensively Hempstead is loaded with talent. Junior defensive lineman Tylond Robertson has recorded 15 sacks on the year and has drawn recruiting interest from multiple Division I schools. Despite their athleticism, the Bobcats have struggled to stop opposing running backs late in this season, a fact that should have Cormier, Bingham and the Lago Vista coaching staff salivating.
The bi-district playoff game against Hempstead will kickoff Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium in Elgin.