For the second straight year, Fort Worth O.D. Wyatt and Chisholm Trail held a back-and-forth battle. This time the Chaparrals came out on top with a 30-27 victory in a District 4-5A Division I opener Thursday at Clark Stadium.
Last season, the Rangers barely wrangled a 37-33 victory.
Going into Thursday, coaches from both sides were fired up for what the game could mean for the rest of the season.
“The guys are very excited,” Wyatt assistant coach Antwaun Criss said. “Last year was a back and forth, and it came down to the last minute of the game.”
Chisholm Trail came into the matchup with a new head coach in Marvin Nash, who has only been leading the Rangers for 57 days, O.D. Wyatt came in with a more mature squad.
The first team to put points up on the board was Chisholm Trail. Quarterback Keaton Rose passed to running back William Quintana for 25 yards, giving the Rangers an opportunity for a tush push at the 1-yard line from Alex Villarreal with 6:10 left in the first quarter.
The Chaparrals (2-1, 1-0) quickly came back with heat of their own. Ca’Marion Harrison made a daring pass to wide receiver Malikhi Mingo for a touchdown with 1:22 left in the first quarter to tie the game, then Dale Brown scored with 8:14 left in the second quarter to put Wyatt in front 14-7.
“We just had a young team last year, and we weren’t really put together,” Brown said. “Now we have been training since December. We want this. We want district.”
Wyatt kept its momentum going to start the second half off strong. The Chaparrals maintained possession after halftime until 7:35 remained in the third quarter, when they scored a field goal from Joshua Acevedo to go up 17-7.
Then Chisholm Trail fought back. Less than a minute later, the Rangers (1-2, 0-1) got a touchdown from running back Xavier Rodriguez to cut the deficit to 17-14.
Chisholm Trail then took the lead when Tavion Johnson scored with 1:27 left in the third, putting the Rangers up 20-17.
Brown had 60 rushing yards on the next drive to give Wyatt another touchdown to retake the lead at 23-20 with 9:44 left in the fourth quarter. He then produced 43 more yards on the next drive to help extend the lead to 30-20 and give the Chaparrals some breathing room with 2:03 left in the game.
Rose scored with just over a minute left to provide the final points for Chisholm Trail.
“It set the tone for the season,” Brown said. “Beat Poly and we are in the playoffs. That’s what we are going for. We want district, but playoffs are the main thing.”
The Chaparrals will play Fort Worth Polytechnic on Sept. 18 at Handley Field, while the Rangers will host Fort Worth Trimble Tech on Sept. 19.
Editor’s note: This story was produced by members of FW Southwest High School’s advanced media program.
