Caleb Betts (10) with an awesome one arm grab landing him and the Bulldogs near the end zone.
The Wortham Bulldogs kept the Cinderella season going with a dominating win over the Pineland West Sabine Tigers at Crockett High School on Thursday night.
The win is the second of the postseason and it runs parallel with the 2000 season when the Bulldogs won two playoff games and advanced into the third round.
It also allows all four teams from 10-2A Division II teams to move to the regional round. Mart, Wortham, Chilton and Bremond remain the only teams in the region and it is only the second time anyone can recollect it happening and it was a year ago when the Buffalo, Franklin,
Lexington and Rogers district from District 13-3A Division II qualified as the region four final four.
Wortham found a pounding ground game and made it work to take time off the clock and score five rushing touchdowns. The Bulldog defense forced four turnovers and turned them into 14 points to build a lead that would stand up to two long plays by the Tigers in the second half.
The Bulldogs took the first possession and the backfield consisted of fullback Michael Chasteen, offensive lineman turned fullback Preston Sterling and running back Dawson Norcross. They took the opening kickoff and used 14 plays to get inside the Tiger 20-yard line and had a carry tackled behind the line of scrimmage and the Bulldogs turned possession over on downs.
West Sabine wasted little time putting points on the board. Jakorian Walker had two carries of 20 yards and advanced to the Bulldog nine-yard line. Quarterback Quentin Smith hit Hunter Murphy on the slant for the nine-yard touchdown and the first score of the game. The two-point conversion was stopped short and the Tigers led 6-0 with 2:23 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Wortham running attack went back to work and marched 56 yards in nine plays that consumed the remainder of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. Facing a third and goal at the five, Dawson Norcross ran through a big hole opened by Jason Evans and Anthony Fortoul. Daniel Mersi added the extra point and the Bulldogs took a lead they would hold the rest of the night.
Two plays into the Tigers next possession, the ball came lose and Cash Perez pounced on it and the Bulldogs took over at the Tiger 35.
Norcross had six of his 37 carries on the drive and scored on a six-yard touchdown run and, after the Mersi extra point, the Bulldogs led 14-6.
Daniel Bullard intercepted a pass on the next possession and Wortham would have to punt the ball away, Junior quarterback and punter Ryken Lewis sailed a punt that rolled to a stop at the Tiger two-yard line and the Tigers had to go 98 yards to tie the game.
Dawson Norcross (40) plowed through the field all night with his team leading the way.
The two-minute offense worked as the Tigers picked up three first downs to get out of the shadow of the endzone. Blaine Bourque caught a screen pass to cross midfield and then added a 22-yard run inside the 20-yard line. The Bulldog defense turned the Tigers away with two defended passes and a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and Wortham led 14-6 as the teams retired to the locker room.
The Bulldog defense forced a third turnover of the game when the ball was knocked away and Fortoul covered it. The drive for the Bulldogs was forced into a third down and the cadence caused the Tiger defense to move, giving the Bulldogs a free play. Lewis hit Caleb Betts down the far sideline and he tipped it to himself down to the two-yard line. Norcross would finish the drive with his third touchdown of the game and the Bulldogs led 21-6.
West Sabine would commit a fourth turnover in Wortham territory when Norcross covered the lose ball but the drive stalled and the Bulldogs had to punt.
The Tigers made a push to get back into the game with a 68-yard run to the Bulldog nine-yard line. Two plays later, Smith connected for a second time with Murphy for the seven-yard touchdown pass and cut the lead to 21-14 following the conversion run with 2:15 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs returned to the power game and churned the 65 yards in ten plays. Norcross had three runs for a couple first downs and Yancey Bean broke away on a 27-yard run to the Tiger 23. Norcross converted a third down inside the ten and Lewis finished the drive with a one yard push up the middle for the touchdown. Mersi added the extra point for the 28-14 lead with just over ten minutes remaining in the game.
Failing to convert on a fourth down in their own end of the field and Wortham took over moved into position for a field goal. Mersi booted the 25-yard field goal and the lead grew to 31-14.
West Sabine needed only one play to cut into the lead. Smith threw a lateral back to Murphy and he hit a wide-open Walker for the 71-yard catch and run to get to within a 31-20 score. The conversion pass was good and the Bulldogs led 31-22 with 5:32 remaining.
The Wortham offense calmly went onto the field and needed five plays from the onside kick spot near midfield. Lewis converted a quarterback sneak and Bean finished the drive with a 30-yard touchdown run to get the lead up to 38-22. That would be the final score.
Norcross had 221 yards on his 37 carries and three touchdowns and Bean added 114 yards. Wortham had a team rushing total of 362 yards on 67 carries.
Wortham moves on to take on the district 10-2A Division II champion and top state ranked Mart in the regional round of the playoffs. They will play at Mexia’s Blackcat Field on Friday afternoon at 2pm. The two remaining district mates, Bremond and Chilton will play on Friday night at Waco ISD. The district is assured of having two teams in the state quarterfinals next week.
(Photos by Jennifer Lansford)
