The Wortham Bulldogs built a double-digit lead at the half and held on to defeat the Hubbard Jaguars in the season finale 38-18 and end their season with a 2-8 record.
The Bremond Tigers, perfect in district play, claim the title for District 10-2A Division II, followed by the Chilton Pirates, Goldthwaite Eagles and Mart Panthers.
Hubbard took the first possession and the Bulldog defense held and forced the Jaguars to punt. Wortham took over at the 38 and went straight to the running game. The mixed Evan McCoslin and Darrius Credeur and the seven-play drive covered those 62 yards. McCoslin scored on a two-yard run and the Bulldogs were ahead in a game for only the second time this season at 8-0 following the conversion run, also by McCoslin.
Wortham had another opportunity to score in the first quarter when the Hubbard punt formation was down at the Hubbard 43. The punter went to a knee to field the snap and was down there and the Bulldogs marched down to the Jaguar 12 and quarterback Kross Montgomery was intercepted on fourth down.
The Bulldog defense forced a punt in the first moment of the second quarter and the Bulldogs put some distance on the scoreboard. Beginning at the Jaguar 34, the seven-play drive finished with an eleven-yard run by Credeur. He also added the conversion run and the Bulldogs extended the lead to 16-0.
The teams exchanged possession to close out the half, and the Bulldogs took the first possession of the second half. They put immediate points on the board when Credeur took the handoff and ripped up the middle of the Jaguar defense on the 59-yard touchdown run and the Bulldogs had a three-score lead at 22-0.
Hubbard used their running game to counter the score. They moved 60 yards in six games and Gage Serna scored on a five-yard run. The try for two was stopped short and the Bulldog lead was cut to 22-6.
The Wortham offense answered quickly and on the next possession had a six-play drive of their own and McCoslin found daylight and raced up the middle for his second touchdown of the night. Credeur added the conversion run and the Bulldog lead grew to 30-6.
The Jaguars opened the fourth quarter with a score on a pass from Cameron Chapman to Ryan Weatherby to complete 34-yard score and the lead was 30-12.
McCoslin added touchdown number three on a four-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to put too much distance for the Jaguars to catch up.
With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Chapman passed to Hunter Rodriguez on a short pass that turned into a 68-yard touchdown and closed out the scoring that showed a 38-18 Wortham Bulldog win.
(Photos by Jennifer Lansford)
