Durant got off to a solid start but turnovers and explosive plays by Midwest City turned the tide just before halftime and the Bombers pulled away for a 48-20 district victory last Thursday night at Paul Laird Field.
The Lions found a handful of strong plays in the run game on the way to 171 yards on the ground but they were few and far between on 57 total carries.
Coach Todd Vargas’ club will be back on the road this week at Lawton High looking to snap a two-game skid.
“The last touchdown right before halftime hurt us a lot,” Vargas commented. “We turned it over though and can’t make mistakes like that. Midwest City is just too talented and has too much speed to overcome those things. When you don’t do things right and play with poor technique at times that speed exposes. We got a touchdown, but they came back with a big play immediately. There were just too many big plays and too many mistakes on our part.
“We have got to eliminate the mistakes. I said all last week the most disciplined team was going to win, and we just weren’t very disciplined at times. They exposed some areas. Lawton will be a good team this week and we have to fix the mistakes in order to have a chance.”
The Lions looked to be in great position early against Midwest City, with Karson Finley picking off a Bomber pass on their first offensive play but the DHS offense was stymied, netting a minus- 13 yards on their opening two possessions.
Midwest City cashed in the first big play on a 54yard touchdown burst before Durant answered with a 68-yard, 11-play march that culminated on Joseph Flores’ three-yard scoring run. Konnor Shenas tacked on the extra point for a 7-6 Lion lead on the initial play of the second period.
Another 65-yard drive hit paydirt with a Flores twoyard blast with 1:56 left in the half and looked like Durant would carry 13-6 advantage to the break, but the Bombers had other ideas.
Standout running back Javonte Holmes bolted 54 yards on the very next play for his second long-distance touchdown to narrow the gap. Durant fumbled two plays later to set the Bombers up at the DHS 37.
A controversial 30-yard pass completion moved the ball to the two-yard line and the visitors punched in their second touchdown in less than two minutes for a 20-13 lead at intermission.
Holmes scored his third touchdown to cap a 62-yard Midwest City march to begin the second half and Durant fumbled three plays later, which was immediately turned into more Bomber points with a 21-yard scoring pass.
A lengthy 16-play, 64-yard Lion drive culminated with a Flores five-yard run that narrowed the margin to 3420 with 11:16 remaining in the game, but proved to be the final Durant points as the Bombers finished it off with a pair of touchdowns, including a Holmes 65-yard burst.
Flores tallied 71 yards on 17 carries to spur the Lion rushing attack. Tyler Rhodes chipped in 10 rushes for 32 yards, Draegen Baker had 28 yards rushing and J.J. Garcia posted 21 yards on the ground. Graham Mc-Ilvoy snagged one pass for 19 yards.
