The Lamar Texans celebrated homecoming week in their rivalry game against the Bellaire Cardinals at Delmar Stadium as it turns out, the homecoming contest was closer as the Texans prevailed 62-23. They all but determined the eventual winner of 6A Region III District 18.
The Texans and the Cardinals each entered the game undefeated in the district at 4-0, but Lamar had the tiebreaker with a 7-1 record as opposed to Bellaire who was 5-3.
The Texans went up early in the game with a 16-3 score in the first quarter thanks to quarterback Owen Holt, who threw a touchdown pass and ran for one. They incrementally widened the lead with a safety and three field goals from William Fallon in the second quarter.
The Cardinals’ most uplifting moment of the game came when the same player, who comically committed the safety by kneeling down when he thought he was still in the end zone, returned a kick for a 95-yard touchdown.
The Texans quieted the Cardinals’ momentum with a touchdown of their own on a 59-yard kick return just 12 seconds later. Lamar’s route was punctuated by two nearly identical post patterns, on which Holt and Al’Vonte Woodard connected twice for a touchdown. One was 41 yards at the end of the second quarter and the other was 42 yards at the end of the third quarter. The Texans added two more rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Holt finished the game with three touchdown passes.
The Cardinals are a competent football team, but the Texans’ advantage was in their speed as was reflected by a myriad of long kick returns and punt returns and several interceptions.
The win extends the Texans’ winning streak over the Cardinals to a staggering 33 games. It’s a rivalry in the form of the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals.
The Cardinals entered the game playing their best football of the season by riding a four-game winning streak. Their last four wins came at home over Westbury 48-14, at Houston Math Science & Tech 55-0 on Oct. 7, 14-11 over Houston Heights on Oct. and 63-36 at Chavez on Sept. 23. This was the response after an ugly 1-3 start out of district in which two losses were by an average of 30 points each. They lost 46-6 at La Porte on Sept. 16 and 56-27 at home to Clear Brook on Aug. 26. They also lost at Clear Falls 28-21 on Sept. 3. The Cardinals’ only win was at Pasadena on Sept. 9 41-6. Their final game is against Westside 7 PM, Nov. 4. at Bellaire.
The Texans have had a banner season and proven themselves as one of the premiere teams in Texas. They rank 16th in our TexasHSFootball 6A rankings. Their only loss was a low-scoring 14-9 affair at Klein Memorial Stadium on Sept. 9 against suburb power Klein Collins. They began the season with an impressive non district win at Delmar stadium over Westfield 38-28 and have also shutout Fort Bend Hightower 51-0 and at Alief Elsik 31-6. The Texans’ four district wins were 45-7 over Westside, 49-0 at Chavez, 44-13 against Houston Heights and 61-7 at Houston Math Science & Tech. Their final game is against Westbury 7 PM, Nov. 3 at Butler Stadium.