What We Saw: Lewisville 35, CA Johnson 6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COLUMBIA |</strong> Lewisville found itself in a very unfamiliar situation on Friday in the Region 3-A opener with CA Johnson.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The No. 1 ranked Lions had not given up a point since a season-opening loss – that's five straight shutouts – but after just over eight minutes of action, they found themselves in a one touchdown deficit. But thanks to a fast and physical defensive effort, Lewisville overcame a sloppy performance for a 35-6 victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We're going to have a conversation (on Monday) about our effort more than anything,” Lewisville coach Leon Boulware said. “Our guys played with a lack of emotion and effort tonight. They came out thinking CA Johnson was going to lay down for us and that will never happen.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In fact, after the Hornets surprising start, the Lions defense clamped down and allowed 112 yards of total offense on 62 offensive plays. They recorded 20 plays that had zero or negative yardage. They were able to place eight and nine players in the box and never gave the CA Johnson offense time to find the big play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It started with an impressive linebacker group that included <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142605' first='Joaquan' last='Howze']</strong> (pictured). The 6-foot, 180-pound senior wreaked havoc all night. The Hornets were a little threat to garner much in the passing game and allowed Howze and his counterparts a chance to key on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142538' first='Caleb' last='Pearson']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360178' first='Keivonte' last='Bates']</strong> in the CAJ rushing attack.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Howze wasn't the only one making big plays. Linemen <strong>Montre Fletcher</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='638827' first='Natarious' last='McCullough']</strong> along with linebackers <strong>Daquan Evans</strong>, <strong>JaQuintus Cousar</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249747' first='Zach' last='Rogers']</strong> stayed in the Hornets backfield most of the night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Those guys can play,” Boulware said. “They fly around sideline-to-sideline. Thet can fill it when they have to fill it as well. They've been doing it all year. We stacked the box a little bit and were able to get our guys and get our guys in there.” &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Boulware felt the ball-control offense employed by the Hornets didn't allow his offense to get on track. In their five-game winning streak, Lewisville was averaging 56 points per game. But thanks to a 28-yard TD pass from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='809751' first='Ian' last='Grissom']</strong> to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='589011' first='Dion' last='Brown']</strong> and a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Rogers, the Lions found themselves with a 14-6 halftime lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grissom, who came into the game with 1,793 passing yards, found <strong>Jacorreun Howze</strong> for a 46-yard touchdown on the Lions first offensive play of the second half. Grissom added a 16-yard touchdown to <strong>Denari Garcia</strong> before capping the scoring with a 16-yard TD scamper with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Grissom finished 12-of-22 for 200 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Brown, the son of former NFL player Sheldon Brown, had 3 catches for 61 yards. Jacorreun Howze was the leading receiver with three grabs for 71 yards and Garcia caught three passes for 29 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lewisville finished with 246 yards of total offense, well below their season average.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“That was probably the longest we've sat on the sideline all year,” Boulware said. “We didn't get a good rhythm going. They executed well of keeping us off the field. But we knew once we got on the field, we would take shots.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CA JOHNSON NOTABLES</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pearson came in as one of the leading rushers in the state with 1,185 yards rushing, was limited to 22 yards on 31 carries. That's factoring in the sack yardage as well. Bates finished with 61 yards on 19 carries as they were the only two ball-carries for the Hornets. They also played most of the snaps at defensive back.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Pearson capped the 15-play, 49-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run to open the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CA Johnson only has one senior on the roster – Pearson – but some of the younger players were impressive. <strong>Sam Farmer</strong> is a 6-foot, 190-pound sophomore that brings a wallop at linebacker and plays tight end. <strong>Chris Wider</strong> is another sophomore that plays on both the offensive and defensive line. Junior linebacker <strong>Jeremiah Miller</strong> and junior lineman <strong>Angel Velez-Vann</strong> also played well. &nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->