King said he outlined four things in the dressing room:

1. Score on the opening possession of the second half and go for two points.

2. Pick up the defensive intensity.

“I looked at the defense and told them that’s enough. We needed to pick our pace up, where we weren’t playing fast enough in the first half in my opinion. We needed to cut out the penalties,” King said.

3. Avoid missed opportunities.

“They’re fumbling the ball, it’s on the ground and we’re standing around watching it,” he continued. “Lets get on the fumbles. When we get inside the 20, lets score.

4. This is not a one-man team.

“Malcolm (Kelly) was lost to an ankle injury early in the first quarter. This is golden opportunity to prove that we’re a team. We’re just not a one-man show. This is a team effort, and if we go out there and do that we’ll be fine,” King concluded.

The Lobos responded by scoring on their first possession of the second half — although the two-point conversion came up short — en route to 30 second-half points. Longview actually scored 40 unanswered points after spotting Marshall an early 15-0 lead in a 40-15 victory.

It was the ground game provided by tailback Vondrell McGee and fullback Chris Ivory that rallied the Lobos. McGee rumbled for 240 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns. Ivory added 143 yards on 13 carries and one TD.

McGee scored on runs of 6, 75 and 36 yards. Ivory had a 9-yard scoring run, although he did break a big gain for 65 yards.

“The good thing is, is there’s more than those two,” King said. “Those are the two we went with tonight (Friday).

“We’ve been expecting big things out of those two running backs. They’re strong, they’ve got the moves, they’ve got speed and they’re just good quality young men. They come to play.”

Kelly, who caught one pass for 8 yards on the Lobos’ second play from scrimmage, came out and never returned. The preseason all-state wide receiver twisted an ankle.

McGee’s 75-yard romp had him breaking several tackles as he darted toward the Lobos’ home side the field, then completely reversed his direction and outran the Mav defense into the end zone down the left sideline. Ivory added a 65-yard romp in the second quarter that would set up Longview’s first points, a 36-yard field goal by Willie Cloyd — he later kicked a 33-yarder.

Penalties had been a rough spot for the Lobos on both sides of the ball as they had been flagged seven times for 54 yards in the opening half. In the second half, they had just one for 10 yards.

Marshall had also put the ball on the ground twice in the first half, and each time retained possession. In the second half, the Mavs fumbled four times, losing it three times. One miscue was recovered in their own end zone by Longview’s DeKendrick Campbell on a touchdown. Tony Johnson had two fumble recoveries, the first leading to McGee’s long run from scrimmage.

Defensively, Longview limited Marshall to just 28 total yards in the second half and two first downs. Rashah Williams and Campbell each finished with a team-high 10 tackles, while Kelcie Oliver had three tackles for loss, T.J. Norris and Roderick Allen had two each, and Oliver, Norris and Allen had one sack apiece.

The Lobos travel to Monroe, La. on Friday to face Neville. Kickoff at Bill Ruple Stadium is 7 p.m.