Bryan @ Conroe: Wrap-Up

STORY BY DAVID CAMPBELL

CONROE — KeeKee Johnson made the end zone a familiar destination, but the Bryan Vikings’ journey to a 35-29 win over Conroe included several other significant steps.

Johnson ran 27 times for 145 yards and scored four touchdowns, including the tenuous game-winner with 7:31 left Friday at Buddy Moorhead Stadium.

“Judging from last game, we had to work really hard in the offensive line, and they stepped up tonight,” Johnson said. “I didn’t have many people touch me on the line of scrimmage, so this was a pretty good game for us.”

Bryan juniors B.J. Ross and Jarvis Lister set up the win, and linebacker Coleman Johnson put it away with his fourth-down stop of Conroe tailback Dontrell Dock after the Tigers (1-1) moved as close as the Vikings’ 15-yard line looking to reclaim the lead.

Ross rifled a pass to Lister on the left sideline and tight-roped it to complete a 61-yard completion to the Conroe 3. Johnson needed a pair of runs to punch it in for the go-ahead score.

“B.J. had the time finally,” Bryan coach Ross Rogers said. “He put the ball right there, and Jarvis made an unbelievable catch.”

Dock, who had 28 carries for 208 yard, and Thomas Shirer (16-75) led a Conroe offensive attack that rushed for 317 yards, with effective lead plays. But Coleman Johnson, who was ill and missed the third quarter, led with his shoulder on the pivotal stop of Dock.

“The fourth down play is something we’ve run over and over,” Coleman Johnson said. “I knew exactly what to do. I saw the quarterback and knew he was going to give [Dock] the ball, and I made the tackle. I’m not sure who had the ball, but I know he didn’t get past me, and that’s all that matters. That’s what happens when we execute. We get a W.”

The tackle gave Bryan (1-1) the football with 2:46 left, and KeeKee Johnson’s off-tackle runs set up a trio of Ross kneel-downs to run out the clock.

“If we get first downs, we win the game, so I just put the team on my back,” said KeeKee Johnson, who returned from an illness that limited his playing time in the opener. “I just need a lot more stamina. I’m going to be running more, so I can finish in the fourth quarter.”

Johnson’s second-half play went a long way to getting Bryan its first win of the season.

“I told them at halftime that [KeeKee] has got to hit the line harder,” Rogers said. “They didn’t want him to hit it hard, and he was trying to bounce a few things outside. I really was proud of the way he played the second half.”

Conroe led 15-14 at halftime, but the Vikings moved briskly in for a score on their first offensive possession of the second half. Ross hit Dillon Albright for a key first down and scrambled across the goal line from 10 yards out. KeeKee Johnson bulled in for the two-point conversion.

Dock answered it with the second of his three touchdowns, but the Vikings regained the lead on Johnson’s 8-yard bounce-out run for a 29-22 advantage..

The Tigers completed a seven-play, 53-yard drive with Dock scoring from a yard out to tie the game at 29 with 9:41 left.

The Vikings will wrap up nondistrict play with a home game Friday against the Temple Wildcats, who fell to Austin Westlake 49-48. Conroe (1-1) will host Aldine next week.

Story courtesy of the B/CS Eagle