BELTON — After a defensive performance in which it forced nine turnovers in last week’s win over Leander Glenn, Lake Belton entered the week looking for a similar showing. A strong defensive stand is exactly what the Broncos got in the form of a 45-0 shutout of District 8-5A-I foe Leander on Friday night at Tiger Field.
Lake (4-3, 3-1) was led offensively by sophomore running back Zyien Dupree, who totaled a season-high 155 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 15 carries. Sophomore Jessiah James and junior Reese Rosenbaum handled the quarterback duties for usual starter Maverik Maddux, who remained out after exiting last week’s game on the opening drive.
James and Rosenbaum were a combined 11-of-21 for 224 yards and a touchdown. James threw for 174 yards and the touchdown.
“It’s our job to put them in the right situations,” Lake head coach Brian Cope said of the young quarterbacks. “They feed off (Maddux) and he kind of showed them the ropes a little bit and they get it. They’re understanding and paying attention to detail, which I think is key for being successful.”
Going into the week, Lake’s defense was giving up 476.3 yards and 34.8 points per game. The Broncos held the Lions (3-4, 2-2) to 117 yards.
“We’ve made some adjustments on some things I think has really sparked us,” Cope said. “Our kids are practicing hard. They’re playing hard. They’re playing for each other and so it’s just a great opportunity.”
Dupree’s big night was sparked by a number of big runs. After entering the night averaging 6.2 yards per carry, the sophomore doubled his TD total for the season while running the ball to the tune of 10.3 yards per carry.
“Really proud of Zyien Dupree stepping up at running back. I thought he did a really good job,” Cope said. “It’s a testament to our O-Line, but they’re really kind of coming together and playing well. Still a whole bunch of big tests ahead but at the end of the day, we’re going to enjoy this one tonight.”
Lake opened the scoring late in the first quarter when Aiden Lassich nailed a 27-yard field goal on the Broncos’ second drive, which was set up by a Leander fumble that set up Lake up on the Lions 36-yard line.
The Broncos tacked on another score in the opening quarter on a five play, 73-yard drive that was highlighted by a 40-yard connection from James to Braxtan Cope and a 22-yard run by Dupree to put Lake on the 1. Peters ran it in from there to make it 10-0 with 2 1/2 minutes left in the opening period.
The second quarter opened with Leander marching down the field after starting on its 33. The Lions reached the Broncos 35 before Lake senior defensive lineman Evan Lazott had a pair of sacks that forced a punt.
Lake used the momentum from the defensive stop to add a score on a six-play drive that went 89 yards and was highlighted by a 33-yard pass from junior Rosenbaum to Zion Harness and capped with a 10-yard strike from James to Harness for the first of three second-quarter scores.
Lake’s other scores in the second quarter came on runs from Dupree, who rushed for a 13-yard TD with 9 minutes left in the half then for a 10-yard score with 1:23 left before the break.
Lake’s defense had three takeaways in the opening half, including interceptions by Cope and Ji’yson Sherman.
The Broncos added two scores in the third, the first being a 1-yard run by Dupree with 3:04 remaining in the period and the second on a 4-yard rush from senior running back AJ Alexander with just more than a minute remaining in the third to round out Lake’s scoring.
dtaylor@tdtnews.com
LAKE BELTON 45, LEANDER 0
Leander 0 0 0 0 — 0
Lake Belton 10 21 14 0 — 45
LB — Aiden Lassich 27 field goal
LB — Davion Peters 1 run (Long Chuong kick)
LB — Zion Harness 10 pass from Jessiah James (Chuong kick)
LB — Zyien Dupree 13 run (Chuong kick)
LB — Dupree 10 run (Chuong kick)
LB — Dupree 1 run (Chuong kick)
LB — AJ Alexander 4 run (Chuong kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
Lea LB
First downs 7 19
Rushes-yards 29-67 35-265
Passing yards 50 224
Comp.-Att.-Int. 6-17-2 11-22-1
Punts-average 5-41 1-21
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 5-50 6-44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Leander: Ke’Marion Gordon 17-54, Michael Arnell 3-10, Jay Coats 3-4, Mason Montgomery 6-(-1); Lake Belton: Dupree 15-155, Alexander 8-71, Peters 4-25, Reese Rosenbaum 2-13, Brooks Johnson 1-9, James 1-4, Zavian Rodriguez 2-(-5), Maverik Maddux 2-(-10).
PASSING — Leander: Montgomery 6-16-2-50, Conner Worley 0-1-0-0; Lake Belton: James 9-17-0-174, Rosenbaum 2-4-0-50, Johnson 0-1-1-0.
RECEIVING — Leander: Aidyn Passe 1-19, Malachi Ramos 2-12, Izaac Montgomery 2-10, Braxton Hernandez 1-9; Lake Belton: Harness 4-67, Christian Onchweri 1-55, Peters 3-49, Braxtan Cope 1-40, Logan Winkler 1-17, Dupree 1-(-4).
dtaylor@tdtnews.com
