Goats fall to Whitney 14-0

For the second consecutive year, the Groesbeck football team's season ended in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
The Goats drove inside the Whitney 10-yard line twice, but came away with no points and were shut out by the Wildcats 14-0 at Waco ISD Stadium on Friday night.
Groesbeck finishes its season with an 8-3 reord.
For three quarters, the only points in the game came on a 68-yard touchdown pass from Whitney quarterback Garrett Peacock to receiver Kyler Cryns two minutes into the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Groesbeck had an opportunity to score in the first quarter, but was stopped at the 1-yard line.
Goat linebacker Brian Valentine recovered a Whitney fumble at the Goats' 46-yard line. On the first play Groesbeck took a shot down the field. Quarterback Allen Lewis fired a 44-yard pass to his twin brother, Anthony Lewis, to set the Goats up with a first-and-goal at the 10.
Three runs netted four yards and Groesbeck was faced with a fourth-and-goal from the 6. Allen Lewis ran a quarterback draw up the middle and appeared headed for the end zone. But he was tackled a yard short of the goal line, turning the ball over to Whitney.
In the second quarter after Whitney had taken the lead, the Goats held the Wildcats on fourth down and took over at their own 38-yard line. In six plays Groesbeck had driven to the 10, where they had a first-and-goal.
But the Whitney defense stiffened. Ma'Qua Smith was stopped for a one-yard loss. A pair of Allen Lewis passes were incomplete. On fourth down, Whitney sacked Lewis for a one-yard loss on fourth down and took over at the 12-yard line.
Groesbeck took the opening kickoff in the second half and appeared to get into a rhythm offensively. Smith ran nine yards on a fourth-and-one to give the Goats a first down at Whitney's 44-yard line. Allen Lewis rushed for four yards on a third-and-one.
When he passed to Tyson Pringle for a 12-yard gain, Groesbeck had driven to the Whitney 22-yard line in nine plays.
But then disaster struck for the Goats. Lewis was being spun down to the ground for a two-yard loss when Whitney's Jordan Newton leveled him with a helmet-to-helmet hit that left Lewis lying on the turf.
Newton was called for targeting and ejected from the game. Lewis eventually was helped up and helped to the sideline. But he did not return the game. He reportedly was walking and coherent on the sideline, but was kept out of the game for safety measures.
In Lewis' absence, sophomore Chris Cox took over the quarterback duties.
The targeting penalty had given the Goats a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line. But they were called for illegal procedure and a dead ball personal foul penalty on the next play which pushed them back to the 29-yard line.
Three running plays gained four yards and a pass into the end zone on fourth down was intercepted by Whitney's Orrin Green to end the drive.
On Groesbeck's next possession, Cox ran 25 yards to the Whitney 35-yard line. But on the next play Green again intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop the Goats.
Whitney scored an insurance touchdown with 10 minutes, 15 seconds left in the game. On a trick play, receiver Jairdyn Anderson threw to quarterback Peacock for a 14-yard touchdown pass.
For the game, Whitney had 377 yards of offense compared to 271 yards for the Goats. Most of Whitney's yards came through the air as they passed for 270 yards. Groesbeck had 132 yards rushing and 139 passing.
Smith led the ground game with 15 carries for 53 yards. Allen Lewis had 13 rushes for 41 yards and Cox gained 38 yards in eight carries.
Lewis completed 7-of-18 passes for 110 yards. Cox completed 2-of-5 for 29 yards.
Brenden Morrow had five catches for 51 yards. Anthony Lewis caught two passes for 49 yards and Pringle had four catches for 39 yards.