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By Travis M. Smith | Ellis County Sports
WAXAHACHIE — A career-high could not sway the smile nor the team-first focus of Wade Lemons.
The senior Indian running back quickly credited the Waxahachie offensive line and defensive front-7 following Friday’s 42-14 romp of the Ennis Lions in the 103rd meeting of the Battle of 287.
“It’s going to stay here for a long time,” Lemons laughed with confidence — not malice or disrespect — when asked about the importance of retaining the storied U.S. Highway 287 sign. And he had just rushed for 100 yards and a career-best 3 touchdowns on 17 carries in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Stuart B. Lumpkins Stadium. “This feels good.”
“Can’t do it without the O-line. I just trust them,” Lemons added. “We go into every day at practice and work hard, and it all stems from that. We just have to trust them, and to know that they can come in and impose their will each week is a good feeling.”
Lemons entered the season as the leading returning rusher from a Waxahachie team that finished 9-3 overall in 2023. He rushed for 652 yards and 8 scores as a junior, highlighted by a 25 carry for 125 yards and a touchdown performance in a 20-19 bi-district victory against Hewitt Midway.
That game was his lone 100-plus-yard rushing performance prior to Friday’s Battle of 287.
Waxahachie head football coach Shane Tolleson is now 3-0 against hall-of-fame head coach Sam Harrell and the Ennis Lions.
The Tribe needed a heroic fourth-quarter interception by now-senior defensive back Elijah Thompson to secure a win in the 102nd matchup. Combine that victory with Friday’s and the 42-2 route in 2022, and the Indians have now won 3 consecutive rivalry games by outscoring the Lions 112-32 and improving to 51-50-2 in the all-time series.
“Ennis stayed in two-high safeties. If they are going to stay in two-high safeties, you have to be able to run the football…and we did,” explained Tolleson of the gameplan. “Wade cramped up a little bit, but he stuck with it, and the O-line created those holes, so I’m very proud of them.
“[…] I was proud of how we stopped the run, and we made Ennis one-dimensional to have to throw the ball,” Tolleson added. “But I thought Ennis did a great job of getting one-on-one matchups and going into formations to guarantee those one-on-one matchups. They did a good job, but I was really proud of our defensive effort.”
Harrell will take a 201-74 record as a legendary Texas high school head coach into a week 2 matchup against (0-1) Midlothian. The 7 p.m. kickoff at Lion Memorial Stadium will mark the third consecutive season for the Lions and Panthers to follow up the Battle of 287 with their own version.
Harrell and the Lions will certainly need to improve between the tackles in week two. The Indian defense held Ennis to 36 total rushing yards, 13 total first downs and forced a pair of turnovers — one being a 94-yard pick-six that was called back due to a personal foul (blindside block) near midfield.
“You feed off of them and their energy,” said Lemons of the Tribe’s defensive unit. “They make a stop and it just makes you want to go score more, and vice versa. They see us score and they want to go get a stop. We play for each other. We are all one team.”
UP NEXT
The Indians remain home for week two with a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday against (1-0) Coppell.
The Cowboys needed 24 second-half points to outpace Sachse, 31-10, in week 1. Led by junior quarterback Dirk Williams Jr.’s 215 yards and 1 touchdown (2 INT) on 16-of-20 passing, Coppell amassed just 265 total yards and 12 first downs in the victory.
“We need to clean up the penalties. When you have a big interception, you have to be able to capitalize on that,” said Tolleson when asked what the Tribe needed to focus on ahead of week 2. “A team like Coppell, as good as they are, and the tradition that they have, you have to capitalize. It’s going to take a really clean game from us to win that game. What I need to see the most is us cleaning up those penalties.”
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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith
tsmith@elliscosports.com
