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By Tommy Mann

Special to the Orange Leader

VIDOR – It came down to the wire, but Little Cypress-Mauriceville escaped Pirates Stadium with a hard-fought 16-12 win over the Pirates to start the District 10-4A Division 1 campaign.

Vidor struck first late in the first quarter with a two play, 62 yard drive that only took 58 seconds. Running back Marcus Harris took a handoff for 21-yards to the Bears 41 yard line. An illegal motion penalty pushed the ball back to the 46-yard line, but on the next play, Pirates quarterback Daigan Venable dropped back and hit receiver Landon Jones deep down the middle of the field for a 46-yard touchdown pass for a 6-0 Vidor lead following the blocked extra point.

Both teams traded possessions, but a bad snap on the Vidor punt and a pressured kick gave LC-M excellent field position at the Pirates 23-yard line. Bears quarterback Braylen Lewis kept the ball and ran for 17-yards on the first play to give LC-M first and goal at the Vidor 6-yard line. On the next play, running back J’Lynn Morris took the handoff around the right side for the 6-yard touchdown and gave the Bears a 7-6 lead after the extra point kick by Isaiah Watzlavik.

Both defenses kept big plays at a minimum and came up with turnovers at key moments. With the Bears driving again late in the second quarter, Vidor defensive back Brody Bloss intercepted a Lewis pass in the end zone and returned it to the 30=yard line as time expired to stop the threat.

The Pirates dominated time of possession in the third quarter controlling the ball for 10:55 on its two possessions. The first drive consumed 7:32 of the clock as Vidor marched the ball 69 yards in 15 plays and it was running back Skylar Stankovich who capped off the drive with a 1-yard plunge to put Vidor ahead, 12-7. The Bears again blocked the Vidor extra point attempt, but this time defender Jakson Strewe picked up the ball on the bounce and rumbled all the way to the opposite end zone to give the Bears the two points instead of Vidor, which cut the Pirates lead to 12-9.

The Pirates defense forced LC-M to punt on its next possession and quarterback Daigan Venable and the Vidor offense took over at its own 14-yard line. Again the Pirates started pounding away on the LC-M defense with its running game.

The big play of the drive was a 51-yard run by Stankovich to the Bears 15-yard line. However, Vidor had to costly penalties, including one that kept a Daigan Venable touchdown off the board. Facing fourth down and 18 at the 23-yard line, the Bears defense stiffened and forced the Pirates turnover on downs.

The Bears took over the ball with 11:37 remaining in the fourth quarter and the offense had its best drive of the game just when it needed it as LC-M went 81 yards in eight plays. Lewis had a huge 34-yard run to give the Bears a first and 10 at the Pirates 35-yard line. A few plays later, on fourth down and 5, Lewis again took charge and rumbled for 11-yards and first down to the 19-yard line. On the next snap, Lewis roared through the defense for a 19-yard touchdown run and put the Bears back on top, 16-12.

After forcing a Vidor punt, LC-M took over at its own 22-yard line, but fumbled the ball on handoff exchange two plays later to give the Pirates the ball at the 24-yard line. Vidor began moving the ball and eating up the clock, but a Venable fumble after the snap on the 15-yard line was recovered by the Bears and sealed the victory for LC-M.

LC-M had 282 total yards of offense for the game as Bears quarterback Braylon Lewis passed for 92 yards on the night, while completing 9 of 23 passes with one interception. He added a game high 108 yards rushing for the Bears and touchdown.

J’Lynn Morris carried the ball 16 times for 58 yards, while Jonah Fuller had six carries for 24 yards. Khayden Reed led all Bears receivers with five receptions for 61 yards.

The Pirates offense had 319 yards of total offense on the night, with 273 yards coming on the ground and 46 yards in the air. Unfortunately, the offense lost two fumbles as well which were key.

Stankovich led all Vidor rushers with 104 yards on 13 carries, all of it coming in the second half of the game. Venable completed one of two passes for 46 yards and a touchdown, while adding 72 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Ethan Copeland added 40 yards rushing on eight carries, while Marcus Harris contributed 25 yards on six totes. Jones had one reception for 46 yards and a touchdown and 22 yards rushing. Bloss had an interception and 10 yards rushing on two carries.

The Bears (2-2, 1-0) return home next Friday to face Hardin-Jefferson in another all-important showdown in District 10-4A Division 1. The Hawks (3-1, 1-0) beat Livingston, 33-24, on Friday night.

Vidor (1-3, 1-0) hits the road next week to face-off against another Orange County opponent as the Pirates take on the undefeated Cardinals. Bridge City (4-0, 1-0) pummeled Lumberton 28-7 on Friday night.