You wouldn’t have blamed anyone on the Dallas Molina sideline for having a sinking feeling.
A week after blowing a 17-point lead in a loss to Dallas White, the Jaguars had just watched a 21-point advantage over Carrollton Turner evaporate. Turner kicker Leonardo Robles nailed a 31-yard field goal with two-and-a-half minutes left to cap off 24 answered points from the Lions as they went in front 45-42.
However, Molina head coach Lance Bruner didn’t feel panicked.
“Last week was a real tough game, so I believe that helped us,” Bruner said. “We blew a 17-point lead late in the fourth quarter, so the rallying cry [this week] was to finish. When our defense held them to that field goal, I kind of knew that we were going to drive it down.”
The Jaguars proved Bruner’s suspicions right with a gutsy nine-play, 75-yard drive that included an 18-yard completion from quarterback Adan Ochoa to receiver Robert Johnson on third-and-18 at their own 28. Running back Na’Quinton Vaughn finished the drive off with a go-ahead touchdown on a six-yard run with just 13 seconds left.
AND MOLINA SCORES! Na’Quinton Vaughan keeps it himself for the six-yard score. What a response from the Jags after giving up 24 unanswered!
Molina 50-45 Turner :13 4th#txhsfb @texashsfootball pic.twitter.com/wIqfD205bT
— Adam Ogburn (@AdamOgburnTV) September 22, 2023
The wild 50-45 victory in Carrollton on Thursday boosted Molina to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in district.
“Our quarterback has all the heart in the world, and our o-line is going to give him time,” Bruner said of the final drive. “I’m real proud of those guys. This district is just tough. There’s no easy wins. Every victory, you cherish it.”
Final from Carrollton:
Molina-50
RL Turner- 45@dallasathletics @Coachbru3 @JacobNunez27 @MolinaHigh @RecruitMoJags pic.twitter.com/ijcU5oBJ6a— Molina Football (@MolinaFootball) September 22, 2023
Ochoa to Johnson was a popular connection on the night. Johnson finished with six catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Vaughn added 84 yards rushing, while fellow running back KJ Hollins had 108 yards on just five carries.
“I’ve got to start with my big fellas, they don’t ever get that credit,” Bruner said. “That’s a veteran group up front, but we’ve got a lot of those jitterbugs. We got offensive skill for day. Those guys can all run. They’re a little small, but they get after it.”
On the other sideline, it was heartbreak for Turner. The loss drops the Lions to 1-4 and 0-3 in district. Still, head coach Michael Farda Jr. was proud of his team as they erased that 21-point deficit and also rushed for 335 yards in their wing-T offense.
“I thought our kids played their tails off,” Farda Jr. said. “With our style of offense, it would have been easy to write us off. I think we proved a lot of people wrong tonight with our ability to close gaps and fight through football games. Hats off to our kids. I have no complaints with the effort they put forth tonight.”
Turner got the ball rolling on its opening drive. The Lions went 75 yards in eight plays, all on the ground, with Jose Elisondo scoring the opening touchdown on a three-yard run.
Molina didn’t take long to respond. The Jaguars needed just three plays as Johnson made the most of a screen pass from Ochoa, slicing through the Lion defense for a 30-yard touchdown.
Turner tried to match the Jaguars with a long pass of its own, but it was overthrown right into the waiting arms of Jaguar defense back Terrence Reed, who raced the other way for a 70-yard pick-six. That gave Molina a 12-7 lead with just over four minutes left in the first quarter.
The points kept coming. Turner’s next drive was another methodical one as the Lion went 56 yards on 13 plays. Robbie Martinez snatched the lead back for the Lions, fighting his way up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown run.
After a barrage of touchdowns, a fumble and a missed field goal momentarily gave the scoreboard operator a rest, but Johnson came up with another dazzling catch-and-run touchdown just 90 seconds before the half. He caught a pass across the middle, spun around, and sprinted 52 yards for a score that gave Molina an 18-14 halftime lead.
The Jaguars kept rolling out of the locker room. Vaughn broke free for a 24-yard touchdown run just four plays after halftime before Hollins added touchdown runs of 38 and 68 yards on Molina’s next two drives. A 43-yard touchdown pass from Lion quarterback Jonathan Moreno to Tamorion Tucker on a blown coverage by Molina’s defense was Turner’s lone score between those three touchdowns as the Jaguars built up a 42-21 lead with a minute to go in the third quarter.
However, Turner instantly began to cut into the deficit. Edgar Cantu returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown before a Molina fumble led to another Turner score on a quarterback sneak by Edgar Castilla.
After that, two failed fake punts by Molina gifted Turner the ball in Jaguar territory. Cantu scored on a 16-yard run on one drive, and Robles kicked the field goal on the next to give Turner its short-lived 45-42 lead.
Next Week
Looking ahead, Turner will look to get into the win column in district play next Thursday at a Dallas Sunset team it beat handily a year ago. Despite a frustrating start to the season, Farda Jr. made it clear his Lions will be locked in for that contest.
“We’ve got our 24-hour rule, they get 24 hours to feel however they want to about this one and then we turn the page,” Farda Jr. said. “They walked away from tonight knowing they still have a lot of season left and they still have their goals and aspirations and those haven’t changed for us.”
Molina, meanwhile, will host Newman-Smith next Friday as it looks to crawl back into the playoff race.
“Newman-Smith, they run the ball really well and they have a lot of players back from last year, so it’s going to be a real tough game,” Bruner said. “But our kids are going to come out and compete, so we’re going to be ready and hopefully it’s a good ball game.”
