White Deer runs past Silverton

With six minutes left in the opening quarter, Silverton sat with a first goal from the two looking to take an early lead against the home team Thursday. 

In four plays the Owls lost 10 yards and the game changed on a dime after that as the Bucks took down Silverton 58-12 behind the legs of Foster Black.

After Slayton Cagle busted off a 32-yard run, Silverton (0-5) was looking pretty with a first and goal at the White Deer two. Prosperity was fleeting for the Owls, though, as they mishandled the ball on two consecutive plays which resulted in a loss of 10 yards. With a third and goal from the twelve, Silverton had two incomplete passes that turned it back over to the Bucks (4-1).

On the ensuing possession, Logan Matlock hit Lucas Radina for a 43-yard scoring strike, the first of three scoring catches for the junior, and a 6-0 Bucks lead. White Deer then forced a turnover on downs and made the Owls pay as Radina grabbed a 33-yard reception from Foster Black as the Bucks extended the lead to 14-0.

Craziness then ensued at the end of the first quarter. White Deer punched the ball down to the Silverton 30 where Haygen Lopez scooped it up, found daylight, and sprinted to the endzone to put the Owls on the board.  However, White Deer’s Caynden Mynear returned the favor as he used his track speed to go 46-yards to the house as the quarter ended with the home team up 22-6.  

It was at that point where Ruben Guerrero’s team decided to put distance between them and the Owls as Black had two long scoring jaunts and his second touchdown pass of the night to Radina, this one from 58-yards away as the Bucks only allowed a 33-yard scoop and score to Lopez midway through the second and went to half up 44-12.

It was Black twice more in the third to finish this one off and seal the mercy rule win for White Deer.  The speedy senior finished the game as a dual threat for the Bucks as he notched 201 yards on the ground on 15 carries while finding the endzone four times and found Radina for those two scoring passes totaling 91 yards.  Radina was also impressive grabbing three balls for 147 yards.

It was a tough night for the Silverton offense as they were only able to muster 76 yards on the ground, 32 of those from Cagle on one play, while going 3-of-9 through the air for 22 yards.

Miami turns tide for wild win

In a tale of two halves, Miami rose to the occasion in the second half to run away from McLean as Noah Homfeld and Chance White both gained over 200 yards on the green grass of Duncan Field Friday night.

The Warriors (5-0) used a 60-point run to overtake the Tigers 88-39.

This game saw each team throwing haymakers as they lit up the scoreboard time and time again through the first two quarters. At the 3:04 mark of the second quarter, things were looking great for the Tigers as Wyatt Hagler hit Andrew Bauer on a 33-yard bomb to put McLean (1-4) up 39-28 and a two-possession lead.

Little did the Warrior faithful know that would be the final points their defense would yield on the night. On the ensuing possession, Miami drove the field, but Jack Kotara had the ball stripped away and McLean recovered at their own eight-yard line with 1:49 to go and the stands going crazy.

However, Miami’s defense stiffened, and they forced the ball over on downs and the scoring extravaganza began. Kotara scrambled to paydirt from 23-yards out and the two-point conversion left the Tigers with a 39-36 lead heading into halftime.

The Warriors received the ball to start the half and trudged down field as Kotara found Sebastian Bryant in the back of the end zone from nine yards out and a 44-36 lead.  The Miami defense stiffened again and got the ball back for their offense deep in their own territory.

A penalty pushed Miami back to their own 14 when Kotara threw his second scoring strike, this time to Noah Homfeld at the midfield stripe and the impressive back shook a defender and raced to the pylon for a 66-yard touchdown and a 50-39 lead. 

The Warriors would put another 38 points on the board capped off by Tyler Anderson grabbing a pick at the goal line and racing 80-yards for the score and capping this game off with a Miami win via the mercy rule.

Homfeld was unstoppable racking up 202 on the ground and five scores while registering 97 yards receiving. His backfield mate, White, added 231 yards on 18 carries and two scores while Kotara combined for four scores.  

Nazareth rallies again for the win

You must wonder what goes through the minds of Swifts fans as Nazareth rallied to beat O’Donnell on the road Friday night, 70-48.  For the second consecutive week, Tyler Goodwin’s squad used a massive scoring splurge to turn a deficit into a runaway win.

Last week, Nazareth scored 38 unanswered points to pull away from Valley and they used that same formula to take down the Screamin’ Eagles. This game was tied at 26 at half and midway through the third it was the home team on top 40-32. That’s when the Swifts decided they had left O’Donnell in the game long enough and went on another 38-point scoring streak.  

Cameron Pohlmeier started the run with a four-yard scamper to tie things up at 40. On that run, O’Donnell was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct which allowed the Swift to kick from the Screamin’ Eagles 35. Utilizing an onside kick, the home squad struggled to bring the ball in, and the ball squirted into the end zone where Rhett Ethridge fell on it and gave the Swifts the lead for the first time in the half, 48-40.

After the Swifts defense held O’Donnell on four plays, Ethridge made them pay again as he connected with Blaise Snead from 22-yards out to extend the lead to 56-40.  Ethridge wasn’t done though. The sophomore recovered a fumble in O’Donnell territory at the 26 and found Lincoln Pohlmeier on the next play for a score and the runaway train was full steam ahead at this point.

Ethridge wasn’t done grounding the Eagles as he recovered his second consecutive fumble at the O’Donnell 27 which led to a drive that was capped off by Cameron Pohlmeier from four yards out and icing on the cake as the Swifts gave up a late touchdown when it didn’t matter to win.

On the night, Ethridge was 7-of-8 through the air for 163 yards and four scores, and Cameron Pohlmeier was his favorite target grabbing three balls for 74 yards and two touchdowns.  Pohlmeier also toted the rock 16 times for 77 yards and found the end zone twice.

Hart continues strong start

Behind a balanced offensive attack, Hart went on the road and took down Wellman-Union, 57-30, Friday night to run their record to 4-0 on the season for the first since 2006.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Longhorns offense got things rolling. Noah Marin found Yael Soltero in the middle of the field, and he coasted home from 13-yards out to take a 6-0 lead.  After the defense held, it was the passing attack that struck again. Tradien Worsham connected with Aiden Cisero from the nine for a 12-0 lead with 5:02 to go before halftime.

Worsham found Cisnero again, this time from 27-yards out before the Wildcats struck right before half as Hart led 18-6 at intermission.  Halftime adjustments paid dividends for the Longhorns as they scored on three possessions in the third led by Cisnero’s third receiving touchdown of the night, this one from Marin, to build a 38-6.  

Wellman-Union (1-4) fought back and cut the lead to 38-18 in the early stages of the fourth before Worsham raced 44-yards to paydirt. After the defense forced a fumble, Soltero powered home from three yards out to move the lead back out to 51-18 and the Longhorns never looked back.

Worsham racked up 218 yards rushing on 12 carries while notching three scores and those two passing scores. Marin was effective through the air netting 165 yards and two touchdowns.  Defensively, Soltero led the way with 16 tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery while freshman Avrum Morales chipped in 13 tackles and an interception.

Week 5 Quick hits

Fourth ranked Motley County (5-0), behind a strong rushing attack, downed Booker on Friday night 60-38 in Kiowa Country. 

This game was tight throughout the first half with the Matadors holding a 40-30 lead at half. However, the running of Paul Johannes and miscues were too much to overcome in the second half as the visitors extended the lead to 54-30 at the end of three and never looked back.

Johannes finished the night with 170 yards on the ground on 20 carries while finding the endzone three times. His backfield mate, Xzaebrian Ashley, touched paydirt four times on 18 carries amassing 61 yards.

Booker (3-2) finished the night with a respectable 192 yards passing but coughed up the rock four times which spelled doom against the opportunistic Matadors.

Despite losing on the road Thursday night, Boys Ranch is quickly causing opposing coaches to sit up and take notice.  The Roughriders (4-1) fell to Lubbock Kingdom Prep, 42-40, as they were unable to score on their final possession with less than thirty seconds left. Isaac Acosta was red hot in the loss tossing six touchdowns on the evening.

In what had to be the longest game in the state, Groom (2-3) rallied to beat Wildorado, 75-71, in a game that lasted almost four hours.

In a rare non-district matchup between district foes, Springlake-Earth (2-3) took down Happy (0-5) by a 54-6 count at home Friday.  Follett (2-3) won a hard-fought contest on the road Friday night taking down Amherst 79-50 for their second straight win.  

Claude (4-1) was dominant at home posting a 56-6 win over San Jacinto Christian Academy (2-3). Trapper Godfrey once again led the way for the Mustangs racking p 164 yards on the ground and scoring three touchdowns and registering a fourth on a reception while Thomas Slack made the most of his six carries tallying 81 yards and two touchdowns.

Whitharral stayed unbeaten at 5-0 by outlasting Valley, 68-48 and Kress (4-1) had no problem with Lefors, 57-12, at home Friday night.  

Lorenzo (2-3) dropped another close one, falling to Loop, 67-56, Thursday night and Hedley played Chillicothe (5-0) tough but fell 79-34.

Anton (2-3) was a winner over Dawson 65-40 and Lubbock Christ the King (4-0) downed Lazbuddie 72-22.

State roundup

Chester (5-0) continues to make noise as they went on the road and took down state finalist Oakwood (2-3) from a year ago, 69-56. Jaxon Gay found the endzone six times while rushing for 171 yards to lead the Yellowjackets.

Coolidge (4-1) rallied from down 26 at half to knock off Oglesby, 59-58. The Yellowjackets found the endzone with less than two minutes left and hit the two-point conversion kick to take the one-point lead then stopped the No. 9-ranked Tigers (4-1) on a fourth down, three yards short of the first, for the win.

Devonta Johnson led Coolidge with 290 yards rushing and six scores while going 5-of-7 passing for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Former Sanford-Fritch coach Derek Schlieve has the Northside Indians rolling as they pummeled Forestburg, 76-6, to run their record to 4-0 on the season.

Gordon (5-0), the top team in Division I, made it 35 straight wins as they took down the top team in TAPPS Division II, Fort Worth Covenant Classical, 66-20, while the number one squad in Division II, Jayton (5-0), took down number nine Hermleigh (3-2) from Division I, 58-0.

Lee Yeley is closing in on 2,000 combined yards before district ever starts as Saint Jo (5-0) took down Lometa (3-2), 68-55. The dangerous rusher gained 182 yards on 21 carries while throwing for 156 more as he totaled four scores.