The Levelland Lobos football team squared off against the Lubbock Cooper Liberty Patriots on the road this past Friday, falling short, 49-10.
The loss drops the Lobos to 6-4 overall and finalizes their district record at 2-2 this season, finishing third out of the five teams in the district.
It was an extremely tough result for Levelland given that they had an opportunity to win the district championship with a win, and the frustration was visible for Levelland Football Flead Coach Lyle Leong following the loss.
That same expression was shared across all his players and the rest of the coaching staff in the postgame huddle.
Coach Leong challenged everyone to do their jobs in the upcoming week, which is something he alluded that they failed to do as a team in preparation for and during the game against Liberty.
The lack of execution showed in the statistics as Levelland would end the game with 93 yards of total offense while defensively surrendering 415 yards of total offense to Liberty.
While nobody is satisfied with the result, Coach Leong still noted that he was proud of his athletes and that they kept fighting until the end.
Two specific players who embodied that were junior Jake Potter and freshman Bentley Sepulbeda.
At linebacker, Potter tied for the team lead with seven total tackles, adding a sack and tackle for loss. At running back, Potter had 25 rushing yards on 12 carries, also adding a reception for three yards. He even got involved in special teams with a 28-yard return.
Sepulbeda led the Lobos in receiving yards with 56 on four receptions, also finding the end zone once and converting a two-point conversion. He also had a noteworthy pancake block in the game.
Even in the loss, Potter and Sepulbeda kept fighting, which Coach Leong noticed.
“I’m super proud of them. They’ve got a bright future ahead of them. I’m blessed I get to coach them,” Coach Leong said.
The duo shined for the Lobos amid a lackluster offensive and defensive performance, but the special teams unit was great in the game.
Sophomore Noah Martin blocked a punt, which led to the Lobos forcing a Liberty safety, and as a punter, he would also have two punts that pinned the Patriots inside their own 20-yard line, with his longest punt going 48 yards.
They also fared well in the return game as junior Tobias Gavina had three returns for 52 yards, and senior Kaden Brogden had two returns for 36 yards.
They’ll look to keep these great special teams performances going as they head into the postseason, but with the hopes to capitalize on them in the other phases of the game.
Levelland plays the Seminole Indians in the first round of the playoffs on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Frenship. Seminole is 7-3 overall and finished second in their district behind an undefeated Greenwood team.
They’re a worthy opponent, and Coach Leong knows, as his response on how the Lobos are preparing for this week was “we’ve just got to show up and work, work, work,” Leong said.