STONE COLD: Sophomore wideout secures go-ahead score, game-sealing INT to help Frenship down Lubbock-Cooper

WOODROW — Leyton Stone knew he had to step up Friday night.

The sophomore wideout did that and more as he caught the go-ahead touchdown, and nabbed the game-sealing interception with four seconds left, to help Frenship escape with a 36-33 road victory over Lubbock-Cooper.

Mission accomplished, right?

"I just do whatever the coaches ask of me," he said after recording four touchdowns, including three in the fourth quarter alone.

Stone stepped up and filled the shoes of Tate Beeles, a 6-foot-6, 180-pound senior wideout expected to be a key contributor to the offense — especially in the passing game.

Beeles, who tried to play in the season opening loss to Coronado, was still kept out as a precautionary measure due to an illness, per Frenship coach Jay Northcutt.

”Definitely knew I had to step up when our best receiver Tate Beeles couldn’t make it (Friday night),” Stone said. ”We’re praying for him and know he’s going to be back better than ever.

“Me and Hud (quarterback Hudson Hutcheson) talked before the game and knew we weren’t going to have him — our favorite receiver. So we knew we both had to step up and make plays.”

Little did the quarterback-receiver duo know, they would combine to engineer the go-ahead score in what was a back-and-forth affair in the fourth quarter.

“I think it’ll pay dividends for both teams down the road,” Lubbock-Cooper coach Chip Darden said of the contest, which, following the result, placed both squads at 1-1. ”Just being in that game — just situations to learn from. We’re down late and have to put together a drive and we’re in a situation where we have to get a stop.

“So, all of that, with the big-time atmosphere it needs to pay for us. … This game can’t define our season.”

With 5:30 left in the contest, and trailing 29-26, the Pirates appeared to forge a key offensive drive that would send their home fans happy.

Six plays into the push, which started at LCP’s own 40 following a good kick return, Jackson Austin — on a designed play to the left — cutback and bulldozed his way into the endzone to give the Pirates a 33-29 lead following an extra point with 3:16 left in the game.

It turned out to be too much time.

Frenship, a young team growing each time on the field, showed as much by starting off with a false start to get behind the sticks. After that, the Tigers looked like a veteran squad as they put together a nine-play drive to answer.

The crucial play turned out to be the 18-yard touchdown toss as Stone bolted across the endzone before Hutcheson zoomed a pass toward the left end line. Stone caught the ball and ensured he got his feet inbounds as a frenzy on the field occurred as Frenship led 36-33 with 28 seconds to play.

Stone, who was originally pegged to be a running back when he was in the eighth grade, showed his versatility and willingness to help the team by lining up as a defensive back on the final offensive drive for the Pirates.

The ball found him — once again — as he soared into the air, caught the ball at its apex and fell down with possession for his fourth touchdown of the game. He got the wind knocked out of him, but sealing the win made the fall’s pain lessen a bit.

“It doesn’t feel real. It feels like a dream,” Stone said of catching the go-ahead score and game-sealing interception. ”They’re a great team and they work really, really hard. And I can’t wait to see what they do in the playoffs.”

After he spoke about his 7-catch, 159-yard performance, which helped the Tigers bounce back after dropping their season opener the week prior to Coronado, Stone could only grin when asked of the play call that provided the go-ahead score.

"Well, they were covering me pretty good on the right side," Stone said of the Pirates defensive backs. "They were doing really good over there, so the coaching staff decided to flip me. And they put me on the left side to see what happens. And they threw the ball to me, and I came down with it."

Matter-of-factly, and spoken like a veteran dealing the media — like his father Tom who coaches the Texas Tech women's soccer team. Different version of fútbol, but the success still shows on the field.

”All throughout the week, we were talking about playing the next play — no matter what,” said Hutcheson, who finished with 232 passing yards and four touchdown passes to go along with one score on the ground.

It was more than obvious to Lubbock-Cooper coach Chip Darden, who was complimentary of the 6-foot-2, 175-pound wide receiver.

"Yeah, well, one is the length, and I think that's what they use a lot is his length," Darden said, whose squad dropped to 1-1 on the year. "And he's just a good player. You know, for a sophomore to be in that big game. ... They were in a really big game last week. So I think the kids were ready for the atmosphere and ready to be in that game.

"And I think our kids handled it fine, too. But, yeah, he just he's just pretty special talent."

Up next: Lubbock-Cooper is slated to take on Abilene Wylie at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9. Frenship is scheduled to host Monterey at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9.

Shallowater 40, Seminole 27

Non-District

Shallowater 7 6 14 13 — 40

Seminole 3 14 0 10 — 27

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST QUARTER

LCP — Tyler Spruiell 57 run (Cub Patton kick), 8:41

FRE — Hudson Hutcheson 4 run (Jeremiah Adams kick), 3:36

SECOND QUARTER

LCP — Kaden Chambers 8 run (Patton kick),10:34

LCP — Patton 28 field goal, 3:30

FRE — Leyton Stone 17 pass from Hutcheson (Adams kick), 0:32

THIRD QUARTER

LCP — Patton 25 field goal

FOURTH QUARTER

LCP — Spruiell 2 run (Pass conversion fail), 11:56

FRE — Stone 4 pass from Hutcheson (Adams kick), 8:33

FRE — Stone 36 pass from Hutcheson (Damien Rodriguez pass from Hutcheson), 5:44

LCP — Jackson Austin 20 run (Patton kick), 3:16

FRE — Stone 18 pass from Hutcheson (Adams kick), 0:28

TEAM STATISTICS

First downs: (FRE) 21; (LCP) 19

Rushes-Yards: (FRE) 30-151; (LCP) 39-286

Passing: (FRE) 224; (LCP) 108

Comp-Att-Int: (FRE) 13-18-0; (LCP) 10-18-1

Punts-Avg: (FRE) 2-31.5; (LCP) 2-24.0

Fumbles-Lost: (FRE) 1-1; (LCP) 2-0

Penalties-Yards: (FRE) 5-40; (LCP) 9-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Frenship, Hudson Hutcheson 17-78, Landon Hutcheson 8-55, Sebastian Dominguez 4-14, Damien Rodriguez 1-4. Lubbock-Cooper, Kaden Chambers 11-104, Tyler Spruiell 16-99, Jackson Austin 4-50, Cayden Stanzione 7-31, Ethan Elkins 1-2.

PASSING: Frenship, Hudson Hutcheson 12-17-0–232, Brooks Roberson 1-1-0–13. Lubbock-Cooper, Tyler Spruiell 10-18-0–108.

RECEIVING: Frenship, Leyton Stone 7-159, Damien Rodriguez 1-40, Brooks Roberson 1-17, Landon Hutcheson 3-16, Hudson Hutcheson 1-12. Lubbock-Cooper, Jackson Austin 1-39, Cooper Morris 3-31, Sam Marcinkowski 3-19, Jayden Kennard 1-13, Hayden Brooks 2-3.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Leyton Stone secures go-ahead TD, game-sealing INT to help Frenship down Lubbock-Cooper