Argyle football thrashes Lucas Lovejoy, advances to Class 5A D2 state semifinals
The Argyle Eagles will be heading to the Class 5A Division Two semifinal round of the Texas high school playoffs after beating the Lovejoy Leopards 42-17 on Friday, Dec. 6 at Children’s Health Stadium.
“Our team was fabulously prepared,” said Argyle head coach Todd Rodgers. “We had tons of energy, lots of enthusiasm and an abundance of emotion.”
After Lovejoy took a 10-7 lead into the second quarter, the Eagles forced a fumble, converted on 4th-and-3, and scored via a 10-yard passing play from quarterback Maguire Gasperson to Jaxon Greene.
The Argyle defense forced the Leopards to punt after three plays. The Eagles took over on the Lovejoy 47-yard line and reached the end zone on three plays—all rushes by running back Logan Rexroat—making it an 11-point Argyle lead.
Between the cold rain and the adrenaline, Rodgers said it takes out some of the pain of the game.
“You don’t feel your fingers, you don’t feel your toes, so it blocks out the pain and the recklessness of it all, and our kids played up to the edge,” Rodgers said.
In a game that lives on momentum, the Eagles knew how to keep theirs up and put Lovejoy’s to a halt.
With under a minute left in the first half, Lovejoy threatened on first and goal from the 1-yard line. A holding penalty moved the Leopards back, negating a rushing touchdown from quarterback Jacob Janecek.
Janecek scrambled to avoid a sack, throwing an errant pass that was intercepted by Grayson Peschel, who returned it 81 yards to the end zone.
“[Plays like that] are a tribute to our game plans and a real tribute to the kids executing those game plans.”
If that didn’t kill the Leopard momentum enough, Janecek was knocked out of the game on the play after a hard hit from the Argyle defense.
Coming out of halftime, Argyle used two plays to keep the momentum in its favor. Running back Watson Bell ran for a loss of two then Gasperson found sophomore Julian Caldwell for a 73-yard passing touchdown.
“[Julian] is a fabulous player,” said Rodgers. “He’s a young kid and started the season with an injury, but he’s getting healthy and confident and has an incredible ceiling.”
Caldwell talked about his return from injury and how important that makes his contribution in a playoff environment as an individual and a team.
“It’s been an uphill battle, but we’ve shown up when it matters,” he said. “It’s all about preparation and making big-time plays when we need it.”
Lovejoy tried to respond on another red-zone opportunity, but the Eagle defense shut it down again.
Replacement quarterback Cade Lynch tried a receiver in the end zone, but he found Argyle’s Maliek Bracy, instead, who came down with the ball for a touchback.
“Maliek [Bracy] has done that a couple of times, and they tested the waters,” said Rodgers. “They thought their guy was better, and he put his back on him and made an incredibly athletic catch to support his team.”
Argyle added its final points on a 5-yard rush from Bell, but the setup was the impressive part.
Gasperson looked deep to Caldwell, who lept with the defender to fight for the ball. They both tipped the ball; it hit off the defender’s helmet and landed in Caldwell’s outstretched hand as he was lying on his back.
“That was crazy,” said Caldwell. “I just saw it hit his head and then land in my hand, and it was a crazy play, but I was thankful for sure.”
Lovejoy’s sophomore quarterback, who came in after Janecek’s exit, faced a tough situation but held his own against a strong Argyle team. He gave the Leopards a few opportunities in the red zone, but they couldn’t quite convert except once with 10 minutes left in the game.
He found Reaugh for an 8-yard passing touchdown that made the deficit 25.
The loss proves to be a haunting trend for Lovejoy.
Since the 2020 season, Lovejoy has made the playoffs every year. In four out of five of those playoff berths, they lost in the quarterfinal round.
In the state semifinals, the Eagles (13-1) will face South Oak Cliff (12-2) in a rematch from the 2022 playoffs that ended Argyle’s season.
The Bears beat Port Neches-Grove 56-14 in a state finals rematch from the past two years.
Caldwell and Rodgers both said the team wasn’t worried about the next game yet.
“We lived to play another week,” said Rodgers. “You have to stay present and I’m going to be really excited, but we’re not going to worry about that game. We’re going to watch film tomorrow and make improvements and adjustments to get ready.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 11:31 PM.
