Anahuac HOCO spoiled by Lutheran South 23-7

ANAHUAC– It was a tough night for the Anahuac offense on Friday night at Kyle White Stadium as the faithful turned out for homecoming.

After scoring early in the second quarter, the Panthers could not get anything going the rest of the way as Lutheran South Academy played spoiler in a 23-7 win.

Anahuac (0-4) played well defensively but just came up a little short.

The Panthers took advantage of a break late in the first quarter as Tre Smith fell on a muffed punt at the Pioneers 25-yard line.

On the first play of the second quarter, Oscar Garza hit Jaytwan Dowdye on a 4-yard touchdown, and Anahuac took the lead 7-0 with 11:55 remaining.

Lutheran South cut into the Panthers lead with 7:39 left in the first half on a Rhet Lavergne 32-yard field goal.

Just inside the two-minute mark of the second quarter, it was Lutheran South taking the lead with Holt Teichman hooking up with Noah Harris for a 32-yard score and a 10-7 advantage with 1:52 left in the half.

Dowdye returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards down to the Pioneers 43-yard line.

Anahuac would get to the 15-yard line before trying a 32-yard field goal on the last play of the half that would come up short, and the score stayed 10-7 at the half.

The Pioneers added to their lead with 1:54 left in the third quarter on a Teichman to Cade Griffin 7-yard score to make the score 17-7.

The Panthers defense continued to play well and held the score the same.

Lutheran South would then put the game out of reach with their defense as Carson Rocha picked off an Anahuac pass and went 40 yards the other way for a touchdown with 1:53 remaining in the game.

District play will start on Friday night as the Panthers stay at home and will face Kirbyville.