No. 4 Ennis football continues undefeated regular season following bye week

By Travis M. Smith | KBEC Sports

FORNEY — The still-undefeated No. 4 Ennis Lions took care of district business Friday on the road against North Forney. The Lions left little doubt, per usual.  

Ennis (6-0, 3-0 in 8-5A Division II) ultimately turned a 28-7 halftime lead into a 42-13 rout at Citi Bank Field in Forney and did so behind very little offensive effort. Any hope for the Falcons was also dashed when Devion Beasley returned a blocked punt 10 yards for a touchdown with 8:20 to play in the third quarter.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football computer simulations predicted the Lions to win by 30 — those computers sure are intelligent sometimes. 

The Lions outscored the Falcons 21-6 in the second half. They also outpaced their hosts 348 total yards to 232 on the evening. 

Junior quarterback Jackson Gilkey completed 5-of-his-13 passes for 119 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Gracen Harris (4-75) and TT Cox (1-44) during the opening half against North Forney. He finished the game 9-of-20 for 205 yards and the two first-half scores.

Gilkey exited Friday having completed 75-of-his-117 passes (64.1%) for 1,182 yards and 13 touchdowns to 2 interceptions on the season. 

Harris, a freshman, has continued his torrid start to the season by halftime. He tallied seven catches for 159 yards against the Falcons, running his season total to 38 receptions for 774 yards and eight touchdowns through six games. 

The Lions have outscored their opposition 231-119 to open the season for a 38.5 to 19.8 points-per-game spread.

The running back tandem of Beasley and Dee Johnson also returned to the backfield for the Lions following a three-game suspension related to an off-the-field incident. 

Their return helped the Lions to rush 35 times for 143 yards on the evening. Johnson rushed 10 times or 51 yards in the first half and ended the game with 17 carries for 77 yards and one touchdown.

Senior athlete TT Cox currently leads the Lion rushing attack with 407 yards on 37 carries (2TD) on the season. But there’s no doubt that the Ennis offensive attack will benefit from the rejuvenated return of Johnson (63-369, 5TD) and Beasley (23-144, 6TD) as the Lions head toward the postseason.

LAST TIME OUT: The Lions defeated Sulphur Springs, 47-14, before the week six bye. 

UP NEXT

Ennis will face (4-2, 2-1) Crandall at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lion Memorial Stadium. 

The Lions will close out the season against: 

• (4-2, 3-0) Forney (away)

• (6-0, 3-0) Royse City (away)

• (4-2, 2-1) Corsicana (home)

All four remaining regular-season games are slated for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. 

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Travis M. Smith, @Travis5mith

tsmith@kbec.com