Longview rolls past Frisco Reedy in Texas high school football playoffs

MESQUITE, TEXAS - Since an opening-week loss, Longview has not looked back.

The Lobos ran their current win streak to 11 straight games as they scored three touchdowns in a span of 2:41 in the first quarter. 

Longview subsequently rolled on to a 52-14 win against Frisco Reedy in the area round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs Friday night at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.

Taylor Tatum, the Lobos' standout senior tailback and an Oklahoma commit, set a pair of career milestones in the win as he had two first-half TDs. He became the second running back in program history to have at least 4,000 yards in his career, and with his second score, Tatum was the first Lobo to record 70 touchdowns.

In addition, Tatum is less than 700 yards away from becoming the school's all-time leading rusher. The current record-holder is Fred Talley, who later played at the University of Arkansas and had 4,821 yards from 1996-98.

Longview (11-1) moves on to next week's regional semifinals. The Lobos were defeated by McKinney, 23-21, in the season opener in August, but have not lost since.

Tatum capped a nine-play 51-yard drive on Longview's opening series with a 4-yard TD on a third-and-1, tying the score at 7-all as the Lobos answered a Reedy TD on its first possession.

Just 11 seconds later, Longview went in front to stay.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Lobos' Kason Brooks forced a fumble, which went into the end zone, where teammate Jamayis Morrow pounced on it for a TD, as Longview went up, 14-7.

Then two plays after getting the ball back following a Lions' punt, it was 21-7 as quarterback Andrew Tutt connected on a deep 66-yard pass to a streaking Kelvin Washington with 2:16 left in the opening quarter.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Tatum - who was shaken up earlier in the game - reached the end zone from 4 yards out, getting his 70th career TD.

Late in the first half, the Lions drove deep into Longview territory, but Lobo defensive back Willie Nelson intercepted a pass in the end zone. That set up a 22-yard field goal from senior John Monsivais to end the first half, giving Longview a 31-7 lead.

The key play on that drive was Tatum lined up at receiver and running a reverse 37 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Reedy 5.

Tatum finished the game with 136 yards on 17 carries and his two TDs, all in the first half. He did not play in the second half, part of it a precaution from his first-half injury and the other part getting him rested up for next week's game.

But the Lobos didn't miss a beat. Sophomore tailback Mason Washington rambled 64 yards into the end zone with exactly six minutes left in the third; then later that quarter, Kelvin Washington scored on a 6-yard run as the Lobos made it 45-7.

He also had a 17-yard run for another TD with less than four minutes left.

Reedy came into Friday's game with one loss on its resume as well, that to crosstown rival Lone Star on a walk-off touchdown pass. The Lions started Friday's game on a high note, going 75 yards in 11 plays on the first series, with tailback Kahlil Smith finishing it off with a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal.

But that turned out to be the high point for the Lions, as the Lobos responded and then ended the first half with 31 straight points.

It became 45 unanswered points before Reedy got on the scoreboard again with 6:10 remaining, a 7-yard TD pass from quarterback Jake Ferner to receiver Mason Easley, both juniors.

Longview will move on to next week's 5A Division I regional semifinals against Lancaster, which beat Frisco Wakeland in its area playoff.

Photo of Longview running back Taylor Tatum (2) by Les Hassell, Longview News-Journal 

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveTX