By Rob Tate
SportCast Media
Clearly, Humble was anxious to put some points up on the scoreboard. It turned into a trend.
Having not scored a point in three weeks (a bye week followed by a shutout at North Shore in the District 23-6A opener last Thursday), the Wildcats scored on their second play of the night and rattled off five touchdowns in the first half Saturday night.
They sent the homecoming crowd home happy with a 49-21 victory over winless Channelview at Turner Stadium.
Humble (4-1, 1-1) matched its win total from a year ago while the Falcons (0-5, 0-2) have a hole to emerge from in order to extend their active playoff streak to five straight.
The Wildcats went from a season-low in points to a season-high this week.
“There was some good stuff on all three phases of the game,” Humble coach Robert Murphy said. “But we’ve got some stuff to clean up defensively. You’re always your biggest critic. But I’m happy about the way the kids fought. Big turnovers – both defensively and on special teams – and our offense got things clicking today.”
The Wildcats got plenty of offense from senior running back McArthur Baker III while the defense and special teams also contributed to the points brigade as they led 35-14 at the break.
Baker, who totaled four rushing touchdowns on the night and now has 10 on the season, scored on the second play from scrimmage as he dashed in a 42-yard score.
“We needed it,” Murphy said of that early score. “Starting out defensively, it was a struggle for the most part. I’m happy that we were able to do some things to where our offense led the way.”
Baker added touchdown runs of 3 and 18 yards in the second quarter. One of those touchdowns was preceded by a fake punt 35-yard run by Tavarion Gaines that got the Wildcats into the red zone.
Senior linebacker Juan Lolesio intercepted Channelview quarterback Jason Wheelock for a 20-yard touchdown just under two minutes into the second quarter.
Right before halftime — two seconds on the clock to be exact — Humble senior Patrick Long blocked a punt, grabbed onto the ball and strolled into the end zone for the 5-yard touchdown and the 21-point lead at halftime.
Murphy used a couple timeouts to make sure there was time to attempt that punt rush.
“I figured we could get them off the edge with a rush,” he said. “Patrick Long came up and got it. He was there to block and got the touchdown. I’m happy how he executed and I didn’t look silly calling timeouts.”
Channelview found most of its success with long drives in the first half and scored both its touchdowns on fourth-and-goal.
Wheelock hit Nehemiah Jordan for six yards with 3:15 left in the first quarter to tie the game.
Then with 2:25 before halftime, Wheelock hit Jayden Juul for another 6-yard touchdown to trail by seven at the time.
Out of halftime, Baker returned the kick all the way down to the 3.
From there, the offensive staff called the number of defensive lineman Jalen Lolesio, brother of Juan, for a 1-yard touchdown plunge. Lolesio, who played tight end last year, comes in the block on occasion in goal line situations.
Both Lolesio brothers in the end zone on the same night will be something memorable for a long time.
“I love it,” Murphy said. “Those guys do so much and are so unselfish when it comes to blocking and all that. Why not reward him with a dive right there for all his hard work. I’me excited and happy for him.”
Baker scored his fourth touchdown of the night with 4:01 left in the third quarter from seven yards out.
He totaled 87 yards on 13 touches as the backups took over in the fourth quarter.
“McArthur Baker is our guy,” Murphy said. “It’s special when you know he’s getting the ball, but you still have to stop him. I’m glad he’s on our team. He’s a tough guy, still battling through injuries, but he’s just a tough man. We’re happy to have him and it’s his birthday today. We wanted to give him a win.”
Channelview added one more long scoring drive – 12 plays this time — as Wheelock scored from eight yards out in the third quarter. Wheelock was 25-for-36 for 257 yards and he also rushed for 53. Davion Vanderbilt had eight catches for 67 yards.
Humble’s second takeaway came in the fourth quarter as Ryan LaCour pounced on a fumble. Dallen Grant and Jamarion Patterson each recorded sacks for the Wildcats.
Bernard threw for 95 yards while Jayden Heaton had two catches for 47.
Humble, which averaged 18.8 points per game coming in, hadn’t scored 49 points since Week 1 of the 2020. Which coincidentally came against Channelview.
The Falcons, who fielded just 26 players this week, hung tough in its non-district slate with three one-point losses. District play hasn’t been so kind after a 59-0 loss to Summer Creek last week.
Up next for Humble is a doozy. State-ranked Atascocita will be the home team at Turner Stadium this Friday night after a thrilling win over Summer Creek this past Friday night.
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