The Hubbard Jaguars scored a late third quarter touchdown and conversion and made it hold up in a 22-20 thrilling win over the Wortham Bulldogs Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
Freshman quarterback Kendan Johnson powered the Hubbard offense with over 200 yards rushing and scored the go-ahead touchdown and putting up 22 unanswered points in the win.
The teams exchanged punts to open the game, then the Jaguars put together a drive inside the Bulldog ten-yard line. Preston Sterling and Jason Evans made back to back stops and the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs. Wortham had a penalty and a negative play and set up a second down at the three-yard line. Lane McDaniel took the inside handoff and broke two downfield tackles and raced his way for a 97-yard touchdown run. The try for two failed and the Bulldogs had a 6-0 lead.
Later in the half, the Hubbard punter had a kick come off the side of his foot and the punt travelled one yard and Bulldogs returned to field at the Hubbard 30-yard line. Bulldog running back Tanner Bean had three carries, converting the last on a key third down.
Quarterback Ryken Lewis tossed a short pass to Bean and he raced for the corner and was stopped inside the five-yard line. A penalty backed the Bulldogs to the seven and Bean threw the fade to the back of the end zone and McDaniel leaped up and grabbed his second touchdown of the night. Bean ran the conversion for two and the Bulldogs led at the half 14-0.
Hubbard took the ball to begin the second half and were forced to punt but they got the ball back on Wortham fumble a couple of plays into their possession. A couple of runs from Johnson and two more from Kyler McKeen put the Jaguars at the Bulldog eight. Johnson tossed a screen pass to McKeen for the touchdown and cut into the Bulldog lead. The try for two was no good and the Bulldogs led 14-6.
The Bulldogs had a try to answer and Bean improvised and threw to a wide-open Cade McCoslin and he walked into the end zone. A penalty called back the touchdown and Wortham would fail on fourth down and the Jaguars took over.
The Jaguars offense went exclusively to Johnson running the ball and converted a key third down inside the Wortham ten. Johnson would finish the drive with a three-yard run. The Jaguars jumped into the swinging gate and the snap to Jackson Wallin scored the conversion and tied the game at 14-14 with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
The Hubbard defense forced a punt, and the offense went back to work. They drove 59 yards in nine plays and the last 30 yards of the drive were in the swinging gate. Wallin scored on a four-yard run with 7:31 remaining in the game. Johnson ran in the conversion and the Jaguars took their first lead of the game 22-14.
The Bulldogs put together a drive and would score. Bean began the drive with a scramble and throw to McCoslin for a 35-yard completion down to the Jaguar 26-yard line. Lewis took a snap at quarterback and hit tight end Cash Perez for an 18-yard connection on third down to the four-yard line. Bean finished the drive with the four-yard run and put the Bulldogs to within two points. Bean ran for the conversion but was stacked up short of the goal line and the Jaguar lead held at 22-20.
The Bulldog defense forced a stop and took the ball back near midfield. On second down, the Bean scramble ended in an intentional grounding penalty and a loss of down. Two passes fell incomplete and the Bulldogs suffered the key district loss.
Bremond and Mart won their openers and Wortham will host the Frost Polar Bears in the annual homecoming game at historic Bulldog Stadium. Frost lost to Bremond 49-7 and the Bulldogs need to win to stay in the playoff race.
(Photos by Jennifer Lansford)
