Lewisville’s 33-28 win over Marcus in the Battle of the Axe rivalry on Friday night came down to Farmers running back Tenel Hill’s third touchdown of the fourth quarter with 11 seconds left on the game clock.
“He’s our rock, he’s our captain, he’s our dude,” said Lewisville head coach Michael Odle. “He’s the guy even when he doesn’t light the stat sheet up, he’s very important to what we do and how we do it because he’s a great kid.”
Hill didn’t light up the stat sheet in the first three quarters, but he sure made up for it when he needed to.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Farmers were down 14-6 with five attempted field goals from kicker Declan Hamm. He only made two of them, but it was enough to keep Lewisville in the game and give them a chance to win.
“Hamm is our dude, he puts the work in everyday and he’s an amazing kid,” said Odle. “So, when he struggled there and missed some, I wasn’t gonna back away from him. We needed that three points to make it a one-score game and I didn’t bat an eye calling on him.”
Hill, who finished the game with 126 rushing yards, 2 receiving yards and three total touchdowns, commended Hamm for sticking it out and said he did what he needed to for the team.
“Misses are just part of the game, just like a running back fumbles the ball,” he said. “He works as hard on his craft as anyone else on the team, so I can only respect him and the work he puts in.”
The first touchdown scored by Lewisville came with 8:35 left in the game on an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Derrick Martin III, making it 14-12 after a failed 2-point conversion.
Marcus responded with a touchdown of its own via the legs of Carter Francis, who ran it in from 13 yards out, making it a 21-12 lead for the Marauders following the extra point with just over five minutes left in the game.
Hill went on to score a 1-yard rushing touchdown and a 4-yard receiving touchdown on back-to-back drives after Marcus fumbled the ball on its own 22-yard line, setting up the Farmers perfectly to take the lead.
Lewisville was on top 27-21 with 2:12 left in the game.
Marcus responded with a 29-yard passing touchdown from quarterback Colton Nussmeier, giving the Marauders a 28-27 lead with 41 seconds left in the game following the extra point.
However, Marcus left too much time on the clock.
Lewisville’s final winning drive started with a 71-yard return from Landon Brazzell and ended with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from Hill. After the failed 2-point conversion, the Farmers held a 33-28 lead with 11 seconds left in the game.
Marcus failed a play full of laterals as the clock winded down and Lewisville officially got to keep the Axe.
Both teams loaded up the penalties in the game and tensions ran high in a cross-town district rivalry between undefeated teams, but Lewisville almost let the game get away from them because of it.
The Farmers racked up 126 yards in penalties.
“I’m so disappointed in the penalties and the errors and how we acted at the end of the game,” said Odle. “It’s just not a representation of what we’re about and who these kids are and we really need to get it cleaned up.”
Lewisville quarterback Tre Williams performed well throughout the whole game, despite the Farmer offense not taking advantage of red zone opportunities.
“He’s just resilient,” said Odle. “He keeps going and going and going and he made some big throws there at the end.”
Williams finished the game with 315 passing yards, one passing touchdown and no interceptions.
“I have more confidence in Tre than anyone on the team,” said Hill. “I know he can make the right decision and put the ball where it needs to be in the right moment.”
Lewisville improved to 4-0 and handed Marcus its first loss of the season. Next week, the Farmers will go on the road to play Denton Braswell, who defeated Little Elm 28-0 to earn its first win of the season.
