Ensworth may have won the battle, but the Baylor Red Raiders won the war.
The Tigers ran 10 more plays and had 110 more in the total yards category, but the host Red Raiders stayed unbeaten with a 17-7 victory at Heywood Stadium Friday night.
Turnovers and penalties were two big reasons that the Tigers only scored seven points. They moved the ball well, but three lost fumbles and three more intercepted passes kept them out of the end zone.
The biggest and most costly turnover for Ensworth came midway in the second quarter when quarterback Jaylon King was hit as he neared the goalline and coughed it up, only to have Baylor's Brendon Harris recover and return it to the 22.
The Tigers were also flagged nine times for 109 yards in penalties while Baylor had nine infractions for 81 yards.
Meanwhile, sophomore quarterback Lorenzo White scored one touchdown on a keeper from the 1 on the fourth play of the second quarter, but it was his 36-yard TD pass on fourth-and-1 with 4:28 left in the third quarter that was the ultimate game-winning score.
Junior kicker Keegan Weekley, who booted both extra points, added a 29-yard field goal with 4:46 to play for a little insurance.
“It’s always good to come out on top and you have to be happy with a win,” said Baylor coach Phil Massey after the hard-hitting game ended.
“We made some big plays when we had our backs to the wall. We had a tough time running the ball, but I’m really proud of the kids for getting the job done. It was a very physical game, but it doesn’t get any easier as we have six more (league games) like this,” he continued.
White’s keeper from the 1 with 9:46 left in the second stanza allowed Baylor to grab a 7-0 lead and that was the score at intermission.
Ensworth received the second-half kickoff and had to punt, but got the ball right back when Baylor lost a fumble on its first play at the 29.
Tim Covington had gains of 19, 5 and 2 yards, but it was Jarquis Hendricks who scored from the 1 with 7:54 left in the third period. Lucas Rodriguez booted the extra point and the game was tied at 7-7.
It didn’t take long for the Red Raiders to regain the upper hand.
Taking six plays and just over three minutes, Baylor scored what turned out to be the winning TD when White found a wide-open Emanual Williams down the right sideline on a fourth-and-one.
Massey said that the Red Raiders were planning to go for it on fourth down, but he was talked into the changing the play by assistant coach Cos Dematteo.
It turned out to be a pretty good call.
“I had a running play in mind, but coach Dematteo talked me into something else, but the kids still had to execute. It was a nice throw and catch,” Massey added.
Williams is a first-year Baylor senior who transferred from Tullahoma High School. It was his first touchdown as a Red Raider and one he’ll never forget.
“That’s the one that put us ahead. It was a fake to the middle, but the defender fell down and I was all by myself. I had to catch it,” Williams explained the play that earned him the “Tuff Play of the Game” award.
Ensworth then drove the ball down to the Baylor 29, only to have Hendricks stopped for no gain on fourth-and-2.
The Red Raiders then used over seven minutes and 14 plays to move 60 yards with Weekley booting the 29-yard field goal for a little icing on the cake.
Ensworth had two more possessions, but the first one ended with an interception while the second one ended with four straight incomplete passes in the final minute.
Baylor just had to snap the ball two more times before the final horn sounded.
Ensworth coach Ricky Bowers felt like turnovers and penalties cost his team a shot at winning.
“We can’t turn it over like we did and expect to beat a good football team,” he told his players following the final play.
“It was kind of sloppy, but it was a hard-hitting football game. Just about everything that could have gone wrong for us did, but we’ll get back on the right track. Most of the mistakes we made tonight are correctable, but you know something is wrong when we only punted one time and scored just seven points,” he added.
Ensworth finished the game with 334 total yards as compared to Baylor’s 224.
The Tigers had 260 on the ground with King collecting 175 yards on 14 carries. King also completed half of his 24 passes for another 74 yards.
Baylor got 100 yards on the ground and another 124 through the air.
Kalvin Watson gained 46 yards on a dozen trips while White had 37 yards on 13 attempts.
Gunnar Ricketts had two receptions for 43 yards while Williams had the one for 36 and Mike Benning another for 29.
Charlie Glascock had two fumble recoveries for Baylor while Harris had the other. Tyree Tolliver, Cole Johnson and Jaylon Baker all had interceptions for the Red Raiders.
Rodney Owens and Hendricks had fumble recoveries for Ensworth while Taylor Smith had an interception for the Tigers.
Ensworth also had the edge in first downs, 17-10.
Baylor will be at home again next week to host Howard before a big region game at Brentwood Academy on Sept. 16.
ENSWORTH 0 0 7 0 -- 7
BAYLOR 0 7 7 3 -- 17
BAY – Lorenzo White 1 run (Keegan Weekley kick), 9:46 left in second;
ENS – Jarquis Hendricks 1 run (Lucas Rodriguez kick), 7:54 left in third;
BAY – Emanual Williams 36 pass from White (Weekley kick), 4:28 left in third;
BAY – Weekley 29 field goal, 4:46 left in fourth.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)