Mineral Wells Area News

By DAVID MAY / Special to Mineral Wells Area News

GODLEY – A Mineral Wells win over Godley would have made it a “September to Remember.” Instead, the Rams ended up with a “Friday to Forget.” They will have to two weeks to do just that.

The Rams’ first two possessions ended in turnovers near the Wildcats’ goal line, both leading to Godley touchdowns. The Rams went on to turn it over twice more, which Godley turned into 14 more points in defeating Mineral Wells, 31-14, in the Wildcats’ brand new $168 million academics and athletics facility.

It was Mineral Wells’ first loss of the season, dropping the Rams to 4-1. It was also the last non-district tilt before District 3-4A-2 contests begin in two weeks. The Rams have next week off.

Mineral Wells has committed 10 turnovers in the last three games. The team’s ball handling problems Friday came against a team able to make them pay, and pay they did. Losing the turnover battle is generally not conducive to winning football.

Rams head coach Cody Worrell spoke afterward about the missed opportunities in the first half that saw the Rams fail to score on three trips inside the Wildcats’ 10-yard line – a fumble, an interception and an incomplete pass after two missed field goal attempts to end the first half.

“We played really well the first half,” Worrell said. “We didn’t capitalize. I took a shot before the half to try and tie it up. We had the ball three times inside the 10 and converted zero points.”

Godley (3-2) led 14-7 at the break. In the first half the Wildcats were able to break some long plays on the Rams’ defense. But Mineral Wells opened the third quarter holding Godley to a missed 36-yard field goal before forcing Godley to punt for the first time. 

The Wildcats’ third possession of the second half resulted in a made 24-yard field goal for a 17-7 advantage seconds before the third quarter expired.

Unfortunately, the Rams’ offense stalled in the third quarter, going three-and-out on its first two possessions before disaster struck early in the fourth. 

“Honestly, I thought our defense played really well, especially early in the second half,” Worrell said. “We just couldn’t get a first down offensively. They did a good job. They have good coaches. They out-played us and out-coached us.”

Statistically, Godley out-gained the Rams 339 yards to 276. Both teams were balanced offensively. The Wildcats rushed for 162 yards to 134 for Mineral Wells. Godley’s Wyatt Burke was 10-of-18 for 177 yards with one touchdown, another rushing, and no picks. Rams quarterback Owen Gadd was 11-24 for 142 yards and one touchdown pass with another rushing.

The difference was Gadd’s two interceptions, one of which was returned deep in Rams territory in the decisive fourth quarter.

The Rams took the opening kickoff from its 25 and, on the strength of nine runs and two pass plays, were first-and-goal at the Wildcat 7 nearly seven minutes in. But running back PR Mendez lost the ball. 

The Wildcats recovered at the 12 and with runs of 16, 14 and 51 yards marched downfield. Ramsefensive end Riley Vigil recorded a tackle for a loss, that was followed by an incompletion and a false start penalty. But Burke connected with Adam Pempsell from 14 yards out and a 7-0 Godley lead.

The Rams offense responded. Starting at its own 32, Gadd engineered another terrific drive, aided by a horse collar penalty, going 56 yards on 11 plays. Starting the second quarter, Mineral Wells faced third-and-goal from the 2, but Gadd’s pass to receiver Preztynn Harrison was picked off in the front corner of the end zone.

The Wildcats went on a 14-play, 80-yard march culminating in Burke faking a handoff and running in for the score and a 14-0 Godley lead.

With 5 minutes till halftime, the Rams’ fortunes appeared to change. Starting from its 33, the Rams went on a 12-play drive that saw Gadd connect with Kaidan Kaspar in the right corner of the end zone to make it a 14-7 contest with 34 ticks left on the game clock.

Godley fumbled the kickoff, and Mineral Wells was in business at their 40. Another completion to Kaspar left the Rams facing first down at the 25 with the clock running out. Kicker Gabriel Borjon’s 42-yard effort was just short of the crossbar. A Wildcat penalty gave him another chance from 37 yards out, but that attempt hit the left upright and fell back onto the field.

A forcible contact personal foul penalty against Godley had the Wildcat coaching staff livid and gave the Rams one last untimed play from the 8. Worrell chose not to go for the field goal and instead put the offense back on the field. Gadd’s pass attempt to the left corner of the end zone was incomplete, and the score remained 14-7 in Godley’s favor.

With Godley’s field goal in the third being that quarter’s only score, the fourth quarter saw the wheels come off for the Rams. On second down from their own 11, Gadd dropped back, looked left and threw a sideline pass that Godley’s Caden Lewis jumped, caught and returned from about 15 yards out to put the Wildcats on top 24-7.

The Rams fumbled the kickoff, with Godley setting up at the Rams’ 40. They needed six plays for Pempsell to score from a yard out for a 31-7 lead with just under 9 minutes to play.

The teams exchanged possessions before Mineral Wells finished the night’s scoring, once again going on a sustained drive beginning at its 39 and ending 10 plays later with Gadd punching it in from the 1-yard line for the final 31-14 margin.

Worrell said the loss is one the team will need to shake off and use the next two weeks to get better before hosting 2-3 Bridgeport in the district opener on Oct. 11.

“It’s one of those things,” said Worrell. “You learn more from a loss than a win. We saw some positive things, but in the second half they whipped our tails. We’ve got to regroup and get healthy and just refocus ourselves as far as coaches. We have some bumps and bruises, dealt with some sickness. Everybody is banged up this time of year. We’ve just got to get better. We’ve got to find a way in our bye week to make us better.”

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