Bears, Bobcats face off for .500

Dave Rogers

For The Record

The Little Cypress-Mauriceville Battlin’ Bears host Orangefield Friday night at 7 p.m. as both teams seek to pull to .500 with their second win of the season.

LC-M picked up its first victory of 2016 after two losses last week, downing Hardin-Jefferson 40-28.

Orangefield meanwhile lost 41-7 to Woodville. It was the Bobcats’ second straight defeat after a season-opening win over Buna.

LC-M 40, Hardin-Jefferson 28

Running back Chris Winters topped the 200-yard barrier and his three touchdowns led the Bears to an offensive explosion against Hardin-Jefferson.

The 40-28 win at Battlin’ Bear Stadium put the LC-M record at 2-1.

While Winters picked up 206 yards on 29 carries, quarterback Beau Bickham passed for 135 yards and two scores.

Overall, the Bears rang up 499 yards of total offense.

The Bears, who, like the Hawks, downed Buna for their only win coming into the game, outscored H-J 19-7 in the second half to pull away from a 21-13 lead after two periods.

Winters picked up his second 6-yard TD in the third quarter and added a 12-yard tally to ice the win with a little more than a minute left.

J’Lon Douglas, did some nifty running to set up Winters’ second score and added a 38-yard six-pointer of his own midway through the final period. Douglas finished with 12 carries for 129 yards.

A pair of first-quarter takeaways helped the Bears to a lead they never surrendered.

An interception by Osiel Ibarra set up the first of Bickham’s two scoring passes. Katon Brown’s juggling 28-yard TD opened the night’s scoring.

A 42-yard bomb from Bickham to Keegan Sonnier made it 14-0 with nearly half of the first quarter still to play. Alex Reed’s fumble recovery set it up.

The Hawks closed to within 14-13 late in the first half before Winters’ first TD run made it 21-13 at the half.

Woodville 41, Orangefield 7

The Woodville Eagles ran their way to a third straight win of the early season, failing to complete a pass in a game in which only three were thrown.

The Eagles finished with 155 yards and three touchdowns by Ivan Lockhart and 86 yards by Zack Martin, all on the ground, as they improved to 3-0.

Orangefield was led by Christopher McGee, who rushed for a team-high 97 yards on 13 carries. Caleb Kress got the team’s only score.

Three lost fumbles stung the Bobcats, now 1-2. One of the bobbles was returned 41 yards for the final score of the night.

A one-yard run by Kress gave Orangefield a 7-6 lead after each team had one possession.

Kress set up the score with a 20-yard pass to Andrew Hoyland and Jacob Rainey added the go-ahead PAT.

Then the Eagles outscored Orangefield 35-0 the final 3-1/2 quarters.