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North Crowley geared up for district following victory over Lucas Lovejoy
After an undefeated regular season last year, North Crowley has burst back onto the scene in the 2023-24 Texas High School Football season. The team is gearing up for district play with another 3-0 start to their season after a 43-20 victory over Lucas Lovejoy in week three. VYPE DFW takes a closer look at the Panthers' victory:
RECAP
Lovejoy took an early lead in the Friday night matchup with two touchdowns in the first quarter from Dante Dean and Khalin Williams. Setting the tone, the Leopards looked to be favorites early. Midway through the second quarter, the Panthers' momentum picked up as Cornelius Warren scored a touchdown on a 3-yard rush. With the decision to go for two, Chris Jimerson found Mason Ferguson to put the first 8 points of the night on the board for North Crowley.
Bad weather caused a 75-minute delay in the game as both teams headed into the locker room for a chance to reset, regroup, and focus on what was to come; Lovejoy ahead 20-8 after a late second-quarter touchdown from Payton Pierce.
Coming back to the field following the weather delay, the Panthers were poised for success as they put up 35 unanswered points. Closing out the first half with a Warren rush for a touchdown set the new tone for the game and gave North Crowley a new fire. Warren went on to score one more touchdown in the game. LaMarcus Davis (31-yard reception, 33-yard reception) and Jimerson (29-yard rush) were the other scorers for North Crowley in their come-from-behind victory.
What's Ahead
As the team enters district play, they boast an undefeated record. Having outscored their opponents by a combined 134 points so far this season, the North Crowley offense has proven its ability to continue fighting through challenges while the defense has shown their work and dedication to putting up timely stops against opponents in order to secure big victories. The team opens district play against Forth Worth Paschal on Friday, September 15th with kick-off slated for 7:30 p.m.
SMU gains commitment from Lovejoy wide receiver Jaxson Lavender
Not only is SMU Football having a stellar season this year, but they have been doing the most when it comes to recruiting in the DFW area. On Monday night, the Mustangs nabbed their second commitment from the Class of 2023 when Lucas Lovejoy wide receiver Jaxson Lavender took to social media to announce his commitment to the program:
I'm am more than excited to be officially committed to @SMU_Football @CoachDykesSMU @DavidGruSMU @CoachGRiley @TreyHaverty @ChrisRossLOJO @coach_jackson49 @Coach_Lavender #Committed #PonyUp pic.twitter.com/9rQdNg9dWb
— Jaxson Lavender (@JaxsonLavender) October 26, 2021
The Mustangs initially offered Lavender in March following interest and offers from other programs. Lavender's commitment comes after he played a key role in the Leopards' 38-15 win over Frisco last week. Lavender scored two touchdowns on nine catches while tallying 128 yards. So far this season, the unranked recruit has recorded 46 catches, 805 yards, and 13 touchdowns for Lovejoy who is currently undefeated on the season against their opponents.
In the 2020 season, Lavender was named as the District 7-5A-II Special Teams Most Valuable Player as he posted 250 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 21 carries as well as recording 463 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns on 45 receptions. Lavender is also a star for the Lovejoy track team where he runs in the 100-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.
Lavender chose to commit to SMU over the likes of Kansas, Nevada, North Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, and Tulsa.