Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Second-half Statement: West Mesquite scores 28 unanswered points to down crosstown rival Poteet
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
West Mesquite and Poteet were already locked into their playoff positions prior to Friday's game.
But don't tell the Wranglers and Pirates that there was nothing to play for.
The crosstown rivals treated the regular season finale like a playoff game, but it was West Mesquite that was able to exert its will down the stretch, closing the game with 28 unanswered points as it turned an early 21-point deficit into a 45-31 victory at Mesquite Memorial Stadium.
"Any time you play a crosstown rival game, you want to win, and it doesn't matter what the records are, both teams are going to bring that intensity," West Mesquite head coach Mike Overton said. "It is usually the team that maintains that intensity for four quarters that is going to come out on top."
With Forney's victory over Carrollton Newman Smith on Thursday, both the Wranglers and Pirates knew their playoff future.
West Mesquite will be the second seed in the Division I bracket and will face Frisco Centennial on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Kimbrough Stadium. Poteet (8-2, 5-2) will be the top seed in the Division II bracket and will take on Little Elm on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Standridge Stadium.
But while some coaches might have been tempted to rest key players to prevent the chance of injury, the Wranglers and Pirates did no such thing, with the starters remaining in the game until the final snap.
"For us, it was more important to win and build momentum for the playoffs than it was to hold anything back," Overton said. "I couldn't have drawn it up any better going into the playoffs. I can't say enough about their effort and their energy, I'm just so proud of them."
A brisk wind played a big factor in field position, which Poteet was able to capitalize on to build a 28-17 halftime lead. The Pirates then turned a fumble recovery by Malik Jefferson into a 23-yard field goal from Brett Rattan to make it 31-17 with 7:49 left in the third quarter.
It was all Wranglers from that point.
With the wind at its back, West Mesquite quarterback Chason Virgil completed seven of nine passes on a 75-yard drive that was capped with a touchdown strike to Christian Mitchell. The extra point was blocked, but the Wranglers were back to within 31-23.
Virgil, who was 19-of-30 for 254 yards, remained hot, throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jakeelin Hankins to close to within one and then going back to Hankins for a 29-yard scoring strike less than two minutes later.
West Mesquite then ran a fake on the extra point, with Xavier Young hooking up with Nick Akins on the two-point conversion pass to take a 38-31 lead with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Wranglers punted five times in the opening quarter going against the wind, but it was a different story in the fourth. Raashaan Reason finished with 20 carries for 113 yards, with a bulk of that coming late, including a back-breaking 39-yard touchdown run that made it 45-31 with 3:56 left.
The West Mesquite defense, meanwhile, slammed the door on Poteet, which had moved the ball well in the opening half.
The Pirates managed only 71 yards during the final two quarters. Andre Thompson had a key interception that led to the Wranglers' final score and Akins recovered a fumble on a kickoff return that allowed them to run the final four minutes off the clock.
"We've been a second-half team really since that Highland Park debacle, our guys have really learned from that and we've been playing our best in the second half," Overton said. "We were able to move the ball in the third quarter, but I thought the big thing was we were able to run the ball in the fourth quarter.
"And we just played shutdown defense in the second half. Our guys were flying to the football, we picked up the tempo and made some big plays."
While it was West Mesquite who was celebrating at the end, that finish seemed unlikely through much of the first half.
The Pirates took advantage of a short field, moving 42 yards in three plays, with Tanner Ramsey scoring on a 24-yard touchdown run to take an early 7-0 lead.
The Wranglers answered that score on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Virgil to William Stanley to tie the game at 7-7 but Poteet quickly went back to work.
Ramsey, who was 16-of-24 for 185 yards, threw a quick out route to Rodney Douglas, who showed off his speed by blowing past the West Mesquite secondary on a 38-yard touchdown to regain the lead at 14-7.
Less than two minutes later, Ramsey went back to Douglas for a 37-yard scoring strike to make it 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The Pirates threatened to run away with it when Nathaniel Gaines made a nice one-handed snag on a 6-yard touchdown to push the advantage to 28-7, but West Mesquite was able to do damage control in the final minutes of the first half.
Traveon Jones kept the next drive alive with a fourth-down conversion run and then scored from a yard out to cut the deficit in half.
The Wranglers then got back to within 28-17 on an 18-yard field goal by Miguel Garza with six seconds left before halftime.
Poteet appeared to regain momentum when they cashed a turnover into points early in the third quarter, but it was all West Mesquite from there, as it retained its bragging rights for another year.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Mesquite Poteet «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
