Everman can’t handle fast start by Lucas Lovejoy, Bulldogs’ season ends in area round
Everman had its best win of the season when the Bulldogs beat Mesquite Poteet in last week’s bi-district round for the program’s first playoff victory in five years.
But Everman got into an early hole on Friday and couldn’t recover.
It took less than a minute for Lucas Lovejoy to score a touchdown and the Leopards continued to roll from there, defeating the Bulldogs, 49-21 in a Class 5A Division 2 area round contest at Globe Life Park.
“It was hard with the pandemic, but we found a way to stay healthy, practice hard and did what we had to do,” said Everman’s 4-star athlete Juan Davis, who signed his letter of intent with Texas on Wednesday. “We watched film and Lovejoy looked all right. We thought we were the better team, but I guess not.”
Lovejoy (12-0) will play Mansfield Timberview in the regional round, 11 a.m. Thursday at Globe Life Park.
Timberview beat Ennis, 42-28.
The Leopards, ranked No. 8 in the 5A D2 state rankings, took the opening drive 62 yards on six plays. The first play from scrimmage was a 20-yard run by quarterback RW Rucker, who would hit Jaxson Lavender on a 15-yard TD with 11:05 to go in the first quarter.
Lovejoy recovered an Everman fumble on a punt attempt and two plays later, Rucker scored on a 3-yard run to make it 14-0 with 8:51 left in the period.
Lovejoy added its third TD in as many drives when it turned to a half-back pass. Lavender got the hand-off from Rucker and hit Reid Westervelt, who walked into the end zone 54 yards later.
The Leopards extended the lead to 28-0 on their next possession, a 9-play, 78-yard drive that was capped off with a 23-yard TD pass from Rucker to a wide-open Luke Mayfield midway through the second quarter.
Everman (6-6) had its best drive of the first half just before intermission. The Bulldogs marched 56 yards on 13 plays and ate up over five minutes. Davis came down with a 13-yard TD catch in double coverage from backup QB Desmond Woodson.
Woodson lined up behind center just a play after starting QB Eric Calamease left the game with a neck injury. Calamease, a senior, got hit awkwardly the play before and had to be taken off on a stretcher, but was moving.
The TD came 16 seconds left in the half and made it 28-7.
Everman pulled within 28-14 in the third after Jonathen Wilson’s 19-yard TD run capped off a 5-play, 63-yard drive.
But Lovejoy killed any momentum from the Bulldogs when it scored 14 straight points to increase the lead to 42-14 at the end of the third quarter. Rucker ran in a 25-yard score and then threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Westervelt.
Matthew Mainord added a 3-yard TD run early in the fourth.
Davis scored from the 1 with 5:49 remaining.
Lovejoy out-gained Everman 408-303 in total yards. Rucker threw for 175 yards, rushed for another 139 and accounted for five total TDs. Westervelt made five catches for 136 yards and two TDs.
Wilson led Everman with 113 yards and a score on 17 carries. Josh Lester added 82 yards on 10 attempts.
Davis, who plans to enroll at UT in January, was limited to 19 yards and two TDs.
“Everman means everything,” Davis said. “What I’ve done for them, what they’ve done for me. Playing with the guys on the team with all the coaches, they’re family to me. It was a blessing.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 1:26 PM.
