Mineral Wells Area News

By DAVID MAY / Special to Mineral Wells Area News

FORT WORTH – Mineral Wells Head Coach Cody Worrell and the head official both hobbled on bad ankles Friday night. Worrell made it through the game. The official did not, opting not to return from the halftime break.

But there was no hitch in the Rams’ get-along as Mineral Wells scored two defensive touchdowns and five on offense in the first half to race past Fort Worth Polytechnic, 49-14, in the season opener for both teams.

The contest was such that a running clock was used in the fourth quarter to help end the game quickly and help avoid injuries in the lopsided affair.

The Rams escaped without any serious injuries and Coach Worrell was able to play many backups in the second half, providing those players with early opportunity and experience.

Offensively the Rams racked up 279 yards total on just 40 plays, an average of nearly 7 yards per play. Most of that production occurred in the first half with the starters on the field. Mineral Wells ran for 194 yards, led by senior running backs Kayden Montalvo (89 yards on eight attempts with one TD) and Preston Mendez (75 yards on six carries and one TD).

Senior starting quarterback Owen Gadd threw for 85 yards and two touchdowns on a 4-for-11 night. One of his scoring tosses went to Texas Tech-commit Preztynn Harrison on a perfectly thrown corner fade that saw the 6-foot-5 receiver go up and haul the pass in for a score and a 42-0 lead late in the second quarter.

Rams kicker Aldo Tejeda was perfect on his extra-point attempts, booting all seven of his PAT kicks between the Herman Clark Stadium uprights.

It wasn’t a perfect start for Mineral Wells by any means. The defense was jumpy, drawing several offsides penalties in the first half, while narrowly avoiding flags other times. There were some issues with snaps between the center and the quarterback. Mineral Wells was flagged for six penalties on the night.

Worrell was happy to get the opening win.

“I thought our kids played with a lot of effort,” he said. “I also saw some things we have to clean up before next week. Dumb penalties, offsides, silly holding penalties, snap issues we have to clean up. But overall I thought we did a pretty good job.”

“Everybody got to get in the game. We are excited about that, especially guys who practice every week and do everything right, that was big for us to get those guys in.”

Junior linebacker Jackson Hicks scored the Rams’ first touchdown of the season with a fumble return deep in Poly’s end of the field on the Parrots’ opening possession. 

Montalvo followed that with a terrific 26-yard run for a score and a quick 14-0 Mineral Wells first-quarter lead.

Cassious Johnson provided the second defensive score with a 35-yard interception return.

Rounding out the first-quarter scoring was a Gadd-to-Kadin Kaspar pass that went 32 yards and put Mineral Wells on top, 28-0.

In the second quarter, Mendez raced 9 yards into the end zone followed by Harrison’s TD reception. The Rams forced and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that quickly led to senior fullback Trayvon Berkins pounding the ball in from 2 yards out for the Rams’ final points just before intermission.

Despite the large deficit, Poly didn’t quit, producing two fourth-quarter scores on a 10-yard run and a 15-yard pass to produce the final 49-14 margin.

Class 4A-2 Mineral Wells will host its 2024 home opener on Friday as Class 3A-1 Iowa Park comes to town for a scheduled 7 p.m. tilt. The Hawks dropped their Friday opener, losing at home to the Pampa Harvesters, 42-28.