Friday, August 29, 2008
By Jason Orts
Tribune-Herald staff writer
When Ennis wasn’t shooting itself in the foot, it looked every bit the part of a favorite to win District 16-4A.
Quarterback D.J. Betik threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground as the Lions beat up Belton, 43-8, in the opening game of the Heart of Texas Kickoff Classic at Waco ISD Stadium on Thursday night.
It could’ve been much worse.
The Lions turned the ball over three times on fumbles — twice inside the Belton 5-yard line and finished with 13 penalties for 114 yards, including four personal fouls.
- Stats: Full game summary
But between the miscues, the Lions were nearly impossible for the Tigers to stop — through the air and on the ground — racking up 486 yards of total offense.
The Lions used four- and five-receiver sets to spread the field, and Belton’s defensive backs gave Betik’s speedy targets plenty of cushion.
That made it an easy game of pitch and catch for the Ennis quarterback, who simply took what the defense gave him all night to complete 18 of his 23 passes.
Kyle Guinyard was most often the quarterback’s weapon of choice as he caught eight passes for 91 yards two touchdowns.
It also helped that the Lions put up 285 yards on the ground, forcing Belton to respct that phase of their offense, also.
Jyavon King rushed for 145 yards — 140 in the first half — including an 81-yard scoring burst in the first quarter.
Deonte McDade, who moved all over the offense playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver, contributed 81 yards rushing and a touchdown on only seven carries, 74 yards on six catches and his only pass was a five-yard completion.
But McDade had his struggles as well, losing two fumbles.
While the Ennis offense was its own worst enemy at times, Belton’s struggles were mostly caused by the Lions defense.
The Tigers finished with 203 yards of total offense — and were stuffed on the ground, picking up only 28 yards on their 27 rushing attempts.
David Ash had the most success of Belton’s three quarterbacks with 117 yards through the air and the Tigers’ only score of the night, a 51-yard pass to Will Pollan early in the fourth quarter.
The Lions opened the scoring with an easy eight-play, 67-yard drive that capped by a two-yard plunge by Betik with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
After a Belton three-and-out, it took the Lions one play to extend their lead.
King found a huge hole in the middle of the line before avoiding a Belton safety and sprinting down the right sideline for an 81-yard touchdown. McDade’s two-point run made it a 15-0 Ennis edge.
It was 22-0 when Betik lofted a perfect strike on a fade pass to Guinyard in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard score with 41 seconds left before halftime.
Belton’s best chance to make it a game came right after halftime.
The Tigers started at their own 18 and methodically marched the ball down the field, picking up two third-down conversions on Ash passes, all the way to the Ennis 11.
But the Lions slammed the brakes on the march with three straight sacks that took Belton all the way back to the Ennis 39 and out of scoring position.
After the Lions’ next two possessions ended with McDade fumbles, the latter of which came at the end of a 22-yard run and resulted in a touchback, Ennis put it away.
Linebacker Chonston Williams intercepted a Kevin Thornton pass, setting the Lions up at the Belton 33. Three plays later, Betik found Guinyard open in the end zone for a 17-yard score and 29-0 lead. McDade added an 11-yard sprint to the end zone to make it 36-0 before Belton got on the board.
Pollan got behind the Ennis defense, hauled in a pass from Ash, broke a tackle at the 5-yard line and scampered into the end zone with 8:25 left in the game.
Ennis’ Tim Hearne closed the scoring with a two-yard run with 4:28 left.
jorts@wacotrib.com
757-5717
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