LONGVIEW, Texas -- Liberty-Eylau brought down Spring Hill, 21-15, in a thrilling comeback victory behind a game-winning score by Chris Lewis.
The Leopards racked up 162 yards in the second half, as J.J. Hampton tossed for 138 yards and a touchdown pass to Lewis, who had seven catches and 93 receiving yards on the night. Marquarius Price added 43 rushing yards on eight carries, as well as a TD score.
The comeback was jump-started, however, by an 82-yard pick-6 by Keenue Shepard late in the fourth quarter. The L-E defense held the team afloat, not allowing a single score in the second half and forcing a stop to set up the final scoring drive.
The third quarter was a stalemate, as both defenses held the opposing offenses scoreless.
It looked like more of the same in the final quarter, before Keenue Shepard snatched a pick out of the air and streaked 82 yards down the field for a clutch score to make the game 16-14 Panthers with 2:36 left.
L-E would then force a huge three-and-out, before getting the ball back at their 45-yard line with 1:17 remaining. A couple plays later, Kayden Cooper came down with a 47-yard snag to bring Liberty-Eylau to the 5 with 43 seconds remaining, as they still trailed by two.
Two plays later, Lewis punched in the score on a 4-yard catch to put his team up 21-15 with only 8 seconds remaining, after a 2-point conversion by Imahd Hicks.
Price escorted the offense downfield and into the end zone for the first score of the game with 8:24 showing in the first quarter, to make it 6-0 Leopards. The Panthers would quickly respond with a 14-play, 86-yard campaign that was capped off by a 3-yard TD run by Jordan Jones to make it 8-6 after a successful 2-point conversion.
Jax Stovall scampered 8 yards for a TD to extend Spring Hill's lead to 15-6 with just 3:47 remaining in the second quarter.
The Panthers put up 188 total yards in the opening half, compared to only 99 by the Leopards.