Dragon Stadium had not been an easy place for the Lobos during the 1990s. They had won only once in three previous visits and a first quarter Nacogdoches field goal put Longview in an hole early.

But the Lobos had found success on the road in 1997 and with their third play of the second quarter, junior tailback Fred Talleey outran the entire Dragon defense for a career-best 95-yard touchdown. Talley actually took the pitch from Jay Hurst five yards deep in his own end zone.

Talley's jaunt launched his second straight 200-yard effort as the Lobos rolled to an easy 42-3 victory. He would score two more touchdowns (on one-and five-yard runs) to finish with 219 yards on just 17 carries before taking a well-deserved break on the bench in the fourth quarter.

The Lobos, with the win, put themselves into position to ascend to the top spot in the AP poll after 12-5A rival and No. 1-ranked John Tyler fell 24-14 at Lufkin the same night.

Longview had just put itself into the hands of the pollster. A top ranking would be the Lobos' firt since the preseason poll before the 1984 season. Their last No.1-ranking during the regular season came in the 1975 season.

After the game, senior Dexter Daniels was asked if the Lobos would be ranked No. 1.

"If they do, they do," said Daniels, who intercepted two passes and caught a 21-yard scoring pass from Hurst. "It'll just put it out there for us to work harder to get to where we're going. We'll just have to keep praing, because God will get us there."

The Lobo defense, after allowing the field goal on the Dragons' first possession, held Nacogdoches to 109 yards on the ground and 77 through the air.

With Talley on the bench, backup tailback Jesse James came in to rush for 51 yards and third stringer Calvin Coleman gained 59 on his longest outing on the season.

Backup quarterback Lee Nix came off the bench to tos a 16-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Byrdsong and then connected with David Waterehouse for six as the Lobos put away the game by scoring 28 points in the third quarter.