A late third quarter lead slipped away and a potential go-ahead drive in the final frame stalled in Coweta territory as the Durant Lions suffered a 17-13 loss at home last week to slip to 2-6 on the season.
Durant will be back on the road Friday against rival McAlester before returning for Senior Night next week against Bishop Kelley.
“Unfortunately, offensively we just stalled out too many times,” said head coach Todd Vargas afterward. “We gave up two massive fourth down conversions on defense that just killed us. Overall though I thought our defense played hard and gave us a chance. The offense just could not sustain drives to help us out.
“It was just like several games this year that we’ve had in which we’ve been really close in the second half but just haven’t been able to make the plays to win at the end. We have to keep on working though and get better with a couple of tough opponents coming up the next two weeks.”
The contest was a punt fest throughout the opening quarter as neither team could get much going on the offensive side until Coweta found a second period spark.
Taking over at its own 24 yard line early in the frame, the Tigers put together a methodical 11-play drive that mixed in a steady dose of runs and a pair of big pass plays. Coweta found the end zone on a 15-yard run that ended up taking nearly half the second quarter for a 7-0 edge.
That seemingly provided the ig-
Lion James Wallis punts the ball.
nition for the Durant offense as well as the Lions answered with a workman-like 80-yard march that covered 12 plays and finished with a Cole Robbins two-yard scoring plunge. Robbins provided the biggest plays in the drive, converting a third down with a 20-yard completion to Ryder Jones, and a fourth down on his 33yard scramble.
The Lions misfired on the extra point to trail 7-6 with 53 seconds left before halftime.
A 53-yard return on the ensuing kickoff led to more Coweta points as the Tigers drilled a 28-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to tack onto the lead.
Jayden Rangel’s interception midway through the third period squarely shifted momentum and Stephen Manhard followed with a 32-yard run that set up a Robbins goahead one-yard scoring burst. Otto Baskin’s extra point put the Lions in front 13-10 with 4:18 left in the period.
With Durant poised to take command, Coweta got another solid kickoff return to near midfield but faced a fourth down moments later for the key play of the game. The Tigers tossed a one-on-one jump ball down the sideline and completed the deflating 34yard touchdown pass with 1:56 remaining in the third.
Robbins dazzled with a pair of first down runs on the next series, but after advancing to the Coweta 34 a holding penalty set the Lions behind the chains and they eventually turned the ball over on downs.
That’s as close as Durant could get however as the Lions final two possessions ended short of midfield in the final stanza.
Yardage was nearly even with Coweta holding a slight 261-245 advantage. The Lions also came up with the lone turnover of the game but were stymied by converting only one of 11 third down opportunities. Coweta was a perfect three for three on fourth down.
Manhard fell just shy of the century mark with 18 carries for 95 yards while Robbins tallied 74 yards on nine totes as well as completing 11 of 19 passes for 63 yards. Aiden Polk had three catches for 17 yards.
Axel Thurman had a big game defensively with 12 tackles as Holdan Robinson chipped in eight and Rangel added seven stops.
