Kyle — The stars were aligned for Lehman Friday night.

If the Lobos beat Lockhart, they’d clinch their first trip to the playoffs in school history. The Lions entered the game winless in District 17-4A and their standout running back (Dominique Hardaway) was hobbled with a bum ankle.

Lehman took an early lead, but inconsistency set in soon after and sent the Lobos to a 21-14 loss.

“The offense could never get on track,” Lehman head coach Steve Davis said. “Harvest (Trammell) went out hurt and Matthew Anguiano couldn’t get anything going. Their defensive line just dominated us up front and we couldn’t get anything going in between the tackles. That pretty much ended the ball game when they shut our run down. We couldn’t move the ball at all.”

The Lobos were coming off a game at Del Valle where they passed for 237 yards. Anguiano led the charge against the Cardinals, throwing for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Trammell, on the other hand, completed five of his nine attempts for 74 yards and a touchdown but was picked once.

Davis chose to start Trammell Friday night and the junior quarterback struggled to find a rhythm. Trammell went 3 for 6 and tossed an interception that stalled an otherwise promising drive.

After Trammell was rolled up in a pile and sprained his ankle, Davis threw Anguiano to the Lions. Anguiano only completed two of his first seven passes and his eighth went into Lockhart’s hands.

“Our throws tonight we horrible,” Davis said. “I don’t know how you could have a great passing game one week and then come back looking like you’re never on target. We were throwing the ball out of bounds and behind receivers.”

While Lehman struggled to move the ball through the air and on the ground (210 total offensive yards), the Lions put the game on Hardaway’s shoulders.

Hardaway, who only rushed for 23 yards in the first half, broke it open after halftime. The Lobos tried to stack the box with eight defenders across the line of scrimmage, but Hardaway found the holes. He finished with 154 yards on 30 carries.

“I didn’t plan on carrying the ball so many times,” Hardaway said. “Our game plan changed at halftime and the coaches told me I’d get my share of runs.”

Hardaway scored twice Friday night, but the first set the tone for the rest of the game. He broke through the Lehman defense, shrugged off two tacklers and scampered 48 yards to give his team a 12-7 lead.

“After that first touchdown, we felt the game change,” Hardaway said. “We were kind of upset as an offense at halftime, but we knew we could push them around once we scored.”

The Lobos held their ground and were able to cut the Lions’ lead to 21-14 and forced a punt with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, John Martell didn’t field the ball cleanly and Lehman started the drive from its own 2-yard line.

Four plays later, Lockhart took over after Anguiano tossed his second pick of the game.

The Lobos now need to either beat Hays Friday night or hope Manor can tame the Lions.

“Anything’s possible, that’s why they play the games,” Davis said. “I’m just really disappointed. This is a game I knew we’d win.”