The Wortham Bulldogs built a 30-0 first quarter lead and never looked back in a dominating 66-14 win over the Hubbard Jaguars Friday night in Hubbard. The Bulldogs move onto the playoffs as the third-place team from District 10-2A Division II.
Heavy rains backed up the start time and senior night activities in Hubbard. The teams took the field and kickoff was set for 7:45pm and would see no further delays.
The Bulldogs took their first possession and moved quickly downfield. James Johnson caught a 35-yard pass down to the ten-yard line and Yancey Bean hauled in the ten-yard touchdown. Jesse Saldana ran in the conversion and the Bulldogs took an 8-0 score one minute into the contest.
Hubbard had a short punt, and the Bulldogs took over at the Hubbard 30. Kymani Johnson ran 23 yards to inside the Jaguar ten. He would catch the seven-yard touchdown two plays later and the Bean caught the conversion pass and the 16-0 lead.
Jon Ross Black intercepted a Hubbard pass and returned it to the Hubbard 14. On the second play of the drive Saldana bulled his way in for the five-yard touchdown. The conversion pass was no good and the Bulldog lead swelled to 22-0.
Wortham would take advantage of an eight-yard punt and have one more score before the end of the quarter. Kymani Johnson took the pass from Black and scored on a 26-yard touchdown and the pass to Bean put the score at 30-0 with 1:47 remaining in the first quarter.
Bean ripped the ball from Brandon Barron and returned it to the Hubbard eight-yard line. The Bulldogs backed up on an offensive pass interference and Black ran 24 yards to the one. Black passed to Bean, and he apparently scored but officials ruled him short of the line to gain at the buzzer in the first quarter. On the opening play of the second quarter, Black passed to Lance Jones, wide open at the goal line and the missed conversion put the lead to 36-0.
Hubbard turned the ball over on downs near midfield and the Bulldogs took some time off the clock with a big lead. Black passed to Evan McCoslin for 14 yards inside the Hubbard 20. Kymani Johnson caught his third touchdown pass of the night for a 15-yard score. McCoslin added the conversion run.
The Jaguars had a snap over the punter’s head and the runner was short of the first down. The Bulldogs needed four plays to move 34 yards. McCoslin tallied most of the yards on the ground, the final 11 on a touchdown pass, his sixth touchdown pass of the game. Black passed to James Johnson for the conversion and the Bulldogs grew the lead to 52-0.
A final short punt and the final score of the first half ended with a 20-yard drive and later a one-yard touchdown run from McCoslin. The conversion pass was no good and the Bulldogs led 58-0 at the half.
Hubbard put their first points on the board late in the third quarter. The apparent option pitch was in forward and appeared to be an incomplete pass, but Anthony Weverka scooped it up and ran 42 yards for the touchdown. The pass for two was no good and the Jaguars averted the shutout.
The starters gave way to the reserves in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldog offense continued to move. Santi Mondragon, Austin Lennington and freshman quarterback Kross Montgomery ran the Bulldog offense. They took nine plays and moved 90 yards and Montgomery scored on a five-yard run for the touchdown. Lennington added the conversion run and the Bulldogs lead grew to 66-6.
Serna added a Hubbard touchdown in the final minute of the game. Most of the second half featured a running clock and the conversion was good as time expired, and the final score read a 66-14 Wortham win.
The Mart Panthers lost 46-0 to Goldthwaite in a shocking matchup, but still won with a 6-1 record and a tiebreaker head-to-head win over Bremond to claim the District 10-2A Division II title. Bremond shares the title Mart at 6-1 but goes into the playoffs as the second-place team. Wortham is tied with Goldthwaite but advances as the third-place team via their head-to-head win. Goldthwaite represents the district as the fourth-place team.
The Wortham Bulldogs will take on the Clarksville Tigers on Friday night at 7pm at Brownsboro High School. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers two seasons ago in this round of the playoffs.
(Courtesy Photo)
