When Corky Cochran leans over to say he's been watching Lion football since 1952 and has never seen a comeback from his school like this, you're watching something special.
For the final 14 minutes of game clock, Livingston was indeed special, scoring 33 unanswered points. They broke a losing streak Friday that dated back to nearly one year ago, defeating Anahuac 61-50 Friday at Kyle White Stadium.
With just a few minutes remaining in the third quarter, Panther running back Jaytwan Dowdye eluded several would-be tacklers on his way to a 69-yard rumble into the end zone.
The Lions looked defeated.
Anahuac's lead had grown to 50-28, after holding just a three-point advantage at halftime. Livingston possessions to that point in the second half had been seven total plays and two punts.
Yet, Lion coach Tucker Carter said his team had not given up hope. After sharing snaps behind center last week, Jax Ruiz took all but a handful Friday. He also took on a leadership role.
“We had some kids step up on the sideline and said, ‘We've got to stay in it. Anything can happen.’ I'm proud of Jax Ruiz for kind of spearheading that when it got ugly,” Carter said. “Jax is a kid that's playing quarterback, he's on kickoff return, he's doing the dirty work. And so, the growth in our kids of telling each other, ‘It's gonna be OK,’ and just competing the next snap really paid off.”
The Lions answered quickly, handing off to junior tailback Taylor Haynes, who scampered 51 yards for the touchdown. After forcing an Anahuac punt, Ruiz found Zayden Martin on a 30-yard strike with just over seven minutes left in the game.
A 15-yard penalty enforced before the kickoff allowed the Lions to onside kick, where Martin again made a big play, stealing a possession. The first play saw Haynes take a handoff 34 yards to make it a two-point game. A two-point conversion was unsuccessful because of a high snap, but with 7:08 to play in the game, the Lions needed just a field goal for the lead.
They would get so much more.
Two plays into the Anahuac possession, quarterback Brayden Sutch lofted a pass off his back foot after seeing pressure. Lion Curtis Findley broke on the ball and snagged it. The return required dodging a few Panthers, but the junior defensive back scored to put Livingston ahead by four.
Anahuac again could not find offensive success, turning the ball over on downs in four plays. Livingston would take over at the Panther 43, and added some insurance five snaps later with a nine-yard Ruiz run.
Haynes totaled 187 yards on 15 carries and had two touchdowns. Zayden Martin recovered an onside kick, intercepted a pass, had tackles for loss, and caught a touchdown pass. Ruiz threw for 153 yards and a touchdown, and added four more scores on the ground. As a team, the Lions had 317 rushing yards.
The Livingston defense gave up half a hundred on the scoreboard through three quarters. However, they forced a punt, brought an interception back for a touchdown, and caused two turnovers on downs (both in four plays) in the final period.
“We talked a lot all week about you're one play away from being the guy for the rest of the game,” Carter said. “So, I'm super proud of our kids just staying in the fight and finding a way to claw out of the hole and get back on top. Every day is an opportunity to get better, and we know we got some guys banged up tonight and we've got to get healthy. We were on a nine-game losing streak, and I'm very aware of that. So, it feels good to kind of get over the hump and get a little momentum going into the next two weeks preparing for district.”
