Levi Ridley tries to defend a Bastrop receiver during the Lobos’ victory over the Bears in 7-on-7 pool play. Lehman lost its next two games and failed to advance to the semifinals. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by MARK CAUL
The Lehman Lobos got off to a strong start with an impressive win over Bastrop in their tournament opener but then couldn’t quite get over the hump in a pair of losses to Dripping Springs and Temple in last weekend’s 7-on-7 state qualifier at Hays High School.
“We played very well in the first game but just didn’t make enough plays to continue the momentum,” Lehman head coach Don Meshell said. “We played in a very tough bracket but the kids played hard enough to win.”
The Lobos were trying to duplicate last year’s semifinal appearance in which they swept through their pool before losing to rival Hays in the tournament semifinals.
Lehman got off to a good start as Harvest Trammell and Levi Ridley each scored touchdowns to stake Lehman to an early lead against Bastrop before the Bears closed the gap with a pair of touchdowns of their own.
Clinging to a slim lead, Matt Riojas hauled in a 20-yard scoring strike from Ryan Wagner to extend the Lobos advantage to 21-12.
Ridley added another score late to give Lehman a commanding lead and their first win of pool play.
“We came out strong in the first game against a good team,” Trammell said. “But we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had in the last two games.”
Temple presented a formidable challenge to the Lobos with a lethal mix of speed and athleticism. The Wildcats got off to a good start as they scored on touchdown strikes of 35 and 25 yards to take an early lead that they never relinquished in a 27-13 win.
Lehman closed out pool play with a match-up against familiar foe Dripping Springs, who swept the Lobos in their two matchups this summer.
In a nip-and-tuck affair early, the Lobos used a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ridley to pull ahead briefly before Dripping Springs scored the last two touchdowns of the contest to advance to the semifinals, where the tigers lost to Georgetown.
“For the most part, the effort was there but we need to be consistent for more than a couple of plays,” Meshell said. “We want to finish this summer out on a positive note and get these guys ready for two-a-days.”
Lehman will face Dripping Springs and Bowie to close out 7-on-7 league play before preparing for next week’s post-season tournament to close out summer league play.
“We have some things we still need to work on before we start two-a-days,” said Trammell. “So we need to come out and battle in these last few games.”
