It was a wet and rainy night in the golden triangle Friday night, as the District 9-4A-D2 championship was on the line, with the West Orange-Stark Mustangs (8-1, 4-0) taking on the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns (8-1, 4-0). The Mustangs were looking for their first district title since 2021, while the Longhorns had not won an outright district title in 28 years.
Game Recap
With the heavy downpour, both teams were very conservative with the play calling, a lot of runs and high percentage throws, but the defenses shined. The first score of the game did not come until late in the first quarter, as the game opened with two punts and a turnover-on-downs sandwiched between them.
Hamshire-Fannett let Ty Bryson loose on their second drive of the game. He would punctuate a six-play drive by scrambling out to the right, finding a hole, and running it in for a 12-yard touchdown. The Longhorns led 7-0 with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.
West Orange-Stark would have to punt on their next drive, but it was blocked, setting up Hamshire-Fannett at the Mustang 38-yard line. Three plays later, Isaiah Reed broke through the line and broke a couple of tackles, on the way to a 29-yard touchdown, but the Mustangs would immediately respond. On the following drive, Marcus Turner Jr took the keeper down the right sideline 40 yards for the touchdown. The Longhorns led 14-7, which is where it would stand at halftime.
The defenses stood strong coming out of halftime, with a couple of turnover-on-downs and a couple of turnovers leading to a scoreless third quarter, but on the first play of the fourth, Hamshire-Fannett would strike again. Bryson stepped back and found Dwayne Long for a 16-yard touchdown, extending the Longhorn lead to 21-7 with 11:52 remaining.
With their backs against the wall, West Orange-Stark responded again, as the Mustangs drove all the way down the field to the Longhorn five-yard line. On fourth down, Turner found Amyrian Scott at the front of the endzone for a five-yard touchdown. With 7:48 left, Hamshire-Fannett led 21-14.
The Longhorns got the ball, needing to chew some clock, and they did that and more. Hamshire-Fannett used over four minutes of the clock, and once again extended their lead to two scores, as Bryson hit Pierce Pirtle on a screen, and he took it 28 yards for the touchdown. Hamshire-Fannett led 28-14, which is where it would stand at the final horn.
The Longhorns win their first outright district title in 28 years with a 28-14 win over West Orange-Stark.
Next Week
Hamshire-Fannett will roll into playoffs with a lot of momentum and as one of the 4A-D2 favorites as they take on La Marque in the opening round, while West Orange-Stark will look to move on and start new as they take on Sweeny in round one.
