LEWISVILLE- Coming into this week’s game against Lewisville, Coppell knew that this game was the toughest yet on its schedule. Within 23 seconds of kickoff, the Cowboys were already trailing and forced to chase the game.

Lewisville rode its early score and defeated Coppell, 38-15, Friday night at Max Goldsmith Stadium.

After Lewisville junior cornerback Caden Jenkins returned the kickoff for 59 yards and a facemask call penalized the Cowboys for 15 additional yards, Lewisville senior running back Damien Martinez rushed for a 26-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The following two-point conversion was good.

Coppell (3-5, 2-3 in District 6-6A) was quick to respond, however, with junior quarterback Jack Fishpaw’s 57–yard pass to senior wide receiver Andrew Nelson setting up Fishpaw’s three-yard touchdown rush.

The Fighting Farmers (8-0, 5-0) responded with a 44–yard pass from sophomore quarterback Ethan Terrell to senior wide receiver Armani Winfield setting up Martinez’s two-yard touchdown rush.

From there is when Lewisville would take over. On its seven following drives, Coppell fumbled and was forced to punt six times. Lewisville, however, kept its scoring going. 

Lewisville junior kicker Freddy Joya’s 22-yard field goal and Martinez’s 13-yard touchdown rush gave the Fighting Farmers a 25-7 lead into halftime. Opening the third quarter, a 56-yard pass from Terrell to Winfield set up Joya’s 32-yard field goal. Joya’s 41-yard field goal extended the Fighting Farmers’ lead to 31-7 entering the fourth quarter. Lewisville sophomore running back Viron Ellison scored on a two-yard touchdown rush early in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys responded with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Fishpaw to sophomore wide receiver Luca Grosoli. 

Martinez, who was subbed out of the game through injury, finished with 116 yards rushing (99 in the first half) and three scores. Fishpaw finished with 142 yards and a single score.

Despite allowing 38 points from the state-ranked Fighting Farmers, there were multiple scenarios throughout the game where Coppell played strong defensively to limit the potency of Lewisville. Tackling, however, was a cause for concern throughout the contest as many Fighting Farmers were able to break through several tackles to tack on extra yardage.

“We should’ve played better, I didn’t play as well as I could and some of the other guys didn’t play as well as they could but, at the same time, a lot of guys played great,” Coppell senior linebacker Jake Roemer said. “We could’ve started faster and been more physical than we were but that’s something to work on going into the next game. We really need to work on our tackling and our vision on the defense.” 

Ahead of two must win games, the Cowboys must return to offensive dominance to defeat their following two opponents. With two games remaining, Coppell and Flower Mound are battling for the final playoff spot. 

“We have to be able to run the football and that’s a big part of [getting the offense going again],” Coppell coach Michael DeWitt said. “When you’re not able to run the ball, you become one-dimensional and then everyone knows you’re going to throw it. The other thing is that you have to capitalize when you do get the opportunities when you do protect [the football] and when you have guys open, you can’t drop the football.

Next week, Coppell returns to Buddy Echols Field for its home finale against Plano East, with kickoff at 7 p.m.

Follow Meer (@mahfuz_meer) and @SidekickSports on Twitter.