EMORY, Texas-This is the time of year when controlling the tone matters.
Liberty-Eylau throttled Caddo Mills in a Class 4A bi-district game at Wildcat Stadium in Emory, 47-17.
"I'm proud of the way our kids fought all night," Liberty-Eylau head coach Steve Wells said. "We cleaned some things up in the second half and our kids continued to battle."
Marzavin Riles went for the hat trick on a 72-yard dash down the home sideline to double Caddo Mills score in the fourth with 11:47 remaining, 34-17.
Riles ended the night with 107 yards with seven totes with three touchdowns
On the following kickoff, Shayne Porche added a 70-yard return for a score to give the Leopards a slight cushion heading into the fourth quarter, 28-17.
Jonah Rupe booted a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter to slice into the Leopards lead, 21-17.
Riles scored his second touchdown of the game from 2-yards out in the third quarter with 8:28 left.
Isaiah Cross completed 12 of 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Cross also rushed nine times for 62 yards and a score.
"We didn't have any turnovers in the second half," Wells said. "We've preached ball security to our guys and I'm glad they listened."
Tyler Townley punched it in for the Foxes before halftime to give Caddo Mills their first lead over Liberty-Eylau, 14-13.
El-Amin Greer made his presence felt on both sides of the ball for Liberty-Eylau. Greer finished with four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.
"I want six more gold balls," Wells said. "We have a big game this week coming up in Royce City. We'll watch film this weekend and have our guys ready to go to work next week. I'm proud of our kids staying with it the entire game."
Riles gave the Leopards some cushion on his 22-yard dash to the endzone through the Caddo Mills defenders in the second quarter.
Gavyn Beane put the Foxes on the board with his 17-yard reception from Townley in the second quarter with 6:00 remaining.
Greer put the Leopards on the scoreboard first with his 34-yard reception from Cross with 6:40 left in the opening quarter.
Deshun Dickerson caught two passes for 40 yards for Liberty-Eylau.
Micah Lewis led the Foxes receiving corps with five grabs for 105 yards.
Beane finished with six catches for 52 yards and a touchdown for Caddo Mills.
Shannon Roy also intercepted a Caddo Mills pass in the first half for the Leopards.
Roy also ended with three catches for 28 yards. Roy scored a 65-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown putting the game out of reach for Caddo Mills.
Liberty-Eylau will play Lorena Friday in Royce City in the Area round.
#
Caddo Mills 0 14 3 0 - 17
Liberty-Eylau 7 6 15 19 - 47
First Quarter
LE-El-Amin Greer 34 pass from Isaiah Cross (Gregorio Aguilar kick), 6:40
Second Quarter
CM-Gavyn Beane 17 pass from Tyler Townley (Jonah Rupe kick), 6:00
LE-Marzavin Riles 22 run (kick failed), 4:10
CM-Townley 2 run (Rupe kick), 0:21
Third quarter
LE-Riles 2 run (Cross pass to Greer), 8:28
CM-Rupe 30 field goal, 1:50
LE-Shayne Porce 70 kickoff ret. (Aguilar kick), 1:49
Fourth Quarter
LE-Riles 72 (kick failed), 11:47
LE-Cross 4 run (Aguilar kick), 4:41
LE-Shannon Roy 65 fumble recovery (kick failed), 3:02
=Caddo Mills=Liberty=Eylau
First Downs=14=12
Yards Rushing=126=219
Yards Passing=223=145
Passes A-C-I=26-16-3=16-12-1
Fumbles-Lost=0-0=1-1
Penalties=1-5=6-40
Punts-Avg.=1-31.0=2-23.5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Caddo Mills, Townley 20-63, Hammons 2-5, Neal 18-63, Aldridge 1-2, TEAM (minus 12).
Liberty-Eylau, C. Dickerson 5-46, Riles 7-107, Cross 9-62, White 1-(minus 2), Cooper 1-7.
PASSING-Caddo Mills, Townley 16-26-3-223.
Liberty-Eylau, Cross 12-16-1-145.
RECEIVING-Caddo Mills, Lewis 5-105, Neal 3-28, Aldridge 1-8, Beane 6-52, Dalton 1-30.
Liberty-Eylau, Greer 4-65, C. Dickerson 1-12, D. Dickerson 2-40, Porche 1-5, Riles 1-(minus 5), Roy 3-28.