Lufkin Panthers Sail Past College Park

SHENANDOAH, Texas -- On a picture-perfect day for football, Lufkin junior quarterback Deauntre Smiley put on a picture-perfect performance.

Smiley, who looked like a man among boys on Saturday afternoon, was a perfect 19-for-19 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Panthers to an easy 51-20 victory over the College Park Cavaliers at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

For good measure, the silky-smooth Smiley, who is a southpaw, also rushed for 150 yards and two scores as the Panthers improved to 7-1 on the season and a perfect 3-0 in District 14-5A play.

College Park, which dropped eight men into the secondary in the second half to try and slow Lufkin’s passing attack, dropped to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.

“We knew this was a big game for us,’’ said the 6-foot, 170-pound Smiley, who riddled the Cavaliers with his pinpoint accuracy. “We have a big game coming up (against The Woodlands), but we knew we had to take care of this one first.’’

Lufkin, which is ranked No. 12 in the state, will host The Woodlands, which is ranked No. 3, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The Highlanders come into the game 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the league, but they are 0-5 all-time against Lufkin.

“It is going to be a big game. A huge game,’’ Smiley said of the contest against The Woodlands. “I am glad we have them at home.’’

The home cooking looked like it was going to pay big dividends for the upset-minded Cavaliers early in the game as Tyler Chaumet returned the opening kickoff 68 yards off a reverse from Aaron Osborne to give College Park excellent field position at the Lufkin 27.


Three players later, Osborne scored on a 6-yard run to give the Cavaliers their only lead of the game, 7-0.


But, less than two minutes later, Lufkin tied the game at 7-7 when Smiley hit blue-chip wide receiver Quinn Trimble with a 10-yard scoring strike, and Luis Garcia added the first of his six extra-points.


Lufkin increased the lead to 10-7 when College Park’s Taylor Parsons elected to try and run for the first down instead of taking a couple steps to the right and doing a rugby-style punt the Cavs love so much.


Parsons was dragged out of bounds seven yards short of a first down, paving the way for Garcia’s 34-yard field goal.


College Park, which chalked up an impressive 318 yards on the ground, marched to the Lufkin 20 following the ensuing kickoff, but on fourth-and-long, the Cavs’ swing pass to hard-running Paco Salano came up way short of the first down.


Lufkin then went right to work, winging the ball downfield until Smiley found Trimble for a 49-yard touchdown pass to up the lead to 17-7 with 10:01 left in the second quarter.


“We have a lot of guys who are playmakers after the catch,’’ Smiley said. “Quinton Trimble is a threat every time he touches the ball.’’


College Park marched to the Lufkin 8 on its next possession, but Carlos Gosselin’s 25-yard field goal looked like a pooch punt as it sailed short and wide of the mark.


Lufkin, for all intents-and-purposes, then put away the game when Smiley hit Earon Johnson with a 23-yard scoring strike with only 1:20 left in the first half to up the ante to 24-7 at intermission.


Smiley, who had time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the pocket, was 13-for-13 for 190 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.


“I was surprised they were giving us as much space as they were (in the first half),’’ Smiley said. “We were just picking them apart underneath (the zone).’’


Lufkin increased the lead to 31-7 when Glenn Hunt returned College Park’s short kick 70 yards for a touchdown to start the second half.


College Park answered when Tyler Chaumet hit Kevin Byers with a 46-yard out-and-up route for a touchdown, but Lufkin put an end to College Park’s comeback hopes when Smiley scored on runs of 71 and 8 yards in the second half.


The 71-yard touchdown came after College Park had just thrown an interception in the end zone.

“When they closed down on the pass, that opened up the run,’’ Smiley said. “We just took what they gave us.’’


College Park actually had 430 total yards to 426 for Lufkin. Osborne (125 yards) and Salano (104) both eclipsed the century mark on the ground.


The Cavs also ran 71 plays to only 40 for Lufkin. But College Park couldn’t stop the big play, something that has hurt them in several key games this season.

The Cavs need to beat Oak Ridge and Conroe in their final two games to secure one of the league’s four playoff spots. All three teams enter the second-to-last week of the season 1-2 in district play.

The Woodlands and Lufkin have already locked up playoff berths.