The Tomball Cougars’ remarkable 2010 football season came to a close Nov. 27 with a 24-0 loss to the Longview Lobos at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco.

The Cougars and the Lobos squared off in the Class 5A Region II regional finals with the winner advancing to the state quarterfinals.

The Cougars, a team who six times scored more than 30 points in a game this season, were dominated from the opening kick off.

After both defenses kept the opposing offense out of the end zone for much of the first quarter, the Lobos broke through with under a minute remaining in the first when Jhaston Faggans scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Longview expanded their lead in the second when LaDarrin Robertson scored on his own 1-yard plunge to make it 14-0, Lobos.

Kicker Kyle Jenkins was successful on a 19-yard field goal late in the third quarter to put Longview up 17-0, which all but sealed the win for the Lobos.

The final nail in the Cougars’ coffin for the season came on Robertson’s second touchdown run of the night, a 5-yard jaunt to make the score 24-0.

The Lobos defense held the potent Cougar offense to just 137 total yards and an uncharacteristic eight first downs.

Quarterback Justin Dvorak struggled for one of the few times this season, completing just nine of 19 passes for 72 yards and three interceptions. The Cougars also lost a fumble.

The normally reliable Tomball running game never got going, with Brandon Greene carrying the ball 19 times for 75 yards, a 3.9 yards-per-carry average.

The Longview triple threat running attack of Faggans, Robertson and Dakota Anthony was all the Lobos needed to keep the first down markers moving. The three combined for 42 carries and 186 yards and three touchdowns.

For the Cougars, the loss to Longview ends one of the most successful and surprising seasons in school history. Coming off a 2-8 season in 2009 and facing what is likely their last in Class 5A for the forseeable future, Tomball was expected by many to finish near the bottom of 13-5A.

Instead, the Cougars stormed out of the gate early, winning their first five games in blowout fashion. Their only two regular season losses came to state powerhouse Klein Collins and district foe Klein Oak.

The Cougars finished second in the district, earning their first playoff berth in nine years. The momentum didn’t stop for Tomball, which stayed hot in the playoffs.

They won their first two playoff games, 27-3 over Kingwood and 40-20 over Austin Anderson. It had been since 1988 that the Cougars had won a playoff game.

Tomball finishes the season 10-3 overall.

The Lobos advanced to take on district rival Mesquite Horn in the quarterfinals last weekend.

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