By Chris Megginson / Special to the Reporter

MONTGOMERY – A battle of the Lions belonged to the home team Friday, as Evangel Christian Academy held off Kingwood Christian, 28-16.

Evangel took a 15-0 lead into halftime, but Kingwood got on the board early in the third quarter when Kerry Thompson forced a fumble, which Austin Franklin scooped and returned 40 yards for a touchdown. Mitchell Carter ran in the 2-point conversion to cut into Evangel’s lead, 15-8.

A few Kingwood miscues and turnovers on downs led to two more Evangel scores though, stretching the home Lions’ lead to 28-8 after a blocked PAT by Brady Davis.

Late in the game, with about a minute to play, Carter hit Buddy Kitrell on a 50-yard touchdown pass to cut the margin in half. Carter tacked on another 2-point run to make it 28-16. Kingwood recovered an onside kick but the drive stalled.

Carter, who practiced as Kingwood’s starting QB during the spring, received his first start of the fall, as did tight end Corey Robinson.

“We played a lot harder. We made some changes in personnel early in the week. Within a week things aren’t going to gel as much as you’d hope, but our kids played really hard,” Kingwood head coach Sheldon Ward said. “Our kids showed progress, and I think things are coming together a little bit.”

Conner West joined Thompson and Franklin as leaders on defense, while Kittrell also added an interception to go with his touchdown on offense.

Kingwood (0-5) remains on the road for the third straight week as it travels across the county to Cornerstone Christian School on Oct. 2.