Killeen survives thriller against surprising Badgers Posted On: Friday, Oct. 30 2009 04:14 AM By Kevin Posival
Killeen Daily Herald

With three- and four-yard punches, the Lampasas Badgers methodically drove the field, churning out 303 rushing yards and keeping Killeen's offense sidelined and spectating most of Thursday night.

Each carry by Edward Hall or Brode DuBose threatened to continue the back-and-forth points battle and threatened Killeen's playoff certainty after Jaquail Haskins' second rushing touchdown gave the Roos a four-point edge with five minutes left in the third quarter.

But the Badgers offense fumbled the ball on back-to-back drives and was never allowed back on the field as the Roos (7-2, 4-1 in 25-4A) held on 21-17 to finally clinch a District 25-4A playoff spot.

"They did what they needed to do, but at the end of the night, Killeen High School still won and that's what you tell your kids," said Killeen coach Sam Jones. "You keep fighting. It doesn't matter what it looks like, you just keep playing the game and good things will happen for you."

The Badgers (3-6, 2-3) drove 58 yards in nearly six minutes between the third and fourth quarters after Haskins' go-ahead score to get to the Killeen 7-yard line. But a false start backed Lampasas up to a third-and-nine at the 12 before quarterback Vann Millican fumbled the snap.

The Roos' Demetrius Ballard came up with the loose ball, but Killeen turned it over when Lampasas corner Aaron Reyna intercepted quarterback Michael Cummings on a long four-and-sixth pass to Da'Juan Sylvester with 8:14 left in the game.

Lampasas got to the Killeen 38-yard line but Reyna couldn't haul in Millican's pass at the Killeen 15 and then lost the handle on a pitch the very next play. Reyna recaptured the loose ball but Killeen's Terry Brown separated it from the senior again and recovered it at midfield with 1:14 left.

"When you're playing a team like (Killeen), athletic and outstanding, we had confidence that we're going to drive down, and we drop that pass right there on the 15-yard line and then have that fumble – that just kind of hurt us," said first-year Lampasas coach Joey McQueen, who despite the loss, has the Badgers on the verge of a playoff berth after back-to-back winless seasons in 2007 and 2008.

"It's going to come down to Hutto and us next week at our place ... I just know that we had opportunities (against Killeen) and that's all I can ask my kids is to give us opportunities and get a chance to win."

Of the Badgers' rushing yards, Hall and DuBose combined for 270 and each had a touchdown. Hall finished with a game-high 186 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown right out of halftime that put Lampasas on top 17-14 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the third.

Cummings had 208 of Killeen's 321 yards of offense. He led the team with 100 yards rushing, threw for 108 – mostly to Ja'Corie Baker, who had 79 yards on three catches – but didn't have a hand in any of Killeen's three touchdowns.

Haskins had two touchdowns and 70 rushing yards and Deontre Huey had Killeen's game-opening score.

"I don't know if we shut it down ... I think we controlled the ball offensively and that's our goal," McQueen said. "Then our defense has to come in and do their job and I thought they did an outstanding job."

DuBose bulled in from one yard out five minutes before halftime that gave the Badgers a short-lived 10-7 lead, but Cummings answered by completing three pass attempts for 30 yards on Killeen's following drive and Rodney Brown cut loose for a 31-yard sprint to set up Haskins' 1-yard run that put Killeen ahead 14-7 at halftime.

After Huey's five-yard touchdown opened Killeen's 7-0 lead, Killeen's defense held the Badgers to a 26-yard field goal from Michael Shaughnessy.

Killeen's second drive, which didn't start until the 1:44 mark in the first quarter stalled after Justin Taylor dropped Sylvester for a three-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 to start the second quarter.

The Badgers then marched 56 yards, taking up almost eight minutes of the period before DuBose's go-ahead score.

"We knew going into the game, every time we touched the ball, we needed to score and we sputtered a little bit the second half," Jones said. "Our rhythm is still not there. Execution is still not there, that's why this week's game was so important that we play ... it's kind of like a tune-up for the playoffs, but we are in there, with both feet."