When Lovelady took the field against Groveton Friday night, the Lions’ coaching staff expected the game to go down to the wire as it did last season in District 12-2A Division I play. 

Groveton won last year’s matchup between the schools 28-20 in overtime, securing the district championship and putting a sour taste in the Lions’ mouth entering the playoffs. Lovelady went on to defeat Alto in the bi-district round before falling to Rivercrest 22-20. 

While this year’s rematch was on the teams’ non-district slate, that did nothing to diminish the importance of the rivalry in the season opener as Lovelady looked for its revenge. 

The Lions got that and more before even reaching halftime, exploding for a 48-6 win in a game that saw coach Jon Lowery pull his offensive starters after just one possession in the third quarter. 

“That was a huge lift for us,” Lowery said. “There have been some games going back to the 1970s that they still talk about in Lovelady. We let a really good opportunity get away from us last year, so this was definitely a huge boost to our kids and our community.”

The game was especially important to Lowery, as it was just the second time in program history the Lions have defeated Groveton on the road. Lowery, who graduated from Groveton in 1981, still has family in the town and has to drive through the Groveton school district to get home each day. 

“It puts a little extra on it for sure,” Lowery said. “When you have to go to family reunions or church on Sunday, it definitely makes it a little easier when you come out on the winning end in that game.”

Those family reunions will also be more fun in the near future for Lowery’s son, Logan Lowery, who took over as the starting quarterback at Lovelady this season. Logan made an immediate impact in the system he’s grown up learning, throwing for 266 yards and six touchdowns while completing 12 of his 20 passes in the season opener. 

It certainly helped to have Jay Robinson on the perimeter of the offense as the senior – who also serves as the Lions punter and starts in the secondary – caught four passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. Receivers Michael Price, TreVon Hawkins and Tre Hawkins each caught touchdown passes from Lowery as well. 

Robinson also returned a punt for a score in the first half, giving the team an emphatic boost that helped the Lions coast to their first win over Groveton since 2015. 

“We knew our strength coming in was going to be our skill positions,” Jon Lowery said. “We felt like, especially early, that our skill guys would be able to carry us through. It was just a matter of us getting separation early with those big plays.”

Lovelady didn’t have to rely completely on its offense to shoulder the load Friday, though, as Price, TreVon Hawkins, Tre Hawkins, Logan Lowery and Robinson led the way in the secondary while Greyson Bachynsky paved the way on the defensive front for linebackers Logan LeBlanc, Deontrae Hawkins and Josh Martinez to make a solid control the line of scrimmage.  

The defense will be in for a much stiffer test this week when Lovelady looks to continue its hot start against Tenaha, which fell to Muenster in the Class 2A Division II state championship last year. 

The Tigers lost a 42-39 heartbreaker to Troup last week and remain in search of their first win this season. While competing in a wide open Region III behind Mart this year, Lovelady hopes a strong showing against Tenaha will spark a deep playoff run this season. 

“It would be huge. It’s a measuring stick and we’re going to go out there and use it at that,” Jon Lowery said. “That’s one of the reasons we wanted someone of Tenaha’s caliber on our schedule – so we could get a look at what we have moving forward. 

“We have a long way to go and we’ll know a lot more about ourselves this week.”