Spring Pounces In Second Half, Tops The Woodlands In Bi-District

SHENANDOAH, TX — The Spring Lions didn’t let a missed opportunity at the end of the first half bog them down.

Instead, Spring reeled off three straight touchdowns en route to a 52-35 victory over The Woodlands in a Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff game Friday at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

The No. 8 Lions (10-1) now move on to the area round, where they will face Klein Cain at 7 p.m. Friday at Klein Memorial Stadium. The District 13-6A champion and 18th-ranked Highlanders' season ends at 8-3.

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“The beauty of what we have in that locker room is kids that love each other and will fight each other,” Spring head coach Trent Miller said. “Going into that locker room [at halftime], it can go one of two ways: kids can hang their heads or they can get excited and pick each other up. There wasn’t a head hanging or any finger-pointing going on. It was a cool atmosphere in that locker room.”

After driving the length of the field in less than 30 seconds, helped by a spectacular 44-yard catch by receiver Cadyn Bradley, Spring had a chance to take the lead with the ball at the 2-yard line and one second on the clock. Joey Fussell Jr. took the direct snap and made a cut to the right toward a clear path to the end zone, but he stumbled out of the break and despite appearing to keep his balance with his off hand, referees ruled him down as time expired in the first half.

It didn’t slow down the Lions.

Jeremiah Jones Jr. recovered a fumble to open the second half, and Spring senior quarterback Bishop Davenport capped the ensuing drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Bradley to give Spring a 24-21 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Spring forced a punt, and Davenport found Bradley for another long touchdown, this one a 43-yarder in which he lost control of the ball at the end but referees ruled he crossed the plane.

The Davenport-Bradley connection fueled the Lions’ prolific attack as Bradley had six catches for 224 yards and three touchdowns. Davenport completed 15 of 25 passes for 352 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, adding 104 yards on the ground.

“My boy Cadyn Bradley, since freshman year, we’ve been grinding, so it’s natural, second-nature to us,” Davenport said. “[After halftime,] we had to stay humble and face adversity. We came out and fought harder because we didn’t want to go home.”

Spring’s defense got in on the action on The Woodlands’ next drive as senior Dorian Friend scooped up a loose ball and raced 48 yards for a touchdown to extend the Lions’ lead to 38-21 with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

Spring forced six turnovers in the game and put pressure on Highlander sophomore quarterback Mabrey Mettauer in the second half.

The Woodlands’ Justin Sheldon threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Camden Cash to cut the lead to 38-28, and Mettauer threw a 6-yard touchdown to Ben Ferguson to make it 45-35 late in the fourth quarter, but 10 points was the closest the Highlanders would get.

Fussell, who rushed 61 yards on 13 carries, scored two second-half rushing touchdowns to give him three for the night and help put the game away. The defense did its part, too, as Bral’on Jones sacked Mettauer on fourth down late to snuff out The Woodlands’ last chance.

Mettauer completed 19 of 32 passes for 262 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he added 50 yards and a pair of touchdowns rushing. Ferguson caught six passes for 97 yards.

Ferguson is a member of a large senior class for The Woodlands that were freshmen when head coach Jim Rapp took over the program.

“This senior class … has made a huge impact,” Rapp said. “They were great warriors. They believe in our program. They believe in what we’re doing. They are great examples to the underclassmen, so I’m proud of them. They’re really unbelievable.”

Spring moves on to the area round, and the Lions have another prolific offense to face as Klein Cain also advanced Friday with a 52-20 win over Cypress Woods.

“They’ve got a nice squad on offense,” defensive lineman Gerrod Henderson Jr. said of the Hurricanes. “We’ve got to focus, stay good in practice, get ready to go. Let’s get to it.”

The Woodlands struck first when Mettauer ran right and trucked a Spring defender on the way to a 3-yard touchdown run, giving the Highlanders a 7-0 lead with 2:51 left in the first quarter.

The drive took almost the entire first quarter as The Woodlands went 99 yards in 14 plays, set up by an interception from Evan Dubin that turned away Spring’s opening drive.

The Woodlands forced a punt, but Spring quickly got the ball back as Friend recovered a fumble, which led to a 29-yard field goal from Ruben Ruiz to cut the lead to 7-3 early in the third quarter.

The Highlanders extended their lead on another Mettauer touchdown run, this one a 1-yard sneak that put The Woodlands up 14-3 with 6:39 left in the first half.

Spring responded with two straight touchdowns to take its first lead with just over two minutes left in the half. On the second play of the drive, Davenport completed a short pass to Bradley, who took it 63 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 14-10. Myron Carter put out a threat from The Woodlands on its next drive, intercepting a Mettauer pass in the end zone.

The Lions drove 80 yards on seven plays, including a 44-yard pass to Bradley, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run from Joey Fussell Jr. to take a 17-14 lead with 2:06 left until halftime.

Mettauer led a near-perfect two-minute drill, going 4 for 4 for 53 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown to JoBarre Reed with under 30 seconds left to put The Woodlands back in front.

Davenport gave the Lions a chance to score before halftime as he reeled off a 29-yard run and completed a 44-yard pass to Bradley, who made a highlight reel grab, leaping over tight coverage and bringing it down at the 2-yard line with one second left in the second quarter.