Mineral Wells Area News

By DAVID MAY

Special to Mineral Wells Area News

Having lost their last two games, the Mineral Wells Rams have a chance to end the streak Friday at Wichita Falls.

Under first-year Head Coach Cody Worrell, the improved Rams are 3-3 on the season and enter their Class 4A-1 District 4 opener boasting the district’s best scoring defense, giving up 142 points in their six games, a 23.6-points per game average. That includes the 55 points allowed to weeks ago to Graham.

Conversely, the Coyotes enter the contest with a 1-5 record, allowing the most points (213) among its district mates through six games, while scoring the fewest points at 134. The Rams have scored 179 points, third-best in district.

Wichita Falls opened the year with four straight losses before defeating Iowa Park, 30-16. The Coyotes received their Graham beatdown last week, losing 54-13. Graham is the lone common opponent between the two teams. The undefeated and top 10-ranked Steers defeated the Rams, 55-7.

Coyotes junior quarterback Zage Gravitt is completing 50 percent of his pass attempts, averaging 164.6 yards per game in the air. He is 60-of-119 for 823 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions.

Wichita Falls is averaging 105 yards rushing per game, led by sophomore running back Eric Powell who has 247 yards on 57 carries this season, an average of 4.3 yards per carry and 49.4 yards per game. Powell has two of the Coyotes’ six rushing touchdowns. Junior running back Jordan Mitchell has 207 yards on the season on 27 carries for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. He also has two rushing scores.

Their receiving corps is led by Ke’ondrae Fleeks, a senior with 243 yards on 17 receptions (14.3 ypc) and three touchdown. The Coyotes have eight players with at least one reception, and the team is averaging 142.5 yards per game in the air.

The 184 rushing yards tallied by the Rams on Friday at Gatesville were below its 261 rushing yards per game average. The Rams have a 1-2 punch in its running game. Senior Jose Garcia leads Rams rushers with 532 yards on the season with three touchdowns. He has produced two 100-plus-yard rushing games this season. Jovan Ramirez has seven touchdowns on the season, rushing for 479 yards on 45 carries (10.6 yards per carry) while running for at least 100 yards in three games..

It was Kayden Montalvo who led the Mineral Wells rushers on Friday with 99 yards, including a 52-yard touchdown run. 

It will be interesting to see how the Rams compete in district. Springtown is 4-2 with four straight wins after dropping their first two games to Alvarado and Graham. They since have wins over WF Hirschi, Creekview, Glen Rose and Connally.

Burkburnett is 2-4 and, like the Rams, are on a two-game losing streak of their own.

Decatur is 2-4. The Eagles lost their first three games of the season to Anna, WF Rider and Stephenville, a shootout that ended 56-55 in favor of the Yellowjackets. Decatur walloped Pampa, 56-0, then lost in overtime to Alvarado. The Eagles wrapped up their non-district slate Friday with a 48-21 win over WF Hirschi.

A win Friday against Wichita Falls is key to the Rams’ post-season hopes, especially with Springtown coming to town next week. Kickoff this Friday in Wichita Falls is set for 7 p.m.