STORY BY: TIM SCHNETTLER
LEXINGTON — Another Friday night another convincing victory for the Navasota Rattler football team. This time it was the Lexington Eagles who stood in front of the oncoming freight train, getting steamrolled 65-0 at Eagle Stadium in a non-district contest.
The victory improved the third-ranked Rattlers’ record to 4-0 on the season, while the Eagles dropped to 0-4.
Derrion Randle had an outstanding night for the Rattlers, finishing with 221 yards on just 12 carries — an average of 18.4 yards per carry — finding the end zone four times on the night.
Randle’s effort was part of an offense onslaught that saw the Rattlers total 671 yards —374 rushing and 297 passing. LaMarquis Jefferson rushed for a pair of touchdowns, finishing with 99 yards on five carries, and quarterback Shelton Eppler completed 8-of-15 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown.
While Navasota’s offense continued to put up big numbers, the Rattler defense once again held its opponent scoreless. It was the third shutout of the season for the Rattlers, who have outscored opponents 207-7.
Navasota’s defense has yet to allow a point, as the only score this season came against the special teams on a kickoff return.
The Rattlers didn’t need long to ignite the offensive fireworks. On their first play from scrimmage Eppler threw a screen pass to Jerbrell Lipscomb who turned it into a 56-yard gain to the Lexington 7-yard line.
Randle easily covered the final 7 yards on the next play, crossing the goal line to give the Rattlers a 7-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game.
After the Rattlers fell on a fumble at the Lexington 14-yard line, Jefferson got in on the scoring with a scoring run on the first play following the fumble recovery. Less than three minutes later Randle collected his second touchdown on a 34-yard run.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter as the Rattlers added three more touchdowns and a field goal.
Eppler threw his only touchdown pass of the night on the first play of the second quarter. Eppler found Tren’Davion Dickson behind his defender and after Dickson tipped the ball to himself and regained his footing, he raced 91 yards for the score.
Randle and Jefferson again alternated scoring runs, Randle from 62 yards and Jefferson from 30 as the Rattlers continued to pull away. Martinez, who had missed a 32-yard field goal when he hit the upright, connected from 33-yards out as time expired sending the Rattlers into the half with a 45-0 lead.
Randle had one more scoring run in him, going in from 42-yards out midway through the third.
In the fourth, backup quarterback Davon Jernigan and Sammy Blair hooked up on a 21-yard scoring pass and Jernigan capped the scoring when he called his own number and scored on a 15-yard run.
The Rattlers will return home next week to play host to the Fairfield Eagles who are undefeated and have outscored opponents 235-48. The game can be heard live on 1550 KWBC with the pregame at 7 and kickoff at 7:30.