By Damian Juneau
Special to the American Press
The Barbe Bucs overcame four second-half turnovers in taking a 49-35 District 3-5A victory over the Sam Houston Broncos Friday night.
The Bucs with 524 offensive yards with 298 passing yards and 226 rushing yards. Will McClain finished 11-for-20 for 298 yards as he threw four touchdowns and rushed for one. Jamaal Levi finished with 229 yards on seven receptions and scored three TDs.
“Will McClain and Jamaal Levi are great competitors,” said Barbe head coach Mike Cutrera. “Jamaal is a special kid. If we are able to get the ball to him he is able to do some special things. The offensive line did a great job for them to do those things tonight.”
The Broncos (2-3, 0-2) finished with 399 yards offensive yards with 271 passing yards and 128 rushing yards. Gavin Stout finished 26 of 40 passing and threw three touchdowns. Quinton Simon with 12 receptions and 163 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Sam Houston got on the scoreboard when Dennis Gardere scored on a 27-yard run with 6:37 left in the first quarter.
Barbe (3-3, 2-0) answered the next drive five plays later when McClain scored on a 12-yard run to tie the score at 7-7 with 4:43 to play in the first quarter. A second touchdown in the first quarter extended the lead for the Bucs when Tylan Ceasar scored on a 16-yard run with 1:53 left.
Barbe scored in the second quarter when Levi was on the receiving end of a 38-yard pass from McClain to extend the lead to 21-7 with 8:53 left in the second quarter.
Sam Houston gained the momentum in the third quarter on Ashton Fuselier’s interception which put on ball on the Barbe 27-yard line. Sam Houston took advantage of the turnover when Simon scored on a 6-yard pass from Stout with 9:47 to play in the quarter.
After consecutive turnovers, the Bucs looked to score. The Bucs had two passing touchdowns from McClain to Levi. The first was a 53-yard touchdown pass and the second was a 73-yard touchdown pass with 2:44 to play in the third quarter.
“Those two touchdowns were huge for us,” Cutrera said. “Every point was huge in a game like this. Sam Houston kept battling back and keeping it interesting. I was proud of how our kids responded to it as we came back and scored and got the ball back and was able to run the clock out.”
