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Top 10 Frisco and Little Elm Sports Stories of 2012: 2. Sweet revenge: Legacy Christian one win away from state title
BY Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
BEDFORD – Frisco Legacy Christian Academy (11-2) used a dominant defensive performance to earn a 21-16 victory over district rival Colleyville Covenant Christian (12-1) and punch their ticket to the TAPPS Division III State Championship game.
The Eagles will play Shiner St. Paul (10-3) at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium.
While the defense played well all game, it needed one final stop with 1:30 left. With Covenant Christian facing a fourth-and-3 from the LCA 40-yard line, running back Micah Lutz was stopped for no gain, sealing the victory and putting the Eagles one step away from a state title.
As they have all season, the Eagles relied on their running game to set the tone and keep the Cougars' high-powered offense off the field. Senior running back Ovie Urevbu answered the call, running past and over defenders all game en route to picking up 179 yards on 32 carries.
“This was a hard-fought game and we knew they were going to be a good team,” said Urevbu, who now has 2,269 yards rushing and 31 total touchdowns this season. “We prepared the right way and came out with a lot of fight.”
The game was a rematch from earlier in the season, when Covenant Christian upended the Eagles 45-17. The difference between the two games, Legacy Christian Coach Andrew Embry said, was limiting the amount of big plays his defense gave up.
“We managed the game with our running game and made some big plays on third down,” he said. “We gave up a couple of big plays, but tonight we got the stops when we needed them. The defense played outstanding and got some big turnovers tonight.”
Covenant Christian went ahead 3-0 after its opening drive and appeared to snatch the early momentum when LCA fumbled the ensuing kickoff. The Cougars moved the ball to the 14-yard-line but an interception by Urevbu in the end zone ended the drive.
Urevbu found himself in the end zone again early in the second quarter, only this time he was on offense. The senior capped a 13-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal to put the Eagles ahead 7-3.
The score remained 7-3 until early in the third quarter when Beck found senior wide receiver Christian Hollowell in the end zone for a diving touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
“We called a corner route and when I saw the safety step up on the curl I threw it over the top,” Beck said. “Christian went up and made a great play.”
The Cougars scored their first touchdown of the night on the final play of the third quarter. Quarterback Kade Thomas found Trey Jackson open in the end zone from five yards out. The two-point conversion failed, making the score 14-9 with 12 minutes left.
Legacy Christian answered immediately, although the nine-play drive was not without some drama.
The Eagles faced a third-and-2 at the Cougars' 17-yard line when Beck found Hollowell for what appeared to be a first down. However, the official measurement showed the Eagles were six inches short. The Eagles lined up to go for it, but a false start pushed them back five yards. With the down and distance not in its favor, LCA called a swing pass to Urevbu, who scampered untouched up the left sideline for a 21-yard score and a 21-9 lead.
“We ran that same play when we played them earlier this year and nobody went with Ovie,” Embry said. “We called it again and the same thing happened.”
Covenant Christian came into the game averaging 407 yards and 47 points a game. However, on Friday, the Cougars were limited to only 256 yards. Thomas completed only 15-of-25 passes for 165 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions. Lutz led Covenant Christian in rushing, but required 22 carries to pick up 63 yards.
With their biggest game of the season coming up, Beck said it should be business as usual this week in practice.
“We are going to go back to work with the mentality that we need to win one more game,” he said. “We have accomplished a lot of goals but we are not finished yet. We still have one more game to play.”
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