By Brice Cherry

Tribune-Herald youth sports editor

MARLIN — It would be hard to argue that the Marlin Bulldogs and Teague Lions possess two of the grittiest, toughest 2A teams in Texas.

So it shouldn’t be any surprise that when they got together Friday night, they decided to work a little overtime.

Teague and Marlin treated a horde of thankful fans at Legion Field to an extra period of hard-hitting football, with the eighth-ranked Lions escaping with a 28-20 overtime victory when Teague’s J.J. Redic broke up Charles Hitchens’ final fourth-down fling.

“I’m very proud of these guys, but then I’ve been proud of them all year,” said Teague coach Kevin Hayes, whose team improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in District 22-2A play. “We played as a team. We don’t have any individuals, just a bunch of guys who play as one team. That’s what they’ve done for eight straight games.”

After the game, Marlin coach Jerry Malone sat on the edge of a weight bench in the field house with his shoulders slumped, drinking a bottle of water and lamenting what he deemed his failure to prepare the team.

“I don’t think we were prepared for an overtime,” Malone said. “It’s not something we’ve really talked about or practiced for, and that’s my fault as the head coach.”

Nevertheless, the Bulldogs (5-3, 4-1) played good enough to win for four quarters. In fact, Marlin had a shot to win it just before time expired at the end of regulation, but freshman kicker Oscar Pena’s 45-yard field goal attempt skidded across the turf well short.

Teague rolled into Marlin having won its first seven games by an average score of 48-6, and early on it seemed as if the Lions might roar to another convincing blowout.

Behind its three-headed rushing monster of quarterback Quentin Coleman and running backs James Green and Justin Hudspeth, the Lions rumbled out to a 14-0 seven minutes into the game, without even faking as if they were going to attempt a pass.

But Marlin’s defense stiffened up and gave its team a chance to bounce back. And did they ever, in electrifying fashion, no less, as Oklahoma State-bound tailback Travis Miller cut Teague’s lead to 14-7 with 7:30 to play in the half on a 60-yard touchdown run that included a couple of Barry Sandersesque head-and-shoulders jukes in the open field.

Just 43 seconds later, Marlin struck again when defensive back Olagjuan Hopkins scooped up a Green fumble and darted 17 yards for the score, tying the game at 14.

“Our guys don’t have any quit in them,” Malone said. “The defense did an absolutely great job tonight. Those running backs (of Teague) are some big, strong kids, but our guys came to play.”

Both teams continued to trade blows befitting the heavyweight collision at hand. Teague recaptured the lead with a 14-play, 68-yard drive in the third quarter that culminated with a rare pass, on a four-yard TD toss from Coleman to a wide-open Jordan Smith in the end zone.

Marlin wasted no time responding, as Antonio Moore followed his teammate Miller’s lead with a 60-yard touchdown scamper of his own on the first play of the ensuing possession.

The teams kept trading heavy wallops in the fourth quarter, with Marlin’s defense again giving its offense a chance when it stopped Teague’s behemoth Green, who piled up a game-high 148 rushing yards, inches short of the first down on a fourth-and-three play with 1:05 to play.

Marlin drove the ball to the Teague 27 before setting up for Pena’s ill-fated field goal attempt with three ticks left.

In overtime, Teague got the ball first and seemed to stick to its usual game plan, running for seven yards on its first two plays. But then the Lions sucked the Bulldog defense in with a perfect play-action fake, and Coleman found his tight end Jacob Smith open in the end zone for an 18-yard scoring strike.

“We pride ourselves on being a passing team,” Teague’s Hayes said with a smile and a wink. “People think we don’t ever work on throwing the ball, but we do. That was just a great job of the kids executing the plays.”

Having not converted a kick all night, Teague opted to go for two, and Coleman successfully converted with a scamper to the outside in which he stretched the ball over the pylon before being pushed out of bounds.

Marlin’s chances at sending the game to a second OT seemed doomed from its first play, a six-yard loss on a Miller run that was snuffed out by the hard-charging Teague defense.

An incomplete pass, a sack and a penalty later, Marlin faced fourth-and-22 from its own 42. Quarterback Charles Hitchens’ toss to Miller downfield bounced harmlessly off the turf thanks in part to a diving deflection by Teague defensive back Redic.

The Lions exploded in jublilation, but they won’t have much time to celebrate. Top-ranked Mart comes to Teague’s home field next week.

“We told our kids back in the spring that if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,” Hayes said. “We’ve got two of the very best in the state right here in our district. I guess we’ll see where we rank after next week.”

Riesel 17, Leon 13: In Jewett, Braden Embry hit Heston Krumnow with a 50-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter to lead the Indians over the Cougars.

Ben Hayden and Dusty Keller combined for more than 100 yards rushing for Riesel (2-6, 2-3 District 22-2A). John Crawford intercepted a pass with 1:40 left in the game to seal the victory.

Johnny Guevara rushed for 63 yards and Taylor Reeves added 51 for Leon (2-6, 1-4).

Teague 28, Marlin 20 (OT)

Teague 14 0 6 0 8 — 28

Marlin 0 14 6 0 0 — 20

First quarter

Teague — Quentin Coleman 3 run (kick failed), 9:12

Teague — James Green fumble recovery in end zone (Kevin Smith run), 5:00

Second quarter

Marlin — Travis Miller 60 run (Oscar Pena kick), 7:30

Marlin — Olagjuan Hopkins 17 fumble recovery (Pena kick), 6:47

Third quarter

Teague — Jordan Smith 4 pass from Coleman (kick failed), 1:37

Marlin — Antonio Moore 60 run (kick failed), 1:21

Overtime

Teague — Jacob Smith 18 pass from Coleman (Coleman run)

Teague Marlin

First Downs 20 7

Rushes-Yards 64-345 30-165

Comp-Att-Int 2-3-0 2-8-0 Passing Yards 22 20

Total Yards 367 185

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 5-1

Penalties-Yards 9-75 5-25

Punts-Avg 2-50.5 3-38.3

Individual Stats

Rushing

Teague —James Green 26-148, 1 TD; Justin Hudspeth 15-66; Quentin Coleman 21-122, 1 TD; Kevin Smith 2-9

Marlin — Antonio Moore 10-84, 1 TD; Travis Miller 7-71, 1 TD; Charles Hitchens 13-10

Passing

Teague —Coleman 2-3-0, 22 yards, 2 TDs

Marlin — Hitchens 1-7-0, 4 yards; William Linton 1-1-0, 16 yards

Receiving

Teague —Jordan Smith 1-4, 1 TD; Jacob Smith 1-18, 1 TD

Marlin —Linton 1-4; Terrance Gude 1-16