Players on a Mansfield, Texas, high school football team are going to remember the first victory in program history for a very long time. So will anyone who sat through the four-hour marathon.
Lake Ridge outlasted Burleson (Texas) Centennial 77-75 in triple overtime on Friday night to break into the win column after an 0-10 debut season in 2012 in which the Eagles scored a total of 48 points. Centennial won 42-0 when the teams met a year ago.
After Centennial scored on a 5-yard run by DeMarcus Williams to stake the Spartans a 75-69 lead, the Eagles tackled Williams short of the end zone on the 2-point conversion attempt.
Lake Ridge then scored on the first play of its possession when Jett Duffey threw his fifth TD pass, covering 25 yards to Jalyn Hernandez. Duke Carter ran in the conversion for the win.
The teams ended regulation tied 55-55 after a 27-yard field by Centennial's Ron Reid with 37 seconds to play. Just minutes earlier, Lake Ridge thought it had won on a 44-yard scoring run by Duffey on a fourth-and-14 play.
Hernandez finished with five catches for 179 yards and four TDs.
The teams combined for 627 yards in the first half alone. Centennial finished the contest with 651 yards of offense.
