Lehman’s Matt Riojas (left) gets ready to swat the football away from a receiver during Tuesday night 7-on-7 action at Shelton Stadium. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
by MARK CAUL
What a difference a week makes.
After handing rival Hays one of their worst setbacks of the summer only seven days earlier, the Lehman Lobos failed to capitalize on any momentum that victory produced as they were dealt a pair of blowout losses in 7-on-7 passing league action on Tuesday night.
Wimberley scored on each of their first five possessions of the game en route to an easy 34-24 win over the Lobos.
“I told the guys earlier that we played tonight just like we practiced,” Lehman head coach Don Meshell said. “We were very sluggish and didn’t work hard enough in practice and it showed tonight. Wimberley has a very talented team but we didn’t give ourselves much of a chance with the way we played defense.”
After the Texans built a quick 14-0 lead, the Lobos closed the gap briefly 14-6 after Ryan Wagner found a streaking Devin Fox down the sidelines on a 40-yard sprint pass for a touchdown.
Wimberley added another pair of short range touchdowns to pad their lead again at 28-6 before Lehman’s Levi Ridley scored from five yards out on a slant pass across the middle just before the half ended at 28-12.
Lehman managed to mount a late charge with Harvest Trammell and Andrew Longworth each scoring touchdowns to help the Lobos pull closer late in the contest, but a late interception helped to secure the win for the Texans.
The Lobos also lost to Akins 35-13 earlier in the night after beating the Eagles in the first game of the summer a few weeks ago.
After such an impressive win last week over the Rebels, the Lobos were left searching for answers with the annual Hays Invitational Tournament only a few days away.
“We just have to start communicating better out there,” Wagner said. “I think we got a little big-headed after last week.”
Senior Kevin Ibanez also lamented the lack of focus from his teammates.
“We have to start making plays on both offense and defense,” said Ibanez. “There just weren’t enough people concentrating out there. We need to work on those things before this weekend.”
The Lobos knocked off Lockhart, Stony Point and the Lake Travis JV in last year’s tournament before falling to Hays in the semifinal round.
“It’s really up to these guys how successful they want to be this weekend,” Meshell said. “I’m hoping we’ll go back to work at practice and will be ready to play on Saturday.”
Pool play games at the Hays tournament will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of each of the four pools will advance to the noon semifinals. The two finalists will advance to the state 7-on-7 tournament at College Station, which begins July 9.
