OF 14 7 7 7 – 35
HF 7 20 14 7 – 48
Seven proved lucky for the Hamshire-Fannett Longhorns Friday night. The Longhorns scored seven straight times they had the ball to earn their seventh win of the season in defeating the Orangefield Bobcats 48-35 at Longhorn Stadium.
Hamshire-Fannett (7-3, 3-1) captured second place in District 9-4A Division II with the victory. Orangefield (5-5, 2-2) will still be in the playoffs representing the district as the third seed.
Going into the contest Orangefield wanted to stop the Longhorns star quarterback Kendrick King who entered the game leading the district in rushing and touchdowns. King played like royalty scoring six touchdowns and rushing for 196 yards on 29 carries. Needless to say he finished the regular season as the district leader in both rushing and scoring.
The Bobcats got a strong game out of their quarterback Matthew Watkins. The Orangefield senior ran the ball 16 times for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Watkins started the night third in the district in rushing trailing only King and Hardin-Jefferson’s Talon Tilley who was only 10 yards ahead of Matthew entering Friday’s action.
Turnovers really turned the game in favor of the Longhorns late in the first half and early in the second. A fumble late in the half on an attempted punt by the Bobcats gave Hamshire-Fannett great field position which it used to score and take the lead at the half. Orangefield fumbled the kickoff to start the second half, and the Longhorns only needed to drive 25 yards to score their third straight touchdown to take a 34-21 lead with just over eight minutes to play in the third quarter.
Watkins broke the Longhorn scoring string with a beautiful 63-yard touchdown. King answered with a 32-yard run where he faked a dive, then swept to the right, and down the sideline for the score. Less than two minutes later Colby Revia intercepted a Bobcat pass which setup Hamshire-Fannett at the Orangefield 31. King scored his sixth and final touchdown on a 12-yard scamper to start the fourth quarter.
Down by twenty points Orangefield could only answer with a 40-yard run by Chris MGee. His 72 yards on seven carries was the second most yards for the seven Bobcats that ran the ball.
Both teams moved the ball well in the first half. Hamshire-Fannett scored on four of its five possessions, the Bobcats tallied touchdowns on their first three times with the football before being stopped.
Orangefield scored first after forcing the Longhorns to punt on their first possession Watkins returned the kick 51 yards to the Hamshire-Fannett 29. It only took two plays for the Bobcats to take the lead on a 25-yard run by Triston McGee. Matthew Rainey added the point after to give the Bobcats a 7-0 advantage just three and a half minutes into the game.
The Longhorns tied the game just as quickly as on their second play after the kickoff Tyrese White swept right end for a 54-yard touchdown. White also rushed for over 100 yards finishing 114. The kick by Cesar Melendez tied the contest at seven with still 7:37 to play in the initial quarter.
Their next possession saw the Bobcats run 11 plays and go 75 yard chewing up six minutes on the clock. The key play though was a facemask penalty on the Longhorns which nullified an Orangefield fumble and gave the Bobcats a first down at the Hamshire-Fannett 12. The next play Watkins ran the ball into the end zone to make the score 14-7 with 1:36 left in the first.
The seesaw match continued as a fine kickoff return gave the Longhorns good field position at the Orangefield 44. Thomas Hein ran 17 yards for a first down followed by White for 13 yards and another first to the one. Quarterback King snuck over for his first touchdown of the game and his 25th on the season. The teams were tied 14-14 just 12 seconds into the second quarter.
It was the Bobcats turn to answer, and they did with another impressive 10 play, 81-yard drive that used over five minutes. Chris McGee got the six on a trap up the middle from 16 yards out. Rainey’s kick made it 21-14 Orangefield with 6:39 before the half.
Hamshire-Fannett closed out the scoring in the first half with two more touchdowns from King. The first was a 27-yard sweep. The second followed a fumble on a long snap the only time Orangefield tried to punt in the first half. The Longhorns took over at the Bobcat 16, and King scored on a 7-yard carry to give Hamshire-Fannett a 27-21 lead after the point after was blocked with just 57 seconds before halftime.
Orangefield will have a rematch with the Houston Worthing Colts who played at F. L. McClain Stadium in Week 6 of the season and beat the Bobcats 35-31. The Longhorns by finishing second in the district will play Houston Kashmere in the first round of the playoffs next week. The Bobcats will play Worthing on Thursday at Barbers Hill HS at 7:30.
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