WEATHERFORD —
NORTH CROWLEY — There was plenty of wind, of the northerly type, Friday at Panther Stadium in North Crowley. After a perplexing official’s call late in the first half took away a touchdown that would have given the Weatherford Kangaroos a lead into the locker room, one may have imagined the plentiful wind might have vacated the Roos’ sails.
And though that was not the case, as the WHS boys made a fourth-quarter surge to close the gap to three, a stalled late drive forced an attempted field goal to take the District 3-5A contest to overtime. With the wind gusting and unpredictable, the field goal gods who helped the Roos win just a week ago were not so kind, as North Crowley held off the Roos for a 20-17 win.
Weatherford drew first blood with its first possession in the contest, receiving the benefit of a North Crowley wind-inhibited punt that netted zero yards. Traveling 23 yards in six plays, Roo quarterback Colton Mallory took advantage of his turn at bat and punched in the final yard.
The lead was short-lived however, as the Panthes put together a 13-play march, gaining all but the scoring play on the ground.
Crowley quarterback Given Hill found receiver Dre’lyn Holley for a 6-yard toss. The PAT knotted the score just before the end of the opening quarter.
With the quarter change and the cold wind at the Roos’ back in the second, Weatherford put together another profitable drive, culminated by a 25-yard Trey Rich field goal.
In a “clean” first half that saw no turnovers, North Crowley answered again, using big chunks of yardage covering 80 yards in just nine plays, going ahead on a 1-yard run by Christian Fields. the Roos blocked the extra-point try, setting into place the margin that would become crucial late in the game.
With Weatherford junior signal caller Grant Werts stepping in to handle the offense, the Roos methodically marched 84 yards in nine plays, finding themselves at the North Crowley 1-yard line and a chance to retake the lead.
A keeper resulted in Werts, and the ball, laying across the goal line, and as offficials hands went up signaling the score, so too did a yellow flag. The TD was negated and WHS was hit with a 15-yard penalty. The Roos never found the lead again.
Werts was the top producer on offense, rushing for 49 yards and throwing for 41.
Despite dominating much of the game after the break, stalled drives hindered the Roos from retaking the lead. The Roos fall to 1-4 in district play.
Weatherford hosts Arlington Lamar on Friday, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
North Crowley 20
Weatherford 17
WHS 7 3 0 7 — 17
NCHS 7 6 7 0 — 20
Scoring:
WHS — Colton Mallory 1 run (Trey Rich kick)
NCHS — Hill 6 pass to Holley (Wm Epps kick)
WHS —Rich 25 field goal
NCHS — Christian Fields 1 run (kick blocked)
NCHS — Hill 13 pass to Holley (Epps kick))
WHS — Chris Whitling 44 pass to Tony Rodriguez (Rich kick)
Team Stats: WHS NCHS
First Downs 16 10
Rushes-yds 42-172 43-162
Passing yds 112 78
Comp-Att-Int 8-15-0 6-18-0
Total Yards 284 240
Penalties-yds 7-59 12-95
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 3-1
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