Lehman’s Harvest Trammel played quarterback last season but will be featured as a receiver this year. The Lobos are ready for Friday night’s opener against St. Michael’s after a solid scrimmage against Canyon Lake. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
by MARK CAUL
It appears the Lehman football team finally found its way in the last preseason game.
After struggling to maintain focus in the latter stages of their scrimmage against Marble Falls the week before, the Lobos played a much more consistent game against Canyon Lake High.
As a result, Lehman now appears ready to take on St. Michael’s in its regular season opener Friday night at Shelton Stadium.
“We came out with a little bit more intensity than we had against Marble Falls and Wimberley,” Lehman head coach Steve Davis said. “We finally started to focus towards the end of the scrimmage. That’s when we started to make some things happen.”
Against Canyon Lake, the Lobo offense had more rhythm while the Lehman defense surrendered a few big plays through the air but was pretty effective in stopping the Hawks’ ground attack.
The Lobos marched methodically downfield on an impressive 80-yard scoring drive with senior fullback Rashad Porche carrying twice for 25 yards, and then Ryan Wagner scampering for another 20 yards. After Porche gained another five yards on a first down play from the Canyon Lake 30-yard line, junior quarterback Matt Anguiano lofted a perfect pass over two defenders and found junior receiver Matt Riojas in the back of the end zone for a 30-yard touchdown.
“We wanted to come out and show that we were better than we showed last week,” Angiuano said. “Coach (Davis) told us to just relax and play football. And that‘s what we tried to do.”
As the Hawks were driving toward their first score after converting two consecutive fourth down plays, senior cornerback Peter Guiterrez stripped Canyon Lake fullback Cole Tomlin on a crucial third down play and the Lobos recovered at their own 35.
From there, Angiuano found senior receiver Harvest Trammell on a slant pattern to the Canyon Lake 35 on the Lobos first play of the series. And then, a few plays later, Jose Santiago swept across the right side from eight yards out for another Lobo touchdown.
Canyon Lake had a few highlights of their own to entertain the home crowd as quarterback Jeff Nabors connected with receiver Richard Howell for a couple of long scoring passes of 75 and 55 yards.
With the opener against St. Michael’s Academy, which competes in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) only a few days away, Davis is still looking to tighten things up on both sides of the ball.
“We will go back to work Monday and just keep it simple over the next few days at practice,” said Davis. “We don’t know very much about St. Michael’s but they went pretty deep in the playoffs last year so we will need to be ready to play. They will be a good first test for us.”
The Crusaders (who were 10-1 in 2009) are expected to repeat as conference champions after sweeping through their division last year and reaching the state quarterfinals with 11 starters returning this season.
Defensive lineman Andrew Reue, who was an all-state pick in 2009 and linebacker Brett Carlton (team-leading 85 solo tackles last season), will be the players to watch for St. Michael’s on Friday night. Offensively, the Crusaders will rely on senior tailback Luke Seeker (1,249 yards, 8 TDs in 2009).
Friday’s kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Shelton Stadium.
