Westwood 65 Diboll 59

[mistanice]

Diboll comes up short and ends season @ 9-2.

[mistanice]

It was the darnedest thing. They held a football playoff game, and a track meet broke out.

In an incredible display of offensive firepower from two high-octane ballclubs, the Palestine Westwood Panthers outgunned the Diboll Lumberjacks 65-59 for the Class 3A Division II bi-district football championship Friday at Abe Martin Stadium.


The loss by Diboll overshadowed a remarkable effort in which two DHS offensive records went by the wayside. Lumberjack running back Ketaraus Stanton rushed for 427 yards and six touchdowns, easily a school single-game rushing record, breaking his own mark set a few weeks earlier. And Diboll QB Jacolby Spencer, only a junior, set a single-season record for touchdown passes with 25 as he passed for 142 yards and two scores.

But the 'Jacks had to play catchup all night, and costly turnovers proved to be fatal. Westwood quarterback Gralyn Crawford rushed for 170 yards and four TDs while passing for 314 yards and three more scores. He also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from running back D.J. Morrow.

Stanton's 33-yard TD run midway through the first quarter pulled Diboll even at 7-7 with Westwood, but the Panthers extended it to 21-7, thanks in part to a 99-yard TD toss from Crawford to Bruce Smith.

Stanton's 75-yard touchdown gallop as the first quarter ended cut the Panther lead to 21-14. The teams exchanged touchdowns through the second quarter, with Diboll's J.J. Hayes snagging a 44-yard TD pass from Spencer and Stanton racing to the end zone from 50 yards out, cutting the Westwood lead to 35-28.

But Crawford's trickery as the first-half clock ran out — the ball was direct-snapped to Morrow, who hit Crawford for a TD catch of his own — put the Panthers on top 42-28 at halftime.

Westwood then blew out to a 51-28 lead before Stanton scored on a 23-yard run. It was 65-36 Westwood when Diboll mounted its furious comeback which would see the 'Jacks score the final three TDs of the game.

Stanton's fifth touchdown of the game came on a 1-yard plunge to cap a 70-yard drive, with Hayes catching a two-point conversion pass. Then it was Stanton again, breaking loose on a rambling 60-yard scoring run with 3:13 left, and Spencer nailed Nick Cortines with a two-point conversion pass. Suddenly it was 65-52.

Diboll got the ball back and Spencer found Alex Castillo for a 16-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds remaining, trimming the Panther lead to 65-59. But the 'Jacks magic — an earlier onside kick was recovered that led to a score — finally ran out in the last minute as the ensuing onside kick bounced out of bounds before a Diboll player could recover it.

The Panthers advance to take on either China Spring or Rockdale next Saturday in Waco. Diboll's season comes to an end at 9-2. After winning its first nine games, the Lumberjacks dropped last week's district championship decision to Carthage 56-32 before falling to Westwood Friday.

[eagles_victory]

By SALLY SEXTON
The Palestine Herald

LUFKIN — Friday night’s bi-district playoff against Diboll had potential to be the last game in quarterback Gralyn Crawford’s career at Westwood.

The senior certainly played like it, leading the Panthers to their first playoff win in school history, 65-59, over the Lumberjacks.

Crawford had a hand in seven of the Panthers’ nine touchdowns, and led the team in rushing and passing yardage.

“It’s very exciting because it’s my first playoff game to play in and we won,” Crawford said. “I knew it could be my last game so there was some desperation, but we came together as a team and came out with the victory.”

For Westwood, it is also only the third time the Panthers have made the playoffs, with the last appearance in 1992.

“It feels wonderful to break school history, and it’s a credit to the coaching staff and the kids,” Westwood first-year head coach Kevin Anderson said. “It was so darn close, but it was a good game.”

Westwood will play the winner of the China Spring-Rockdale bi-district game. The two teams play tonight in Waco.

Friday night, the Westwood defense started out strong, forcing four fumbles from the Lumberjacks in the first quarter, and the offense scored on three of its first five possessions, including a 99-yard reception from Crawford to Bruce Smith.

The Panthers continued to rack up the points, capping off a 42-point first half with a 27-yard halfback pass from D.J. Morrow to Crawford, who bobbled the ball in the end zone before securing it.

The quarterback was 14-of-20 passing for 334 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the night with 167 yards on 35 carries and three touchdown runs.

“Offensively, I couldn’t have asked for a better job,” Anderson said. “My hat goes off to the kids and the way they scored at will.”

The third quarter proved to be the biggest for the Panther offense as Westwood built up a 29-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Westwood’s fate looked good until the emergence of Diboll’s running back Ketaraus Stanton, who scored on the opening series of the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run.

Two possessions later, Stanton found the end zone on a 59-yard run with 3:13 left to play to make it a 65-52 game.

The tailback would finish with 25 carries for 426 yards and six touchdowns.

Things got even worse for Westwood as a Lumberjack recovered the ensuing onside kick, giving Diboll a chance to cut the deficit to one score.

But the Panthers came up big on defense, as Smith intercepted Jacolby Spencer’s pass on the Westwood 19-yard line.

The Lumberjacks forced the Panthers to punt, however, getting back possession with under two minutes left. Diboll scored quickly, with Spencer finding Alex Castillo for a 16-yard touchdown and Westwood found itself ahead by only six points. But Westwood recovered the onside kick, Crawford took a knee, and the Panthers were able to hold off Diboll for the win.

Westwood held the Lumberjacks to 18 first downs, while forcing four turnovers, one of which led to a Panther score.

Despite being held scoreless in the fourth quarter, the Panthers had 685 yards of offense, and only one turnover.

————

Diboll 14 14 8 23 — 59
Westwood 21 21 23 0 — 65

Westwood — Gralyn Crawford 3 pass to Bruce Smith (Tyler Dillon kick)
Diboll — Ketaraus Stanton 34 run (Alex Castillo kick)
Westwood — D.J. Morrow 11 run (Dillon kick)
Westwood — Crawford 99 pass to Smith (Dillon kick)
Diboll — Stanton 76 run (Castillo kick)
Westwood — Crawford 2 run (Dillon kick)
Diboll — Jacolby Spencer 44 pass to J.J. Hayes (Castillo kick)
Westwood — Crawford 7 run (Dillon kick)
Diboll — Stanton 49 run (Castillo kick)
Westwood — Morrow 27 pass to Crawford (Dillon kick)
Westwood — Safety
Westwood — Crawford 30 pass to George White (Dillon kick)
Diboll — Stanton 23 run (Stanton run)
Westwood — Crawford 1 run (Dillon kick)
Westwood — Marvin Warren 17 run (Dillon kick)
Diboll — Stanton 1 run (Spencer pass to Hayes)
Diboll — Stanton 59 run (Spencer pass to Nicholas Cortines)
Diboll — Spencer 16 pass to Castillo (Castillo kick)

Westwood Diboll
First downs 29 18
Rushes-yards 60-324 31-436
Passing yards 361 150
Total yards 685 586
Comp-Att-Int 15-21-1 8-18-1
Punts 4-18 1-42
Fumbles-Lost 0 4-3
Penalties-Yards 9-55 4-40

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING —Westwood: Crawford, 35-167; Morrow, 24-140; Warren, 1-17. Diboll: Stanton, 25-426; Spencer, 4-7.
PASSING — Westwood: Crawford, 14-20-1-334; Morrow, 1-1-0-27. Diboll: Spencer, 8-15-1-150.
RECEIVING — Westwood: White, 4-148; Smith, 4-126; Warren, 1-32; Crawford, 1-27; Alan Thompson, 2-18; Cody Boyd, 1-9; Morrow, 2-1. Diboll: Hayes, 4-94; Cornelius Polk, 1-22.

[Rattlesnake_08]

What happened to Diboll?

[mistanice]

Originally posted by Rattlesnake_08
What happened to Diboll?

They were tired of playing football, wanted to get started on basketball season.