ORANGEFIELD 0 17 14 0- 31
WORTHING 7 7 14 7- 35
It was a rematch of the tortoise and the hare Friday night at F. L. McClain Stadium. As you may have heard the tortoise won the last time the two met, but in the rematch the hare tripped up the tortoise and won by a hair. In other words the Houston Worthing Colts edged the Orangefield Bobcats 35-31 in a tight game that went down to the next to last play before being decided.
Houston Worthing (5-1) came into the game averaging over 50 points a game with their fast paced Spread offense. Orangefield (3-3) uses a ground-and-pound ball control offense to chew up yardage and eat time on the clock. The Bobcats won last year’s contest, but the Colts got even with a win Friday night. The loss put a damper on Homecoming festivities for the Orangefield faithful. Hanna Lowe was crowned the Homecoming Queen during halftime.
The Bobcats were driving for what would have been the winning touchdown in the closing seconds of the game. Christopher McGee who was a workhorse for Orangefield carrying the ball 29 times for 176 yards picked up a first down with a 7-yard carry on fourth-and-two at the Worthing 32. The Bobcats were given another first down on a fourth-and-five when the Colts went offside before the snap. The third time was the harm though as McGee carried the ball for the final time on another fourth-and-five at the 10 and was tripped up three yards shy of the first down turning the ball over on downs. Worthing took a knee to run out the clock.
The start of the game was delayed by about 30 minutes due to transportation difficulties for the Worthing ball club. Their bus was delayed leaving Houston and the normal rush hour traffic in the big city caused the team not to arrive in Orangefield until about 7:30. The Colts went through a quick pregame workout before the national anthem and the opening kickoff which was at 8:00 PM.
Although the Colts may have been slow arriving, they were quick out of the gate showing their fast striking scoring potential on the opening possession. Seven plays and less than three minutes found Worthing in the lead 7-0. Star quarterback Alfred Robertson lived up to his hype throwing the first of his three touchdown passes to Deeago Thomas for 15 yards.
Orangefield twice threatened to tie the game in the first period, once driving to a first down at the Worthing 20 before coming up short on a fourth-and-five at the 15. After the Bobcats recovered a Colts’ fumble at the 22 they could not muster a first down and turned the ball over on downs at the 23 of Worthing.
The second quarter was a good one for the home team. Orangefield scored all three times it had the ball in the period. Matthew Watkins scored to tie the game with a 2-yard run after he cut loose on runs of 15 and 28 yards to setup the scoring opportunity.
Another seven play scoring march almost identical to the first Bobcat scoring drive was capped by McGee on a 4-yard touchdown run. Matthew Rainey added the point after to tie the game at 14.
Robertson threw his second touchdown pass of the half to his younger brother Johntiz from 13 yards sandwiched between the two Orangefield touchdowns. Alfred Robertson finished the night completing 18 of 22 passes for 204 yards with one interception.
That one interception by Chase Furlough came late in the half and gave Orangefield the ball with just over a minute to operate. Five running plays, including a 25-yard scamper by Watkins, and an offside penalty on Worthing got the Bobcats to the Colts’ 12. Rainey kicked a 29-yard field goal as the half ended to give Orangefield a 17-14 advantage.
The Bobcats went up by ten points at the start of the second half with a five play drive. McGee had three runs of double digit yards; the third was for 14 yards and a touchdown. Rainey’s kick made it Orangefield 24-14 over Worthing with still 10:24 to play in the third.
Not to be outdone Worthing and Robertson struck back quickly needing likewise only five plays and less than three minutes to score. The Robertson brothers teamed up for a 33-yard completion before Alfred broke several would be tackles for a 19-yard gain to the Orangefield 8. Roderick Maxwell ran the ball into the end zone on the next play. Alfred scored on the two-point conversion to make the score 24-22 the Bobcats still leading.
Orangefield had avoided turnovers in the first half, but would be guilty of two costly turnovers in the second. The first led to the next Worthy score. Following a fumble recovery at the 44 the Colts drove 56 yards to regain the lead. Robertson passed for 37 yards and ran for 14 yards while culminating the scoring drive with a one-yard plunge. Furlough intercepted Robertson’s pass on the two-point conversion attempt to keep the score 28-24 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
The quarter would not end before Orangefield retook the lead. Watkins ran an option around right end, slipped a tackle, and then made a cutback that left a Colt tackler grasping nothing but air as Matthew then sprinted down the sideline to finish off a 49-yard touchdown. Watkins finished the game as the leading rusher with 203 yards on 19 carries. He did miss the last drive of the game as his right arm was in a sling. The Bobcats were back on top 31-28.
The Colts gambled as the third quarter ended going for it on fourth-and-nine at their 40, but the Bobcat defense stopped Robertson one yard shy of the first down. Orangefield had a chance to finish the deal as it drove deep into Worthing territory only to fumble the ball away at the 9 yard line.
From there the Colts drove 91 yards for the winning score. Robertson broke loose on a 35-yard run before being caught by Mason Gonzales. The Robertson duo of Alfred and Johntiz combined for the touchdown on a 5-yard pass play with 6:55 left in the game. Alfredo Aparicio made the successful kick to bring the score to 35-31 before Orangefield made its final bid to pass Worthing at the wire, but came up short.
The Orangefield Bobcats open District 9-4A Division II play next Friday night back at F. L. McClain Stadium against the Hardin-Jefferson Hawks. Houston Worthing starts district on Thursday night in District 10-4A Division II against the La Marque Cougars.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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