BLOWOUT
Pflugerville Connally 38, Lampasas 0
Badgers hand district-leading Cougars 5 turnovers in loss
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Left: LHS players show the fatigue and disappointment brought on by the team's seventh straight loss, including four straight in District 25-4A. Above: Badger head coach Ryan Bailey looks on in the fourth quarter of his team's 38-0 loss at Pflugerville Connally on Friday. Bailey is in his first season as the boss for the Badgers.

PFLUGERVILLE -- Pflugerville Connally took full advantage of the five turnovers Lampasas handed it in a 38-0 win at Connally on Friday.

The Cougars recovered three fumbles and a muffed kickoff return and intercepted a pass on their way to their fourth straight win. Connally (5-2 overall, 4-0 in District 25-4A) remains tied with district leader Austin Lake Travis, setting up a showdown for district supremacy Friday at Lake Travis. The Badgers (0-7, 0-4) will play host to Pflugerville Hendrickson on Friday.

CHS 38, LHS 0

Records

Lampasas is 0-7, 0-4, Connally is 5-2, 4-0.

Impact

Connally remains undefeated in 25-4A, setting up a showdown with co-leader Lake Travis on Friday.

PHOTOS BY GABE WOLF

Key Stat

Connally had two rushers eclipse 100 yards, QB Darius Darks ran for 158 and RB Tim Anderson ran for 104.

Key Play

Connally recovered a muffed kickoff and converted it into a touchdown to take a 20-0 lead.

Up Next

Hendrickson Lampasas, 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Cougars built a 31-0 halftime lead behind the running and throwing of quarterback Darius Darks. Darks, who ran for 158 yards on the night, cashed in the Cougars' first two drives with touchdown runs of two and four yards, respectively.

When Darks stayed in the pocket, he completed 8 of 14 passes for 109 yards. Cougar back Tim Anderson ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

"We made them earn all of their points tonight," LHS head coach Ryan Bailey said. "We limited the big plays and made them march down the field each time. That says a lot when you consider they've got a few guys on that offense who will go on to play big-time college football."

Connally quarterback Darius Darks (7) tries to evade the grasp of Lampasas' Jose Lucio on Friday. Darks ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a 38-0 win. Darks will lead his team against Lake Travis for the outright District 25-4A lead.

The Badgers found some success on the ground behind running backs Melvin Batiste and Brode DuBose, but quarterback Ryder Brown -- who injured his throwing hand in the first quarter -- and a banged up group of receivers were out of sync most of the night.

Brown, who played well the previous two weeks in place of injured starter Vann Millican, completed 5 of 16 passes for 50 yards. Millican, who had some staph infection removed from his foot three weeks ago, was in pads Friday night but wore sneakers on the sideline.

"We didn't even know on Thursday who our starting receivers would be," Bailey said. "That group was completely banged up this week in practice. They showed a lot of guts just suiting up and trying to play, and Ryder showed a lot of guts playing through the hand injury. Vann was able to practice this week, but we would have risked a long-term injury if we had played him tonight."

Seth Fry is one of four Badger receivers who missed practice time last week because of injuries. Against Connally, Fry caught three passes for 25 yards.

Minus the two times Brown was sacked, the Badgers compiled a season high 159 rushing yards against a fast Cougar defense.

Batiste led the team with 76 yards on six carries, including runs of 33 and 30 yards in the second half. DuBose churned out 51 yards on 16 carries, and Jarrod Bowen carried three times for 30 yards.

The Badger defense allowed 333 yards on the ground, but it did not allow a carry of more than 22 yards nor a touchdown run of more than five yards. The longest pass play the defense allowed was 23 yards.

"We made them earn it," Bailey said. "We didn't give them anything cheap. You've just got to tip your hat to them because they were able to sustain drives without big plays."

The shutout marks the second of the season pitched against the Badgers. They lost 21-0 at Marble Falls.

Senior running back Melvin Batiste broke loose for runs of 33 and 30 yards to lead the team with 76 yards on 6 carries.

After back-to-back games on the road against the district co-leaders, the Badgers return home to play Hendrickson. They then play at Cedar Park Vista Ridge before closing out the season at home against Dripping Springs.

"We were just outmanned tonight," Bailey said. "The last three weeks, we've got three teams we can play with. We match up a lot better with each of those teams, and I expect these guys to finish the season strong."

Game Stats

Score By Quarters

Lampasas 0 0 0 0 - 0
Connally 20 11 7 0 - 38

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
C - Darius Darks 2 run (Matt Seeman kick)
C - Darks 4 run (kick blocked)
C - Spenser Eggleton 1 run (Seeman kick)
Second Quarter
C - Tim Anderson 1 run (Jamal Mays run)
C - Seeman 27 FG
Third Quarter
C - Anderson 5 run (Seeman kick)

Team Stats

	LHS	CHS
First Downs	15	22
Rushing Yards	134	333
Passing Yards	57	109
Total Yards	191	442
C-A-I	6-18-1	8-14-0
Fumbles-Lost	4-4	1-0
Penalties-Yards	7-50	10-76

Individual Stats

Rushing - L: Brode DuBose 16-51, Melvin Batiste 6-76, Jarrod Bowen 3- 30, Ryder Brown 2-(minus) 25, Travis Jordan 1-4; C: Darius Darks 15-158, Tim Anderson 12-104, Aronzo Washington 8-28, Leon Manor 4-19, Jacob Wetz 3-11, Aubrey Berry 2-9, Spenser Eggleton 2-5.

Passing - L: Ryder Brown 5-16-1-50, Ryan Abbott 1-1-0-7, Jarrod Bowen 0- 1-0-0; C: Darius Darks 8-14-0-109.

Receiving - L: Jarrod Bowen 3-32, Seth Fry 3-25; C: Jamal Mays 3-44, Chase Harper 3-41, Anthony Bryant 2- 26.