PHOTOS BY RICHARD AKRIDGE Senior running back Edward Hall tries to escape the grasp of a Knight defender during Lampasas’ bi-district loss to Austin McCallum Friday night. The Badgers never held the lead as the Knights scored on the opening kickoff and never looked back. This season, the Badgers did more than simply make they playoffs.

They made an impression.

After going winless through 20 games over the previous two years, Lampasas won four games in 2009, including three of its final four district games to earn a postseason berth.

Unfortunately for Badger fans, the memorable season came to an end Friday night as the Austin McCallum Knights swatted Lampasas out of the playoffs with a 58-28 victory at the Georgetown ISD Athletic Complex

“[The players] are disappointed, and I am too, but you can’t fault them for what happened,” head coach Joey McQueen said. “We came across a team that played better than we did on offense and defense.

Quarterback Vann Millican prepares to deliver one of his two touchdown passes against the Knights. Millican finished the game with 164 yards on six-of-11 passing. “It’s just one of those things, but I’m proud of what the seniors have done. They laid the foundation and made some good things happen.”

Coming into the bi-district contest, the Knights were riding a seven-game winning streak, and from the opening kickoff it was clear they would pose a problem for Lampasas.

Jevon Neal ran the kickoff 83 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to give McCallum a seven-point cushion just 15 seconds into the game.

“That didn’t help us at all because any time we get behind and have to play catch up [it is not beneficial to the offense],” McQueen said of his run-based, clock-killing offense.

Running back Tanner Mobley tries to hold on to the ball during a run. The senior posted 51 yards, all in the second half. The Badgers responded, however, by moving the ball down to the Knights’ 13-yard line. But on fourth and four, Lampasas turned the football over on downs when Brode DuBose fell one yard shy of picking up a first down.

McCallum needed just 12 plays to travel 90 yards in the opposite direction, increasing its lead to 14- 0 on a one-yard running score with 48 seconds left in the quarter.

Despite the deficit, Lampasas used a pair of passes early in the second quarter to reach the end zone.

Quarterback Vann Millican connected with Astin Murray for 48 yards before he spotted Alan Figurski near the goal line for a 16- yard score.

Then the offense started sputtering.

Lampasas held McCallum to a field goal on its next possession but could not advance the ball past midfield on the following drive, which forced a punting situation.

Things went haywire for the Badgers as Brandon Abbott had difficulty handling a high snap, and the attempt was blocked.

Beginning at the Badgers’ 47- yard line, the Knights needed just a little over two minutes to tack more points on the scoreboard as Michael Harris ran for a five-yard touchdown.

The Badgers threw a pair of picks to close out the half with McCallum owning a 17-point lead at 24-7.

Desperately needing a score to stay competitive, Lampasas was forced to punt away the first possession of the second half after moving just 10 yards in five plays.

McCallum responded quickly, taking just four plays to extend its lead to 31-7 on bruising running back Michael Sorrels’ five-yard run.

“We were trying to do some things, and they were just blowing us up,” McQueen said. “They were really just better than us tonight.”

Sorrels (94 rush yds.) and quarterback Clete Donovan (96 rush yds.) led the Knights to 281 running yards in the game. The Badgers posted just 170 yards on the ground.

Lampasas did not give up, though, and Millican recorded his second touchdown pass of the evening on the first play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive. He found Murray on a 61-yard bomb that cut the lead to 34-14.

But the Knights responded almost as quickly, scoring in just three plays that included a pass of 72 yards to reach the end zone for a fifth time.

Lampasas punted the ball away on the next possession and, once again, McCallum was only three snaps away from a touchdown. It built a 40-point advantage, 44-14, on Sorrels’ third score of the night.

Tailback Edward Hall (99 rush yds.) went on to score a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter for Lampasas, but it was too little too late as the Knights posted two touchdowns of their own in the period, including a 37-yard fumble return.

Rush Seaver and Abbott led the team on defense. Linebacker Seaver recorded nine solo tackles and assisted on six more, while safety Abbott matched Seaver’s solo total and added five assists.

Offensively, McCallum scored points on seven of its nine possessions. The Knights’ final drive ended with the quarterback kneeling on the ball and running out the clock in the fourth quarter.

Nevertheless, McQueen and his team walk away from the season with their heads held high as they all know this year was something extremely special.

“[All the credit] goes to our seniors,” the head coach said. “We have 23 seniors, and they did a great job of getting [the program] turned around. I’m so proud of every one of them.

“We’ve got to continue to work hard, and I think our kids understand what it takes. We’ve got to start [working toward next year] right now, and those juniors that are going to be seniors have to start being the leaders.”

Game Stats

Scoring Summary

MHS — Michael Sorrels one-yard run (Bender kick) Second Quarter LHS — Vann Millican 16-yard pass to Alan Figurski (Michael Shaughnessy kick) MHS — Bender 37-yard field goal MHS — Michael Harris five-yard run (Bender kick) Third Quarter MHS — Sorrels five-yard run (Bender kick)

LHS — Millican 61-yard pass to Astin Murray (Shaughnessy kick) MHS — Clete Donovan two-yard run MHS — Sorrels 21-yard run (Bender kick) Fourth Quarter LHS — Hall three-yard run (Shaughnessy kick)

MHS — Colton Lusson 10-yard run (Isaac-Miller Crews kick)

MHS — Ralmon McAfee 37-yard fumble return (Crews kick)

LHS — Hall one-yard run (Shaughnessy kick)

Team Stats

Individual Stats

Rushing — LHS: Hall 17-99, Tanner Mobley 8-51, Brode DuBose 9-22, Aaron Reyna 3-5, Gabe Terrell 1- -3, Ronnie Branch 2- -4. MHS: Donovan 10-96, Sorrels 17-94, Harris 6-36, Alonzo Rivera 5-23, Braylon Cannon 2-15, Lusson 4-17.

Passing — LHS: Millican 6-11-1-164, Reyna 0-1-1-0, Colton Perkins 0-1-0- 0. MHS: Donovan 5-9-0-154, Lusson 1-1-0-14.

Receiving — LHS: Murray 3-114, Hall 1-26, Figurski 1-16, Reyna 1-8. MHS: Harris 2-113, Matt Seay 3-42, David Leffler 1-13. Missed field goals — NONE