The Wortham Bulldogs built a big second quarter lead and improved to 3-1 on the young season with a 48-20 win over the Frost Polar Bears Friday night at historic Bulldog Stadium.
It is the 39th win in school history over the Polar Bears and the 950th game in WHS history. The Bulldogs have more victories against the Polar Bears than any other teams and are now 1-0 in district play.
Frost took the opening kickoff, and the Bulldog defense held them to three and a punt and took over near midfield. Senior running back Kymani Johnson took off on a 41-yard run inside the Polar Bear 20 and three plays later, senior quarterback Jon Ross Black hit Lance Jones for the 15-yard touchdown. The run for two was short and the Bulldogs took the lead 6-0 midway through the first quarter.
The Polar Bears had a second three and out and Wortham began their second drive at midfield. Blake Hadden and Carlos Gondinez teamed up for a sack and the Bulldogs held up the Frost offense.
Black had the key run of the drive, taking off on a 25 yard inside the five-yard line. Johnson finished the drive with a three-yard plunge and Black added the conversion run for the 14-0 with three 3:42 remaining in the first quarter.
Frost answered just before the end of the quarter on a Mario Porter eight-yard run, he was hit at the five and the pile continued moving across the goal line for the score. Gabiel Abuid kicked the extra point, and the Bulldogs led 14-7 after one quarter.
The Bulldogs controlled the time of possession in the second quarter. Frost had the ball for 2:08 of the quarter and ran only six plays and the Bulldogs pulled ahead.
Yancey Bean recovered a fumble at the Frost 16-yard line and used eight plays and almost four minutes to go those 16 yards. Black pushed through from a yard out and he hit Johnson for the conversion and the Bulldogs led 22-7 with three minutes remaining in the half.
Jesse Saldana picked off an Edwin Alvarado pass and the Bulldogs went back to work. Black connected with Bean for a pass that covered 58 yards for the touchdown. The pass for two was no good and the Bulldog lead swelled to 28-7.
The Bulldogs took the second half kickoff and Black returned it 34 yards to the Polar Bear 31-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Black tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kymani Johnson. The conversion run was no good and the Bulldogs led 34-7.
Frost scored on their first possession of the second half with a ten-play drive, nine of them on the ground, and Porter scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.
Wortham continued to control the line of scrimmage and the time on the clock when they used up the remaining five minutes in the third quarter and scored on the first play of fourth quarter. Black hit Jones with a 25-yard pass and run to the Polar Bear three. Yancey Bean took the handoff and scored the touchdown, and the Bulldog lead increased to 41-14 on the Jesse Saldana extra point.
Blake Hadden forced and recovered a fumble and the Wortham defense stopped a Polar Bear drive. Johnson had a 24-yard run and Jones had a 17-yard catch for the first down. Bean converted a third down and then hit Jones for the second touchdown of the night, this one from 17 yards, increasing the lead to 48-14.
Frost added a late touchdown on a 27-yard touchdown to close out the scoring and the 48-20 win.
Wortham joined Mart, Goldthwaite, and Meridian on top of the district standings after the opening week. The Bulldogs will travel to Bremond to take on the Tigers on Friday night. Bremond lost to Mart 28-22 in their opener. Game time is set for a 7pm kickoff.
(Photos by Jennifer Lansford)
