Rattlers win, make playoffs
LA GRANGE - The playoffs were on the line when Navasota and La Grange matched up Friday in their District 23-3A finale, and the visiting Rattlers withstood a last-gasp "Hail Mary" attempt by the Leopards to win 35-27 at Leopard Stadium.
The victory gave Navasota (7-3, 3-2 in 23-3A) the third and final playoff berth out of 23-3A. The Rattlers will face 24-3A's Needville in the Division I playoffs next week.
Running back Dexter Pratt carried the load for the Rattlers, finishing with 193 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Pratt also caught two passes for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Navasota's Jacolby Stokes completed 10 of 19 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown and scored twice on the ground.
For La Grange (4-5, 2-3), quarterback Clayton Allen led the Leopard attack completing 25 of 37 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, but Navasota intercepted him twice.
The game was tied at 14 at halftime, and Navasota fell behind 21-14 and 27-21 in the third quarter before rallying for 14 fourth-quarter points. To fuel the comeback, the Rattlers forced a fumble on a fourth-down hook-and-ladder play, and they sealed the victory by intercepting the last pass of the game with no time on the clock. Kye Hilldreth made the interception, ran the ball toward the Navasota sideline and celebrated with teammates.
After La Grange's defense forced a Navasota three-and-out to open the second half, Allen put together a solid scoring drive. On a third-and-10, he hit Cody Daniels for 39 yards to the Navasota 17-yard line. Then on third-and-12, he found Ryan Dockery on a deep slant right at the goal line for a go-ahead touchdown.
Navasota responded with an 11-play drive to tie the game at 21. Stokes hit Brandall Jackson and Thomas Sweed on consecutive passes to set up Pratt's 4-yard touchdown run on a sweep play.
Allen continued to pick apart the Rattler secondary on the next drive, finding Daniels wide open behind coverage for a 31-yard touchdown that put the Leopards up 27-21. The extra point was wide left.
Pratt put Navasota on top with a tremendous reception on the next drive. On third-and-7 from La Grange's 37, he caught a screen pass, broke two tackles near the line of scrimmage and raced toward the end zone. When Allen tried to stop him in the open field, Pratt had to put his hand on the ground to keep from going down on the tackle. He stayed up, then lost his shoe inside the 10 as he ran in for the game-tying touchdown. Oscar Barron's extra-point kick split the uprights to give Navasota a 28-27 lead.
The Navasota defense then forced its only three-and-out of the night. The Rattler offense was ready, turing to Pratt who carried the ball three times to move from Navasota's 37 to the La Grange 1. Stokes scored around right end on a quarterback keeper for the final score.